Shooting of endangered Red Wolves halts N.C.’s coyote hunt

And with damn good reason. Controlling coyote populations, like controlling the population size of white-tailed deer herds, has little to do hunting and hunting ethics and the Endangered Species Act. Read about the halt to the hunting of coyotes in N.C.

No end to legal battle aver Nevada forest road and fish

Journalist Scott Sonner has been writing about conservation and fish and wildlife for a lot of years. I remember seeing his byline on stories moving on the Associated Press wire during my tenure at a Pennsylvania daily newspaper. In any case, the battle he writes about in this article has been going on just as long and it highlights what a road can do to fish and wildlife habitat.

Conservation could save sage grouce and ranchers from ESA listing

Well, gosh, just what is the chief problem that’s driving the Sage Grouse into potential Endangered Species Act listing? Duh?

Small Sonora Desert cactus in trouble; climate change among problems

The plight of the cactus described in this article is just one of many we can expect to read and hear about in the years ahead as climate change and other human-caused factors (like habitat fragmentation) increase in frequency and destructive capacity.

Endangered Schaus swallowtail but be all but gone

That’s a wordy way of saying the species, a Florida endemic, is, by all accounts, gone from the face of the Earth. This article has more info.

Citizens or government scientists: Who does better in selecting candidates for Endangered Species Act protection?

American citizens seem to do as good a job as government scientists in selecting candidates for federal protection. That’s the gist of this article. The statistics may say one thing, but that’s hardly the whole story. Still absent from most mainstream media reporting is this: What led to a given species’ population dive? In the balance of things, more imperiled flora and fauna benefits through citizen participation. After all, there are only so many fisheries and wildlife biologists on the staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And Republicans’ non-ending desire to de-fund, as much as possible, agencies like Fish and Wildlife, only makes the campaign that much harder.

Idaho gets federal grant to inventory rare species

And, then, after the inventories are done and the data published in binders that will collect dust in some archival dungeon somewhere, F and G will go ahead and hawk licenses and tags for some of the same species, all in a bid to bring in more dollars for its budget. This story that reads like a news release tells the story of the federal grant.

Endangeed status considered for Bicknell’s thrush

The problem for this rare songbird of summits here in the Northeast is not summer, or breeding habitat, it’s wintering habitat. Read about it all here.

If you live inVt., like I do, vote for Bernie Sanders

Thank you for contacting me in regard to S. 2372, the Preserving Public Access to Cape Hatteras Beaches Act. I am glad for the opportunity to discuss this important issue with you.

The controversy at Cape Hatteras National Seashore revolves around using vehicles on the beaches, which are breeding grounds for sea turtles, piping plovers as well as home to seabeach amaranth and other endangered species. Vehicles driven on the beach crush these rare animals and plants, particularly the nests and eggs of the birds and turtles. In order to protect the endangered species native to Cape Hatteras beaches, the National Park Service (NPS) issued a rule stating that vehicle operators must purchase permits to drive on the beaches. Exceptions are made for the handicapped and for local commercial fishermen. NPS also designated specific routes that vehicles must adhere to. Additionally, some areas are closed during breeding season, and driving by night is prohibited while turtles are laying eggs and hatching because they are nocturnal.

Currently, S. 2372 would eliminate this rule in favor of the much more lenient Interim Protected Species Management Act from June, 2007, leaving the task of developing a new final rule up to the Secretary of the Interior. It would also invalidate the consent decree from the District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, in which conflicting parties agreed to create buffer areas and restrict night driving during turtle breeding season. Data show that while stricter vehicle statutes lead to a significant rise in species populations, they do not result in less revenue from tourists, which is the main cause of concern for proponents of S. 2372.

I understand your concern for the species that make the Cape Hatteras National Seashore their home. I will keep your thoughts firmly in mind when considering this legislation.

Again, thank you for contacting me about this important issue. Feel free to contact me again in the future about this or any other subject of interest to you, or for up-to-date information on what my office is working on please visit http://www.sanders.senate.gov. While there, I invite you to sign up for my e-newsletter, the Bernie Buzz, at http://sanders.senate.gov/buzz/. Please be aware that due to security screening procedures, postal mail to my office experiences delays that will lengthen the time it takes me to get back to you. The fastest way to contact my office is by calling 1-800-339-9834.

Sincerely, BERNARD SANDERS United States Senator

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For the wild…
Alan Clark Gregory
Lt Col USAF, Ret.

Nev. panel OKs strategy to keep sage grouse off endangered species roster

And that strategy, implied but not directly indicated in this article, revolves around political considerations, not actual, real science. This is yet another case of “junk” science masquerading as the real thing. I would respect the politicians a little bit more if they simply said it’s about politics, instead of what PR flak tells them to say.