Help Stop Bear Poaching
Many bears are killed just for their gallbladders, which are used in traditional Asian medicines to treat a variety of illnesses. Although accepted alternatives exist in traditional medicines, demand for bear parts is soaring.As Asian bear populations have fallen, poachers are turning to bears in the U.S. to satisfy a flourishing black market. Each year, 30,000 or more bears are killed illegally in the U.S.
I just asked my Representative to sign on as a cosponsor to the Bear Protection Act (H.R. 5534) -- bipartisan legislation that would help end this poaching plague. You can, too. Just visit this web site.
Poachers target hibernating bears in their dens and even track radio-collared bears that are part of scientific studies. And law enforcement agents report grisly findings: bear carcasses left in the woods with only the gallbladder and other parts removed.
Navy not exempt from California sonar curbs: judge
>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President George W. Bush should not have exempted the Navy from obeying laws intended to protect endangered whales and other marine mammals by curbing the use of sonar off the California coast, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
In the latest twist of a long-running battle between environmentalists and the Navy, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper rejected the argument that the Navy was exempt from federal environmental law because of what it said was an urgent need to properly train its sailors to detect quiet submarines.
The district court on January 3 barred the Navy's use of powerful submarine-hunting mid-frequency active radar within 12 miles
of the coast, protecting a strip of water that is habitat for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.
The court also imposed other restrictions, including a stipulation that the Navy switch off sonar if marine mammals are spotted within 2,200 yards of sonar vessels.
But Bush intervened, citing the national security necessity of last month's Navy training off the California coast, and exempted the Navy from the environmental laws at the heart of the legal challenge.
Environmental groups led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have documented cases of mass whale strandings and deaths they say are associated with sonar blasts that also sometimes cause bleeding from the eyes and ears.
While Cooper expressed "significant concerns" about the constitutionality of Bush's exemption, she avoided ruling on it. But she said the previous injunction remained in place.
"By leaving the injunction in place, the Navy may continue with its training exercises while limiting negative effects on marine life," she wrote.
Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney for the NRDC, hailed Cooper's decision.
"We're very pleased," he said. "The president's attempted end-run around Congress and the order was illegal and invalid."
(Reporting by Mary Milliken, editing by Patricia Zengerle)
California Wildfires Destroy Animal Habitats
Los Angeles - Wildfires that began last week and continue to burn in southern California have destroyed thousands of acres of vegetation and habitat on Hopper Mountain and San Diego National Wildlife Refuges, forced the temporary closure of the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, and spurred deployment of more than 40 Service firefighters to the region.As of Wednesday, more than 1,500 homes have been destroyed by wildfires in five southern California counties. Property damage is estimated at $1 Billion in San Diego County alone. All Service employees in the affected areas are accounted for and no employees' homes have been damaged by fire.
The Ranch Fire in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties burned more than 70 percent of the vegetation on Hopper Mountain NWR, home of the Service's California condor recovery program. Fire spread to the 2,471 acre refuge Sunday evening (Oct. 21) and continued into Wednesday morning. Damage to vegetation was extensive, but miraculously, the fire spared Hopper Ranch, an historic and isolated ranch house that provides equipment storage and housing for the refuge's condor biologists. Although spared from fire damage, the ranch house and out buildings were damaged by debris propelled by near-record Santa Anna winds. Refuge staff evacuated the refuge Sunday, leaving behind the ranch, condor isolation pens and three condor chicks in their remote nest sites.
News of the ranch house's survival was bittersweet as it became clear that the area burned included the condor nest sites," said Marc Weitzel, project leader at Hopper Mountain refuge complex. "The only complete fire loss was our iso-pen building, once used for rearing and as a temporary holding site for individual condors. A larger flight pen and blind are still sound even though the fire very clearly burned right through the pen."Radio transmission signals from transmitters affixed to two of the three chicks indicated that two chicks likely survived the fire. The fate of the third chick will not be known until refuge staff can visually inspect the nest site which is in a remote area of the refuge. All adult condor parents are alive and in the area of the nests.
More than 3,800 acres (50 percent) of vegetation and habitat on the San Diego NWR was burned by the Harris Fire which has burned more than 70,000 acres in southern San Diego County. Service fire crews back-burned areas around the refuge headquarters building Monday (Oct. 22) which successfully spared the building from fire damage. Refuge fire staff also saved additional private residences by lighting back-burns off fuel-breaks established by the Service's Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) projects.
The Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office in Carlsbad was closed earlier this week, however, some Carlsbad staff are assisting with emergency endangered species consultations. Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office staff is also assisting with emergency consultations.Approximately 40 firefighters Service firefighters are currently deployed to southern California. The California Nevada Operations (CNO) Office, as a member of the California Wildfire Coordination Group, is assisting with the statewide fire response. CNO is also coordinating a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) effort with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 548 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
Help end the aerial gunning of wolves
Congress returns to Washington next week, and we need to make sure our Representatives get the message: It's time to end the brutal and unnecessary aerial gunning of our wolves.So far, more than 38,000 wildlife supporters from all 50 states have signed our citizen petition for federal legislation to end aerial gunning of wolves in Alaska and prevent this brutal practice from spreading to other states.
Nearly 700 wolves have been killed by aerial gunning teams in Alaska since state officials resumed the aerial gunning program -- shot from above or chased to exhaustion and killed at point-blank range. Now the killing threatens to spread to the Lower 48, as anti-wolf legislators push for aerial gunning to help kill hundreds of wolves in Idaho and Wyoming.
Help stop the killing and save wolves. Take action online now -- Sign this petition and urge your Representative to support legislation to end aerial gunning.
Alaskans have twice approved ballot measures to limit aerial gunning, but that hasn't stopped the state's Board of Game, anti-wolf legislators and Governor Sarah Palin from disregarding the will of the people and pushing for more killing.
But if Alaska officials won't listen to the people, maybe they'll listen to Congress.
In the weeks ahead, Congressman George Miller (D-CA) is expected to introduce legislation to put an end to this brutal practice in Alaska and prevent de facto sport hunters in planes from targeting still-recovering wolves in Idaho, Wyoming or anywhere else in America.
Please stand with Congressman Miller and Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund as we fight to stop senseless aerial gunning in Alaska and prevent its spread to the Lower 48 states -- sign our petition now.
Congress returns next week, and we need to send our lawmakers a loud, clear message in opposition to aerial gunning. Sign the petition now, and help us reach 50,000 signatures by Labor Day!
Alaskans and wildlife supporters across the country know that it's time to end brutal and unnecessary aerial gunning of wolves. With your help, we can make sure Congress does, too.
Conservationists Will Sue for Protection of 55 Endangered Species, 8.7 Million Acres of Habitat
TUCSON, Ariz — The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Department of the Interior for political interference with 55 endangered species in 28 states. The notice initiates the largest substantive legal action in the 34-year history of the Endangered Species Act.
At stake in the suit is the illegal removal of one animal from the endangered species list, the refusal to place three animals on the list, proposals to remove or downgrade protection for seven animals, and the stripping of protection from 8.7 million acres of critical habitat for a long list of species from Washington State to Minnesota and Texas (see below for species and states affected).
"This is the biggest legal challenge against political interference in the history of the Endangered Species Act," said Kieran Suckling, policy director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "It puts the Bush administration on trial at every level for systematically squelching government scientists and installing a cadre of political hatchet men in positions of power."
Many of the illegal decisions were engineered by former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald, who resigned in disgrace following a scathing investigation by the inspector general of misconduct at the Department of the Interior. Other decisions were ordered by her boss, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Craig Manson, his special assistant Randal Bowman, and Ruth Solomon in the White House Office of Management and Budget. Some decisions were ordered by lower-level bureaucrats.
"The Bush administration has tried to keep a lid on its growing endangered species scandal by scapegoating Julie MacDonald," said Suckling, "but the corruption goes much deeper than one disgraced bureaucrat. It reaches into the White House itself through the Office of Management and Budget. By attacking the problem systematically through this national lawsuit, we will expose just how thoroughly the distain for science and for wildlife pervades the Bush administration's endangered species program."
In many of the cases, government and university scientists carefully documented the editing of scientific documents, overruling of scientific experts, and falsification of economic analyses.
Among the 55 species in the legal filing are the marbled murrelet (CA, OR, WA), Florida manatee (SC to TX), Arctic grayling (MT), West Virginia northern flying squirrel (WV), California least tern (CA), brown pelican (LA, TX, PR, VI), California red-legged frog (CA), arroyo toad (CA), Mexican garter snake (AZ), piping plover (NC to TX), snowy plover (CA, OR, WA) and Preble's jumping meadow mouse (CO, WY).
Number of species per state: California (24), Texas (16), New Mexico (9), Arizona (5), Louisiana (3), Colorado (2), Oregon (2), Washington (2), Kansas (2), Georgia (2), Florida (2), Alabama (2), Mississippi (2), Puerto Rico (2), American Virgin Islands (2), Montana (1), Iowa (1), Minnesota (1), Nebraska (1), South Dakota (1), Missouri (1), South Carolina (1), Nevada (1), Utah (1), Wyoming (1), West Virginia (1), Guam (1), Rota (1).
A list of species and issues is available at the Center for Biological Diversity's site.
Website : the Center for Biological Diversity
Help Save the Penguins
On November 28, 2006, the Center petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect 12 of the world's 19 penguin species under the Endangered Species Act due to global warming and other threats.Abnormally warm ocean temperatures and diminished sea ice have wreaked havoc on penguin food availability in recent decades. Less food has led to population declines in species ranging from the southern rockhopper and Humboldt penguins of the islands off South America, and the African penguin in southern Africa, to the emperor penguin in Antarctica. The ocean conditions causing these declines have been linked by scientists to global warming and are projected to intensify in the coming decades.
The emperor penguin colony at Pointe Geologie, which was featured in the film March of the Penguins, has declined by more than 50 percent due to global warming. Krill, the keystone of the Antarctic marine ecosystem and an essential food source not just for penguins but also for whales and seals, has declined by as much as 80 percent since the 1970s over large areas of the Southern Ocean. Recent studies indicate that even under the most optimistic greenhouse gas emission scenarios, continued warming over the coming decades will dramatically affect Antarctica, the sub-Antarctic islands, the Southern Ocean, and the penguins dependent for survival on these and nearby ecosystems.
This week, the Fish and Wildlife Service found that Endangered Species Act listing "may be warranted" for ten of the species, the emperor, northern and southern rockhopper, macaroni, Humboldt, African, white-flippered, erect-crested, Fiordland crested, and yellow-eyed penguins. The Service found insufficient information for the Snare's crested and royal penguins. We will not rest until all of these penguins receive the protection they deserve, and we must begin greenhouse gas reductions immediately in order to save them.
Please take a moment to write to the Fish and Wildlife Service today in support of penguin protection. And please, share this message with your family and friends!
Click here to take action or send comments to:
Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Director, International Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 760
Arlington, VA 22203;
Fax: (703) 358-2276
Email: DSApenguins@fws.gov
Stop the Extermination of Gray Wolves
The Bush Administration has just issued a disastrous "License to Kill" plan that could trigger the extermination of half the gray wolves in Wyoming and Idaho, starting as early as October -- unless we stop it now.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comments on this cruel proposal only until August 6. Please register your opposition right now by clicking here to submit an Official Citizen Comment.
Our best hope for blocking this "open fire" order is to generate a tidal wave of public outrage and protest...so please sign your Citizen Comment immediately.
The Bush Administration wants to treat wolves like vermin, instead of an endangered species that has staged a welcome and dramatic comeback from the brink of extinction.
In preparation for these mass killings, the government has already purchased planes and helicopters capable of gunning down entire packs of wolves in minutes.
Their goal: To immediately kill up to 700 wolves in Greater Yellowstone and central Idaho.
Our goal: To stop this horrific proposal in its tracks -- by generating 200,000 pro-wolf Citizen Comments by the August 6 deadline.
Can we do it? Only three months ago, online activists like us sent more than 137,000 Citizen Comments protesting the Bush Administration's plan to remove Greater Yellowstone's wolves from the endangered species list.
But even before that battle has been decided, the Bush Administration is upping the ante by declaring open season on wolves.
Simply put, they will allow the slaughter to begin while wolves are still on the Endangered Species list!
The administration wants to be able to kill wolves anywhere that elk herd numbers may be affected by wolves. It is focusing on areas where elk herds are smaller than the states want.
But those few cases of declines in elk herds have been caused by a combination of factors including habitat destruction, drought and human hunting -- not just by wolves. And in most areas of the northern Rockies, elk numbers are at all-time highs!
Please block this new License to Kill by expressing your personal opposition while the Bush Administration is still taking public input.
Submit your Official Citizen Comment now -- and shield the wolves of Greater Yellowstone and Idaho from the coming crossfire.
U.S. Weighs Reducing Spotted Owl Habitat
June 13, 2007 — By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press
GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- The Bush administration Tuesday proposed cutting 1.5 million acres from Northwest forests considered critical to the survival of the northern spotted owl, reopening the 1990s battle between timber production and wildlife habitat on public lands.
The owl, which became a symbol of the decline of the Northwest's timber industry, was declared a threatened species in 1990 due primarily to heavy logging in the old growth forests where it nests and feeds.
Recent research has noted that while old growth forests suitable for owl habitat have increased, owl numbers have continued to decline, and that the owl faces a new threat from a cousin, the barred owl, that has been invading its territory.
The proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was published in the Federal Register. It calls for cutting critical habitat for the owl from the 6.9 million acres designated in 1992 to 5.4 million acres.
It comes on the heels of a new recovery plan for the owl that suggests killing some barred owls to see if spotted owls will benefit.
Under court order, timber production on national forests in Washington, Oregon and Northern California was cut by more than 80 percent in 1994 to protect owl habitat, contributing to mill closures and job losses that were particularly painful in rural areas with no other industry. Since then, the Northwest economy has turned to other industries, particularly high-tech, retirement and tourism, but some rural areas continue to struggle.
Since taking office in 2000, the Bush administration has been working to change the Northwest Forest Plan to allow more timber production, but has been largely stymied by court rulings, including several that tossed out plans to log in critical habitat for the owl.
Source: Associated Press
Okinawa dugong threatened by military expansion
The U.S. and Japanese governments are planning to destroy the best remaining habitat of a unique and critically endangered marine mammal ‹ the Okinawa dugong. This dugong, a relative of the manatee, is a rare marine mammal that feeds in the seagrass beds and coral reefs of Okinawa's Henoko Bay. Fewer than 50 individual dugongs remain in an area described by the United Nations Environment Program as "the most important known dugong habitat in Japan." If the U.S. military proceeds with its Camp Scwab construction plan this exceptional, rare animal will lose the best habitat it has left and begin its last slide toward extinction.
Okinawa has been called the "Galapagos of the East" as the region's surrounding bays and oceans are home to an amazing diversity of life.
The Kuroshio Ocean current brings tropical waters to the region's bays and coral reefs, a warm current that helps sustain as many as 400 different species of coral and supports the nutrient-rich seagrass beds upon which the Okinawa dugong feeds. More than 1,000 species of reef fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles ‹ including the endangered hawksbill, loggerhead, and green turtle ‹ also live among Okinawa's reefs and seagrass beds.
Now, the United States and Japanese governments want to steamroll over these unique animals and their home by filling in a large area of ocean near Henoko in order to expand Camp Schwab. And to expand this U.S. military base, drilling surveys are being conducted on and adjacent to Henoko's coral reefs ‹ and reef sections that are not damaged by the initial drilling will be heavily impacted by the massive military construction project. If the U.S. and Japanese militaries continue with the Camp Schwab expansion plans, critical dugong habitat will be destroyed.
Camp Schwab is located adjacent to and in Henoko Bay, and for years nonviolent citizens' groups, led primarily by community elders, have peacefully blocked U.S. military expansion efforts there. But now, the likelihood of Camp Schwab's expansion looms ever larger. On May 18, 2007, Henoko community members took to their kayaks and canoes to protest against private, pre-construction drilling surveys in Henoko Bay. In response to this peaceful demonstration, the Japanese Coast Guard was called in to deter citizen demonstrators. Unfortunately, the approaching completion of some drilling surveys brings expansion of Camp Schwab ever nearer.
This is a critical moment. As drilling surveys continue in Henoko Bay, more and more dugong habitat is being harmed. Without adequate habitat to sustain them, the Okinawa dugong is headed toward the path of extinction. Please, let your voice be heard.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation, Dugong Network Okinawa, Save the Dugong Foundation, and several other Okinawan individuals have filed a lawsuit in federal district court in San Francisco against the U.S. Department of Defense base expansion plan.
Environmental law firm Earthjustice represents the plaintiffs. The case will go to trial in September 2007.
The critically endangered Okinawa dugong is under siege and needs your help. Please speak out today on this important issue. Click here to send a message to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and their counterparts in Japan's gvernment urging them to halt the expansion of U.S. military base Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan. Campaign Expiration Date: September 30, 2007
The fight to protect the whales isn't over
We won the first round in our local fight against deadly sonar. But round two starts today -- and we really need you to make your voice heard!
Last month, NRDC Members and activists sent thousands of messages urging the California Coastal Commission to require the U.S. Navy to protect whales and other marine life from lethal sonar during training exercises.
As a result, the commission unanimously REFUSED to approve the Navy's plan to blast California's coastlines with ear-splitting sonar -- since the Navy had failed to commit to life-saving precautions. That's terrific news.
But the fight isn't over! On January 10, the commission will again review the Navy's sonar application and Californians like you must ensure that the agency upholds its commitment to protect the state's coastal waters.
Please go to http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/biogems_whales_0107 right now and tell the commission to demand that the Navy implement key safety measures to protect whales during sonar training!
Whales around the world have been found dead or dying after being blasted with mid-frequency military sonar. The Navy itself has conceded the lethal impacts of this technology, but it has not taken the common-sense steps necessary to protect whales and other marine life.
For example, the Navy should stay out of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and other important whale habitat; power down its sonar during night-time exercises or in other conditions of low visibility; and enforce adequate "safety zones" around sonar vessels.
Please go to http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/biogems_whales_0107 and demand that the coastal commission refuse to approve the Navy's sonar application without the addition of specific, life-saving protections.
Thank you for helping to defend marine mammals.