Biodiversity & Species
Is dam removal in the offing on the Lower Snake River?
For most of two decades, environmentalists have sought removal of four federal dams on the Lower Snake River for the sake of the northwest’s wild salmon runs. So far, they have been stymied by the agencies that operate the dams — the Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration — and local utility and industry …
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CONTINUE READINGPika next test for the ESA?
If you think the polar bear wrangling has been fun, stay tuned. FWS has announced that it will review the status of the American pika to determine if listing is warranted (hat tip: EarthJustice). The pika, also known as the “rock rabbit,” is a cute little creature found in the mountains of the western U.S. …
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CONTINUE READINGESA in the Everglades
There’s something for everyone to like (and to dislike) in the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Miccosukee Tribe v. United States. The case involved the Army Corps of Engineers’ management of south Florida’s extensive plumbing system. Compliance with the Endangered Species Act in operating the S-12 gates in the Central and South Florida project poses a …
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CONTINUE READINGPolar bears, wolves, and Obama’s Interior Department
Environmentalists have been absolutely thrilled with the EPA under the leadership of President Obama and Administrator Lisa Jackson. The Department of Interior under Secretary Ken Salazar has drawn more mixed reviews so far. (Dan Tarlock and I wrote about the first 100 days at Interior on the Center for Progressive Reform blog.) Recent news out …
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CONTINUE READINGESA Does Not Address Carbon Emissions
According to news reports, the Department of Interior has reaffirmed a Bush Administration rule that excludes carbon emissions from regulation under the Endangered Species Act. The Guardian reports: The Obama administration today declined to protect polar bears from the single greatest threat to their survival – the melting of sea ice by global warming. The …
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CONTINUE READINGSection 7 status quo reinstated
Last week, Interior Secretary Salazar and Commerce Secretary Locke issued a press release announcing that they were withdrawing the Bush administration’s midnight rules relaxing the ESA section 7 consultation requirements. (Background on the Bush rules is here, here, and here.) The notice formalizing that decision has now been published in the Federal Register. As Congress …
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CONTINUE READINGThe fat lady is warming up — make that singing
UPDATE 4/28: The Secretaries of Interior and Commerce have announced that they are revoking the Bush administration’s midnight rule on ESA section 7 consultation. They apparently are not revoking the special rule on the polar bear (as they were also authorized to do under the omnibus spending bill). We will have more when the formal …
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CONTINUE READING“Nature,” not nature, makes us happier
Yale professor of psychology Paul Bloom published an essay this week in the New York Times Magazine arguing that the pleasure that “real natural habitats” provide to humans is a significant argument for “preservation” of these habitats. The essay was deeply unsatisfying to me, as it avoided all the hard questions that anyone grappling with the …
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CONTINUE READINGThe death of Macho B
Jaguars, the largest new-world cat species, are extremely rare in the United States. The US-Mexico border region marks the very northern edge of their range. They were thought to have been extirpated from the US until one was seen in Arizona in 1996. That, together with a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, prodded …
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CONTINUE READINGGetting to the root of recurring water conflicts
This post is co-authored by A. Dan Tarlock, Distinguished Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and cross-posted by permission from the Island Press Eco-Compass blog. The western United States is characterized by highly variable and seasonal rainfall patterns. To deal with the constant threat of drought, the West relies on intensively managed water …
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