Wildlife

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 »

Washington, DC - 10/01/2009 - Jane Danowitz, director of the Pew Environment Group's U.S. public lands program, today issued the following statement regarding the 200,000 messages that will be sent to Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and the Obama administration calling for the national forest roadless areas in the state to receive the same protection as provided by the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation rule.

"Colorado's roadless plan sells its national forests and the public short. By opening up the state's best backcountry to new road construction, oil and gas development and coal mining, Colorado is denying future generations an opportunity to enjoy these treasured landscapes.    » read more »

Hawaiian False Killer Whale Population Faces Extinction

LOS ANGELES (September 30, 2009) – The Natural Resources Defense Council today called on the federal government to list the Hawaiian population of false killer whales as an endangered species and designate critical habitat to ensure its recovery under the Endangered Species Act. The Hawaiian false killer whale population is a small and ecologically unique population of 120 animals that has suffered a significant decline over the last 25 years.    » read more »

September 29, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Daniel K. Akaka and Daniel K. Inouye announced today three coastal programs designed to save native plants from invasive species in Hawaii will receive $220,000 from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects will allow three private organizations to restore native habitats on coastal lands within the State.

"Our native species need protection to survive," Senator Akaka said. "This Recovery Act funding will allow neighbor island conservation organizations to do more to fend off invasive species and protect native plants and birds, while creating job opportunities on each island."    » read more »

West Virginia Continues to Lead Collision Likelihood List

Bloomington, Ill., Sept. 28, 2009 – The number of vehicles on U.S. roadways has grown by 7 percent over the last five years. But the number of times those vehicles have collided with deer has swelled by much more than that.

Using its claims data, auto insurer State Farm estimates 2.4 million collisions between deer and vehicles occurred in the U.S. during the two-year period between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009 (100,000 per month). That’s 18.3 percent more than five years earlier. To put it another way, one of these unfortunate encounters occurs every 26 seconds (although they are much more likely during the last three months of the year and in the early evening).

MORE DEER-VEHICLE COLLISIONS    » read more »

September 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today issued a Secretarial Order launching a new strategy to address current and future impacts of climate change on America’s wildlife and natural resources. The strategy calls for the development of a Climate Change Response Council, eight DOI regional Climate Change Response Centers, and a network of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. Combined, these initiatives will create a framework through which Department of the Interior bureaus will coordinate climate change science and resource management strategies.

John Kostyack, Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming at the National Wildlife Federation had this to say:    » read more »

Interior Department Launches Call to Service for Summer Outdoor Mentoring Projects

Shenandoah National Park, VA (June 22) -- National Wildlife Federation joined the Department of the Interior at today’s kickoff of United We Serve and is joining the national effort launched by President Obama to engage more Americans in serving their communities this summer.

As part of the President’s Summer of Service initiative, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a call to action for every adult to mentor a child outdoors this summer. Secretary Salazar spoke at the Big Meadows Campground with volunteers who removed invasive species in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park.    » read more »

June 17, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior expressing her support for the exchange of state-owned land for federal land within the Izembek and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuges.

In the letter, Governor Palin urged Secretary Ken Salazar to initiate proceedings for an environmental impact statement, which is required under the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Land Exchange Act.    » read more »

June 15, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today issued the following statement on the decision of the Federal government to expand the Endangered Species Act in Maine for Atlantic Salmon. The rule includes the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers to the existing Endangered Species Act.

“I am deeply disappointed and concerned that the State’s comments to the draft rule were not incorporated in the final decision of the Federal government. This Federal action ignores Maine’s strong track record in species management and our need for a flexible approach which will enable us to use all our tools to work with stakeholders to manage Atlantic salmon.”    » read more »