Biodiversity & Species
Bad ESA rules not yet undone
(Cross-posted at the Center for Progressive Reform blog.) The Bush administration’s last-minute ESA (non)consultation rule is getting almost as much attention now as it did during the comment period. Then, the administration reportedly received more than 300,000 comments, the vast majority of them negative. Those objections were, of course, quickly swept under the proverbial rug …
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CONTINUE READINGA pointed end to the Julie MacDonald era
Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its revised critical habitat designation for the Canada lynx. (Hat tip, ESABlawg.) Back in the day when Julie MacDonald was serving Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, FWS had designated just over 1,800 square miles as lynx critical habitat. After MacDonald was forced out …
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CONTINUE READINGDon’t hamstring the Endangered Species Act
The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a vitally important bulwark in the legal protections for our environment in the United States. The ESA provides essential life support to a wide range of species on the edge of extinction, species such as our native salmon, grizzly bears, and California condors. The Act has helped to …
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CONTINUE READINGDelta news roundup
It’s been a busy and discouraging ten days for those interested in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as either an ecosystem or a water source. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the return of fall chinook salmon to the Sacramento River hit a record low last year. The Pacific Fishery Management Council released a gloomy preseason …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy futures markets won’t save species
Conflict, or perceived conflict, between profits and conservation drives much of the controversy over implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Landowners and resource users resist species listing and protection because it comes at their expense. For years we’ve been talking about whether and to what extent to incorporate compensation or other economic incentives for conservation …
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CONTINUE READINGOf Smelt, Salmon & Whales
The inter-connectivity of our ecosystem has been underscored by new and alarming scientific findings. Recently, the National Marine Fisheries Service has reported that the dramatic, well-documented declines in Pacific salmon fisheries may lead to the extinction of Pacific killer (Orca) whales. This killer whale population, a unique species, is already endangered under federal law, and …
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CONTINUE READINGA smorgasbord of smelt and salmon news
There have been several developments in the Delta water saga since I posted on the request for relief from water quality standards submitted by the state Department of Water Resources and federal Bureau of Reclamation, and the potential for conflict between the water needs of smelt and of salmon.
CONTINUE READINGDon’t Know Much Biology
As a famous biologist once said, “without evolution nothing in biology makes sense.” And biological science is obviously basic to a lot of environmental policy. Thus, it is dismaying to learn that only four out of ten Americans believe in evolution. Trying to understand environmental policy without believing in evolution is like trying to understand …
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CONTINUE READINGWolf woes
Wolf conservation has long been among both the most controversial and the most creative aspects of implementation of the U.S. Endangered Species Act. There’s been a flurry of wolf news over the past three months. It emphasizes conflict, some of that over attempts at creative ESA implementation. In the southwest the Mexican wolf is suffering …
CONTINUE READINGThis is for the birds
More depressing climate change news on bird migration: An Audubon Society study to be released Tuesday found that more than half of 305 birds species in North America, a hodgepodge that includes robins, gulls, chickadees and owls, are spending the winter about 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago. So if it’s …
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