Feds Offer Wind Training

previous wind broadcastHas reviewing wind power project siting proposals become part of your department’s responsibilities? The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is holding a training on Weds., Jan. 29. Other broadcasts in the series cover other aspects of wind turbine siting. Here’s the announcement from USFWS:

Register now for the 4th Broadcast of Wind Energy Training Series for Voluntary Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines:

January 29, 2-4 pm ET

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting a training broadcast series to cover the voluntary Land-based Wind Energy Guidelines (WEG) and other relevant wind energy topics.

The fourth broadcast will air on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, 2:00 to 4:00 pm ET. Host Christy Johnson-Hughes will be joined by Kathy Boydston (Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies), Charles Newcomb (Distributed Wind Energy Association), and Jennifer Norris (Ohio Department of Natural Resources).  The broadcast will focus on how the WEG apply to distributed wind energy projects; coordination with State agencies; and the identification of “species of habitat fragmentation concern” as defined in the WEG.

E-mail windbroadcast@fws.gov with the subject “register” to register for this broadcast.

View previous broadcasts and related materials.

Photo: Screenshot of previous wind training broadcast, courtesy USFWS. Video is not embedded however. (See “View previous broadcasts…” for link.)

Are There Wolves in Maine?

Gray_wolfIt’s not news. Every once in a while someone sees something that either looks like a wolf or is proven to be a wolf in northern Maine. Sometimes this matters, such as when, as it did about 20 years ago, the US Fish and Wildlife Service kicks around the idea of returning wolves to Maine. Sometimes it doesn’t really matter. Most of the time, actually.

But now that the US Fish and Wildlife Service may remove all gray (aka timber) wolves from the federal endangered species list, it may matter if there are wolves in Maine. It may also matter if those wolves are gray wolves or eastern wolves (sometimes known as eastern Canadian wolves).

This column in the Bangor Daily News addresses the questions of whether there are wolves in Maine, whether the wolves that may wander into Maine occasionally are eastern wolves or something else, and why any of this matters.

A blogger for the Boston Globe tackled a similar set of issues back in September.

Read the Bangor Daily News story here.
Read the Boston Globe blog here.

Photo: A gray wolf. Not in Maine. Gary Kramer, USFWS

Video Resources

The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center has dozens of free webinars on topics of interest to wildlife managers. Wildlife Disease News Digest pointed out these two as being particularly helpful:

You can find the latest and greatest webinars, here.
Or, you can find a list of the whole collection, here.

 

Western Wildlife Agencies Request Delay on Wolverine Listing

WolverineSnowWestern states are “feeling that climate change models are not a reason to list species under the Endangered Species Act,” said Bill Bates, wildlife section chief for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) in an article in the Salt Lake City Tribune last week.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed listing the wolverine as threatened in the lower 48 states, where they are dependent on having snow on the ground between January and May, their denning season. Climate change puts that snow coverage at risk.

The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has asked the USFWS to extend its comment period by three more months.

Read the Salt Lake City Tribune article here. It includes a nice map.
Read the Associated Press article in the Missoulian, here. It includes a photo of adorable wolverine cubs.

Photo: Wolverine. Photo Credit: Steve Kroschel

US Fish and Wildlife Service Gov’t Shutdown News

Because the federal government shutdown has shutdown not only the USFWS website, but all the DOI websites, here is the USFWS press release announcing its operations or lack there of during the shutdown:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Suspends Operations Due to Federal Government Lapse in Appropriations

Because of the shutdown of the federal government caused by the lapse in appropriations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will suspend most programs and operations, including public access to all National Wildlife Refuges and all activities on refuge lands including hunting and fishing.

“Closing off public access to our national wildlife refuges and public lands is the last thing we want to do, but is consistent with operations called for during a government shutdown” said Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dan Ashe. “This is difficult news for the families, birdwatchers, hunters and anglers, and recreationists who enjoy the great outdoors on the refuges – as well as for the many local businesses who depend on the tourism and outdoor recreation economy they generate. I think it’s most difficult for the thousands of furloughed Service employees who are impacted in carrying out their mission to protect our nation’s resources and providing for their families.”

Main impacts to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from the lapse in appropriated funding include:

• All 561 National wildlife refuges are closed to public access. Visitor centers and other buildings are closed.

• The National Wildlife Refuge System hosts more than 46.5 million people per year, and generates more than $342 million in local, county, state and federal tax income. Refuges also support more than 35,000 private-sector jobs.

• All activities on federal lands and in public buildings are canceled. This includes hunting and fishing activities on refuge lands.

• No permitting work or consultations will occur with respect to the Endangered Species Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, the Lacey Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.

• The shutdown will affect more than 7,000 Service employees, who are furloughed until an appropriation is passed.

• Employees and others may not volunteer their services on behalf of Service functions or on federal lands.

Services and programs that will remain operational fall into the following exempted categories:

• Programs financed by sources other than annual appropriations.
• Activities expressly authorized by law.
• Activities necessary to protect life and property.
• Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration.
• Natural Resource Damage Assessment Fund activities
• Refuge Law Enforcement emergency operations
• Firefighting emergency operations
• Care and feeding activities at hatcheries and captive breeding facilities.

Because the website will not be maintained, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website will be down for the duration of the shutdown. Additional information will be available at www.DOI.gov/shutdown as well as at OPM.gov, which will contain information about the government’s operating status on Tuesday, Oct.1, 2013, and the days following.

Critical Habitat Assessment Tool for Lesser Prairie Chickens

lesser prairie chickenFrom a press release issued by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Kansas Biological Survey:

In cooperation with the five state fish and wildlife agencies that fall within the range of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (LEPC), and the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), the KARS program has launched version 2.0 of the Southern Great Plains Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (SGP CHAT). The online map viewer hosts the SGP CHAT, which is the spatial representation of the LEPC range-wide conservation plan, and a tool that prioritizes conservation actions while assisting with the siting of industry development.

For the press release, click here.
For the tool itself, go here.

Photo: courtesy of the NRCS USDA

Did Bear Poachers Retaliate?

Black bearEarlier this month 11 defendants were sentenced as the result of a four-year undercover investigation of bear poaching in North Carolina and Georgia. The effort, known as Operation Something Bruin, involved two state and three federal agencies.

Of those defendants, only one was actually charged with poaching a black bear. Read the press release on the Operation Something Bruin website.

The Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times reports that authorities are investigating a bear that was killed, painted with the words “Whats Bruin” on its head and paws, and dumped in Buncombe County, NC. The authorities believe the phrase refers to the investigation, the paper says.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Forest Service are offering a $3,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction, the Citizen-Times reports, while the NC Wildlife Federation put up an additional $17,000.

Read the Asheville Citizen-Times article, here.
Read the Operation Something Bruin press release, here.

Photo: Just a random black bear. Courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

Revised Plan for Ferrets

black-footed ferret“The most feasible action that would benefit black-footed ferret recovery is to improve prairie dog conservation,” said Pete Gober, black-footed ferret recovery coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in a service press release. “If efforts are undertaken to more proactively manage existing prairie dog habitat for ferret recovery, all other threats to the species will be substantially less difficult to address. Down listing of the black-footed ferret could be accomplished in approximately 10 years if conservation actions continue at existing reintroduction sites and if additional reintroduction sites are established.”

The press release announced a draft of a revised recovery plan for the black-footed ferret.

You can read the USFWS press release here.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department release is here, in a newsletter. It’s the second article from the bottom.
Arizona has been a site of black-footed ferret recovery. Read a reporter’s first-hand account of an annual survey, here.More info on black-footed ferret recovery can be found here.

Photo: Black-footed Ferret. Credit: Kimberly Tamkun / USFWS

Revised Plan for Ferrets

black-footed ferret“The most feasible action that would benefit black-footed ferret recovery is to improve prairie dog conservation,” said Pete Gober, black-footed ferret recovery coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in a service press release. “If efforts are undertaken to more proactively manage existing prairie dog habitat for ferret recovery, all other threats to the species will be substantially less difficult to address. Down listing of the black-footed ferret could be accomplished in approximately 10 years if conservation actions continue at existing reintroduction sites and if additional reintroduction sites are established.”

The press release announced a draft of a revised recovery plan for the black-footed ferret.

You can read the USFWS press release here.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department release is here, in a newsletter. It’s the second article from the bottom.
Arizona has been a site of black-footed ferret recovery. Read a reporter’s first-hand account of an annual survey, here.More info on black-footed ferret recovery can be found here.

Photo: Black-footed Ferret. Credit: Kimberly Tamkun / USFWS

Sage Grouse Under Fire

Sage Grouse vs transmission linesA US Fish and Wildlife Service report says that sage grouse are threatened by the loss and fragmentation of their sagebrush habitat. The habitat is being lost most commonly to wildfires which burn hotter because of invasive species. Ironically, another cause of habitat loss in the invasion of conifers into the sagebrush ecosystem, which is caused when fires don’t occur frequently enough.

A Wyoming Public Media report says that the USFWS report doesn’t tell people what to do, it just explains the threats.

A press release from the American Bird Conservancy says that the Bureau of Land Management should pay attention to the report.

You can find the 115-page report here.

In related news, the Idaho Statesman reports on an effort by a Nevada county on a local ranch to kill ravens with poison eggs and to reduce wildfires by increasing livestock grazing. The goal is to increase the number of sage grouse and stave off an endangered species listing.

The county does not expect support from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the article reports, and has already drawn the ire of a regional environmental group. The article says:

“Their fixation on killing and poisoning native wildlife and turning lands back into a dustbowl is really twisted,” said Katie Fite, the biodiversity director for the Idaho-based Western Watersheds Project.

Photo: Greater sage grouse by Stephen Ting. Courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service.