Wildlife

November 5, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye announced today that the full Senate has approved $74,753,000 for Hawaii commerce, justice and science initiatives including protection for marine wildlife, climate change research, and programs for at-risk, rural youth.

The federal funds for Hawaii-related projects were approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2010 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill.

The bill passed by a vote of 71 to 28, with Chairman Inouye and Senator Daniel K. Akaka supporting the bill. The bill must now face a joint House-Senate Conference and final approval by the Senate and House, before it is transmitted to the White House.    » read more »

Legislation seeks to expose true causes for declines of fish, return flow of water to Valley

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Dennis Cardoza introduced bipartisan legislation today that calls for a review of the federal biological opinions that have significantly reduced the amount of water flowing to San Joaquin Valley farmers. Congressmen Costa (D-Fresno) and Radanovich (R-Mariposa) joined as original cosponsors.    » read more »

Sierra Club, Coalition Partners Will Challenge Governor Fortuño's Cancellation of "Nature Reserve" Designation

November 3, 2009 -- San Juan, Puerto Rico -- Sierra Club and its coalition partners will challenge Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño's proposed cancellation of the "nature reserve" designation held since 2008 by the island's Northeast Ecological Corridor.

Covering more than 3,000 acres in the northeast corner of Puerto Rico, the Corridor had been designated as a nature reserve in 2008 by preceding governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. But late Friday, Governor Fortuño removed the designation of nature reserve in order to allow for large-scale, unsustainable development in the area, including more than 4,500 residential and tourist units and four golf courses.    » read more »

Hobart, Tasmania - 10/28/2009 - The Pew Environment Group today called on the world’s governing body for conserving Antarctic marine life to geographically spread out krill catches in the Southern Ocean. This would prevent the concentration of the fishery from significantly reducing the amount of krill available for key predators including whales, penguins and seals.

Listen to an audio recording (MP3) of a press call on this topic.    » read more »

Increased Funding is Good News for America’s Wildlife, Waters and Lands

October 29, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Today, the House and Senate cleared a $32.2 billion Interior and Environment appropriations bill for the 2010 fiscal year. The $4.7 billion increase over 2009 funding levels will improve conservation efforts across the board and give agencies the resources they need to take on new climate change initiatives. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.    » read more »

October 30, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet joined their Senate colleagues late Thursday in passing the conference report for the Interior Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2010, and sending the legislation containing key funding for Colorado's national parks, forests and public lands to the President's desk. The bill passed by a vote of 72-28.    » read more »

Bill Clears Congress Late Thursday, President Will Sign

WASHINGTON -- Oct. 29 -- The U.S. Senate Thursday night passed a bill that includes emergency help authored by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to address a disease that is decimating bat populations in Vermont and the Northeast.

Leahy secured $1.9 million to buttress the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s response to the puzzling outbreak of “white nose syndrome” in Northeast bat populations. Leahy’s provision, in the annual budget bill for the Department of the Interior and other agencies, doubles funding for investigating and devising solutions to the epidemic. Leahy is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a conferee on the Interior Appropriations Bill.    » read more »

Cooperative agreement will foster programs to support wildlife populations and promote biodiversity on AEP-owned lands and transmission rights of way.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 19, 2009 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) has agreed to become a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation’s (NWTF) Energy for Wildlife program. As part of the program, AEP and NWTF will work cooperatively to identify, develop and implement programs to enhance the environment and habitat for a number of wildlife species on AEP-owned lands and transmission rights of way.

The agreement covers approximately 60,000 acres of AEP-owned land and segments of existing transmission rights of way throughout AEP´s 11-state service territory, stretching from Michigan to Texas.    » read more »

Legislation Will Bolster NOAA’s Key Environmental Education Programs

October 15, 2009 -- The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, today holds a hearing to consider expansion of key environmental education and training programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23) introduced the bipartisan legislation last month to improve ocean, coastal, and watershed education and literacy. H.R. 3644, which currently has 11 co-sponsors, is called the Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Regional Program and National Environmental Literacy Grant Program Act.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- Today, Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, announced that the United States supports a proposal submitted by the principality of Monaco to list the Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in Appendix I of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).

CITES Appendix-I listing affords a species stringent protection and prohibits all international commercial trade. The fifteenth regular meeting of the CITES parties is scheduled for March 13-24, 2010 in Doha, Qatar (CoP15). Strickland will lead the United States’ delegation to CoP15, on behalf of the U.S. government.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today launched a Fiscal Year 2010 work plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forests in western Oregon that will add economic certainty for local communities while protecting endangered species.

In addition to a proposed schedule of 62 timber sales under the Northwest Forest Plan, Salazar announced that federal field teams will identify future proposed timber sales with high likelihood of being sold and harvested and a special task force will take a fresh look at forest management issues in Oregon.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 10/14/2009 - Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, today issued the following statement on the United States’ failure to co-sponsor a proposal for consideration by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that would protect Atlantic bluefin tuna.

The proposal was made by Monaco to ban the international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna through a listing of the species on Appendix I of the Convention because of the deteriorating status of this species.    » read more »

Seattle, WA - 10/13/2009 - Steve Kallick, director of Pew Environment Group’s International Boreal Conservation Campaign, issued the following statement today commending Premier Gary Doer and the Province of Manitoba, Canada, for creating a fund for a proposed World Heritage Site (WHS). The $10 million trust will support the establishment of Pimachiowin Aki, a WHS candidate area covering over 10 million acres of pristine boreal forest.    » read more »

Legislation will protect endangered species habitat salmon

October 13, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill (H.R. 1593) to designate Illabot Creek in Skagit County as a component of the Wild and Scenic River System. The House legislation, sponsored by U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), will permanently protect the free flowing nature of this tributary of the Skagit River. This legislation was introduced in March of this year and earned widespread local support, including endorsements from environmentalists, Skagit County Commissioners, fishing groups, and farmers.    » read more »

Strong Action from USEPA likely informed by NRDC Report

CHICAGO (October 7, 2009) - Less than six weeks after the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a far-reaching report on the hormone disrupting pesticide Atrazine, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it will take steps to re-evaluate the chemical.

A widely used pesticide known to impact wildlife development and, potentially, human health, NRDC's report pointed out that Atrazine has contaminated watersheds and drinking water throughout much of the United States. Today's announcement of a year-long review by the EPA may be the first step towards revising the chemical’s registration and availability in the United States, according to NRDC experts.    » read more »