USFWS Turns ESA Take Permits Over to Florida

Posted on April 1, 2013 by MadelineBodin

Florida_Scrub_Jay Last year the US Fish and Wildlife Service quietly handed over the responsibility for issuing incidental take permits for species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Now, two environmental groups, the Center for Biodiversity and Conservancy of Southwest Florida, have given the US Fish and Wildlife Service 60 days to settle with them, or they will sue.

The Tampa Bay Times article notes that Florida developers were pleased with the switch to state control over the federal endangered species law. That may be because, the article says, two members of the eight member Florida commission are developers and a third is a paving contractor.

The feds turned over EPA enforcement to the Florida state government as well, the article notes.

Read the whole Tampa Bay Times article here.

Photo: Florida scrub jay, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

It’s Official: National Wildlife Climate Policy

Posted on March 28, 2013 by MadelineBodin

You’ve probably heard about the drafts (since it was called for by Congress four years ago), but now the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Policy has officially been announced.

The big news appears to be a plan to create wildlife corridors so wildlife can more easily move in response to climate change. It also urges wildlife managers to plan for a changing climate, not just current conditions.

The strategy (or Strategy, as it is called in materials) appears to come with neither regulatory teeth nor funding.

Read a Los Angeles Times article, here.
Find the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaption Strategy website, here. (Follow links to summaries and frequently asked questions.)

And I just have to say that maybe next time “wildlife” will already be understood to include both fish and plants, and perhaps invertebrates as well.

Lots o’ Legislation

Posted on March 18, 2013 by MadelineBodin

I know, you are trying to focus on science and have no interest in the political scene. And I know that lots of bills get passed, but few of them become laws. Every once in a while, it is worth mentioning the gears of law, though. In this case it is worth mentioning because both the Idaho and Utah legislatures were very busy in late February creating new laws about endangered species.

The Associated Press reported that a bill that passed the Idaho Senate “would make it against state policy for federal officials to introduce or reintroduce any threatened or endangered species in Idaho without state approval.”

But there’s not much more than that on the bill. Read it the brief piece on The Oregonian website, here.

Utah was extra busy. They’ve got three bills in the works. One House bill would, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune, “allow county assessors to reduce a property’s tax burden if its value is impacted by designation as critical habitat for threatened or endangered species.”

Another House bill, “asks the federal government to not designate any private land in San Juan County as sage grouse habitat,” says the Salt Lake City Tribune. And a Senate bill which, “endorses Iron County taking over recovery of the Utah prairie dog” from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Utah legislature also put $300,000 in its budget to prevent the federal government from reintroducing the gray wolf into the state, another Salt Lake City Tribune article says. The article says that federal officials deny that any such reintroduction is planned.

Read the Salt Lake City Tribune article on the wolf payment here.

And props to Brian Maffly, the Salt Lake City Tribune reporter on both of those stories for making dull legislative news lively and easy to understand.

Photo: gray wolf by Gary Kramer, used courtesy USFWS

AAAS Report: Partnering with Zoos

Posted on February 21, 2013 by MadelineBodin

You may think of zoos as a place where people go to gawk at captive animals. Or you may think of zoos as vital partners in your role managing wildlife for the people of your state. The US Fish and Wildlife has a significant track record in working with zoos to conserve federally endangered species. Could you do the same on a state level?

At the AAAS annual meeting in Boston earlier this week, John Fraser of New Knowledge Organization made the case for zoos’ role in conservation as more than mere arks that protect endangered species when the wild isn’t safe.

Fraser said that when it comes to handling animals, no one does it better than zoos, because no one has more practice. He said that zoos are the place to turn for expert advice and even hired help when you need to handle certain wild animals in your research.

He also pointed out that zoos can provide research subjects when for whatever reason studying the species in the wild won’t do. He said that because zoos have experience with the entire life-cycle of a species, they can provide information that can inform conservation in the wild and even the needs of other, similar species.

Finally, he noted that the gawking public often only learns to appreciate a species when they’ve seen it up close in a zoo, and in that way zoos can provide a public relations platform for conservation efforts.

NM Crane Mystery

Posted on December 6, 2012 by MadelineBodin

mystery crane NM It’s not so much of a mystery, as a quirky little crane that has attracted media attention nationwide. Back in November, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico posted a photo on its Facebook page of a crane that was darker, thinner, smaller and had more compact feathers than the flock of sandhill cranes it was with.

The refuge is known for its sandhill cranes, so it made sense that this was simply a color morph, or a crane that had preened dark mud into its feathers. But the guessing game had begun, with the most outrageous guess supposing that this was a hybrid between a sandhill crane and a trumpeter, native to South America.

The photo of the bird that is getting the most exposure is by Clint Henson of the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish.

Read more about the guessing game in the San Francisco Chronicle, here.
The Bosque del Apache NWR Facebook page is worth a visit just for the many stunning photos, of cranes, other creatures and beautiful vistas.

Photo: Mystery crane and sandhill friends, courtesy of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

Smoothing Ruffled Feathers

Posted on October 19, 2012 by MadelineBodin

It took a long time to sort out, but this week the the federal Justice Department clarified its stand on native people possessing eagle feathers. The policy said that tribal members can possesses or wear feathers from bald or golden eagles. They can also lend, give or trade the feathers or bird parts to other tribal members, as long as money doesn’t change hands.

Further, tribal members can keep eagle feathers that they pick up off the ground, but they can’t kill or harass the federally protected birds to get the feathers. There’s a federal depository for eagles that were accidentally killed, and tribal members can apply to receive feathers or parts from the repository for ceremonial purposes.

The US Fish and Wildlife department also issues a few permits for tribal members to kill eagles for religious purposes.

The Summit County Citizens Voice was the article getting all the buzz. Read the article, here.
You can also check out the Washington Post‘s take on the issue, here.

But now that we have eagle situation solved, other migratory birds are an issue. An Alaskan man was stunned to find out that selling items decorated with bird feathers is illegal, the Anchorage Daily News reports. As a member of the Tlingit nation, he felt that he was just doing what his people had done for generations. He settled the case for a $2,005 fine.

Unfortunately, the article does not clarify how the federal Migratory Bird Act applies to tribal members, but it is likely that the rule is similar to the rule for eagle feathers and parts.

Read the Anchorage Daily News story here.

Photo by Dave Menke, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Hunting and Fishing Up, Feds Say

Posted on August 17, 2012 by MadelineBodin

A new report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service says that the number of hunters nationwide has increased nine percent 2006 to 2011 and the number of anglers increased by 11 percent. More than 71 million people watched wildlife in those five years.

Wildlife-related recreation makes up one percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, the report says. (Now you can say that you are part of the one percent.)

While the news on hunting represents the halt in a decades’ long decline, the report is not all good news for wildlife managers. Not only did the number of people who watched wildlife not increase from 2006 to 2011, but most wildlife watchers never leave home to do so. While “wildlife watching” includes photographing and observing, for 74% of all wildlife watchers, the wildlife activity enjoyed is feeding wildlife.

The 24-page preliminary report is available now. (Here.) A more detailed report will be available in November, and reports on each state will be released starting in December.
Get the highlights in the press release, found here.

Photo courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Maps Will Describe Critical Habitat in ESA Listings

Posted on May 7, 2012 by MadelineBodin

USFWS critical habitat portal Is a picture worth a thousand words? The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) think a map is worth several pages of text. Both governmental entities are planning on replacing the long written descriptions of critical habitat for Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings in the Federal Register with a map. Make that an on-line map.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service says that the map will be an easier way to describe an area. Up until now, the areas have been described in the Federal Register like this:

Land bounded by the following UTM Zone 18, NAD 83 coordinates (E,N): 733143, 99288; 733053, 99268; 733055, 99291; 733065, 99309; 733055, 99320; 733048, 99344; 733053, 99364; 733090, 99377; 733140, 99370; 733143, 99288.

While surely no one will miss that kind of prose style, providing a link instead of including all the necessary information in the Federal Register notice will mean that the vital information about the listing will not be in one place, which was always at least part of the point of the Federal Register. It’s also easy to imagine maps being created in formats that become obsolete or the funding for maintain the database getting cut.

The change takes effect on May 31, 2012. All ESA listings after that date will include a link to an on-line map instead of a written description.

Read the US Fish and Wildlife Service press release here.
It will send you to this web page on Critical Habitat for more information.
That page will send you to this example of an on-line map designating critical habitat.

Photo: The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Critical Habitat Portal

Longer Terms for Eagle Permits

Posted on April 13, 2012 by MadelineBodin

The US Fish and Wildlife Service would like to extend the length of the permits they issue to wind energy operations and other activities that by their nature disturb or kill bald and golden eagles from a maximum of five years to 30 years.

It also wants to charge more for the permits, saying that the new charge will cover the true cost of the review. A 30-year permit will cost $15,600, a US Fish and Wildlife press release says. The release adds that those longer permits will only go to projects that make an effort to conserve the eagles.

Read the US Fish and Wildlife press release in its entirety, here. It includes many links, including more information about the rule, the rule-making process and instructions on how to submit your comments. Comments will be accepted until May 14, 2012.

There was no media coverage of the proposed change at the time this was written.

True Wildlife Crime Saga: Grizzly Edition

Posted on April 4, 2012 by MadelineBodin

A grizzly in Yellowstone, but NOT the one in the Slate article

On Oct. 2, 2011 a grizzly bear known as the Wapiti sow was put to death for the crime of killing two humans in Yellowstone National Park. The decision to kill the grizzly sow did not come easily and was dependent on DNA evidence that put her at the scene of both deaths.

In this thoughtful, lengthy article in Slate, senior editor Jessica Grose looks at the entire process, from the humans’ deaths to the grizzly’s. It features US Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen and Yellowstone bear manager Kerry Gunther. It’s worth your time, especially if you’ve ever been the one to make the tough decision to kill an animal in the hope of keeping the public safe.

Read it here: A Death in Yellowstone.

Photo by Terry Tollefsbol, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

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