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Up one levelCore Lynx Habitat Spared from Oil and Gas Drilling
Some of the most important habitat for endangered Canada lynx in the Southern Rocky Mountains was spared from imminent damage from oil and gas drilling Friday when the Bureau of Land Management deferred leasing on 144,000 acres of the Rio Grande National Forest.
Lynx Habitat Threatened by Oil and Gas Development
Wildlife advocates and conservation groups filed formal protests yesterday of the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to allow oil and gas drilling in tens of thousands of acres of forest in Southwest Colorado. Oil and gas drilling in this area would damage important wildlife habitat, including core habitat for the Canada lynx.
Colorado's Greater Sage Grouse Plan Needs Political Will
Colorado's Division of Wildlife has released the state's plan to preserve the greater sage-grouse, an ambitious program which will be successful only if the state can implement it fully and garner the cooperation necessary to do so.
New Critical Habitat Designation for Canada Lynx Excludes Colorado
Although the Fish and Wildlife Service's new critical habitat designation greatly expands habitat protections for the threatened Canada lynx in much of its former range throughout America, it still excludes Colorado, where a reintroduction program is in full swing. The new habitat protections are intended to correct inappropriate manipulation of scientific findings by disgraced Bush appointee Julie MacDonald.
Endangered Species Act Protection Will Be Considered for White-tailed Prairie Dog
Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to overturn a politically motivated decision denying the white-tailed prairie dog consideration as an endangered species. The Service will instead initiate a formal status review by May 1, 2008 and will determine whether Endangered Species Act protection is necessary for the prairie dog by June 1, 2010.
U.S. to Move Grey Wolf off Endangered Species List
The Billings Gazette reports on today's announcement that the U.S. government plans to remove federal protections for the gray wolf. This would mean open season on recently established wolf populations in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, where state plans call for the wolf populations to be dramatically cut back through hunting. Wolves once roamed widely throughout North America and were nearly eradicated through a federally sponsored killing program by the 1930s. They were reintroduced in the mid-1990s in Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho as part of the Endangered Species Act reintroduction program.
Victory in Fight to Stop Village at Wolf Creek Development and Protect Key Lynx Corridor
An important victory was achieved today in the effort to prevent development of a resort and residential development that would accommodate up to 10,000 people near Wolf Creek Ski Area. The development would threaten a key wildlife movement corridor that is particularly important for lynx. The U.S. Forest Service has agreed to conduct a new Environmental Impact Statement in order to settle a lawsuit filed in 2006.
Fish and Wildlife Service Acknowledges Plight of Gunnison's Prairie Dog, Fails to Protect Species
The Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged today that the Gunnison's prairie dog warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act but failed to actually provide such protection. The decision reverses an earlier one tainted by interference from former Interior Department official Julie MacDonald. The agency's decision also splits the species' habitat into two parts and proposes protection only for the smaller "montane" portion.
Conservation Groups File Protest of BLM Plan for Great Divide
A coalition of conservation groups today challenged a BLM management plan for Wyoming's Great Divide. The coalition is encouraging the BLM to adopt the Western Heritage Alternative, a science-based solution allowing continued production of oil and gas resources while protecting key areas like Adobe Town, Powder Rim, and important habitat for sage grouse and big game.
Unique Pygmy Rabbit One Step Closer to Protection
The imperiled pygmy rabbit is one step closer to protection after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a positive preliminary finding on a formal petition seeking its protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Service originally rejected the formal protection request, but Center for Native Ecosystems joined other conservation groups in challenging their decision. The finding comes after a federal court declared the rejection illegal and ordered the Service to revisit its decision.
Investigation into Politically Tainted Endangered Species Decisions Grows
Based on a request from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Interior Department’s Office of the Inspector General announced Friday a new investigation into more than a dozen endangered species decisions that were inappropriately influenced by former Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald. The new investigation begins nine months after an earlier Inspector General’s report exposed MacDonald’s interference in numerous Fish and Wildlife Service decisions and led to her resignation and an ongoing scandal in the Interior Department.
Endangered Species Act Protection Sought for White-tailed Prairie Dog
A coalition of conservation groups today filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to overturn a politically motivated decision denying the white-tailed prairie dog protection as an endangered species. This legal action came on the same day that the House Natural Resources Committee released a letter from the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledging that the denial of protection to the white-tailed prairie dog and several other species was the result of political interference.
Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse, Colorado Open Space Confirmed for Protection
The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, a key indicator of the health of streamside wildlife habitat along the Front Range, was confirmed today as a species in need of Endangered Species Act protection in Colorado. In Wyoming, however, the Preble’s will be stripped of its protection, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service proposal.
Colorado BLM to Lease Critical Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat
Center for Native Ecosystems joined citizens, scientists, counties, and other conservation groups in protesting the Bureau of Land Management's proposed sale of oil and gas leases in tens of thousands of acres of essential habitat for greater sage grouse and other wildlife in Colorado. The Bureau of Land Management has ignored critical information from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and other experts by leasing sage grouse "core areas" for oil and gas drilling.
Upcoming Utah Oil and Gas Lease Sale Canceled
The Utah office of the federal Bureau of Land Management has canceled its regular sale of oil and gas leases on public land this fall, citing the need to further analyze impacts to wildlife habitat in the places proposed for leasing.
Judge Orders Pygmy Rabbit Endangered Species Consideration
The imperiled sagebrush native known as the pygmy rabbit received a second chance at deserved protection when a federal judge in Idaho ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to consider it for Endangered Species Act listing.
Colorado, Utah Wildflowers Gain Increased Endangered Species Act Protection
The Pariette cactus and its cousins the Colorado hookless cactus and the Uinta Basin hookless cactus, are set to gain stronger protection under the Endangered Species Act because of the efforts of Center for Native Ecosystems and the Utah Native Plant Society. The three wildflowers, which range in northeastern Utah and western Colorado, are squarely in the path of oil and gas drilling. Today's news gives hope that the plants will be saved from extinction.
Utah Habitat for Sage Grouse, Other Wildlife Spared from Oil and Gas Drilling
The Utah office of the federal Bureau of Land Management deferred oil and gas leases on 38,495 acres of sage grouse habitat after conservation groups protested their inclusion in the upcoming quarterly lease sale. In addition, the Utah BLM voluntarily deferred leasing on 157,731 acres, acknowledging it had not fully considered environmental impacts to natural resources such as the imperiled native plant Graham’s penstemon and several potential Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. All told, the BLM withdrew or postponed leasing on more than 292,000 acres based in part on recent court decisions citing problems with their analysis of impacts to sensitive species and other natural values.
South Shale Ridge and Endangered Cactus Temporarily Saved from Oil and Gas Drilling
The Bureau of Land Management failed to consider impacts to an endangered wildflower and other natural values and must therefore halt its plan to allow oil and gas drilling in the pristine and scenic South Shale Ridge area of western Colorado, a U.S. District Court judge ruled today.
Western Wildlife May Get Redress of Tainted Endangered Species Decisions
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service might reverse or modify its decisions to deny Endangered Species Act protections to several Western species, according to an anonymous government official speaking to the Associated Press on Thursday.
