Washington, DC-- Today, under the leadership of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along with NOAA Fisheries proposed three rule changes that would effectively dismantle the Endangered Species Act. E&E released a leak of the proposed modifications to the rule that will make it increasingly difficult to hold wildlife agencies accountable, lessen opportunity for public input and weaken protection of threatened species.
Washington, DC-- Today, the House Western Caucus introduced nine bills, all of which would effectively dismantle the Endangered Species Act. Taken together, the bills impede citizen involvement in species protections, significantly limit opportunities for listing and undermine the sound science needed for effective wildlife management. This better known House “extinction package” doubles down on Sen. Barrasso’s bill introduced last week that would also weaken the ESA.
WASHINGTON, D.C -- Sen. Barrasso today introduced a bill that would unravel the Endangered Species Act by weakening the reliance on sound science, giving authority over wildlife decisions to often hostile state management, and stripping the ability of the public to hold agencies accountable when they fail to act.
In response, Jordan Giaconia, Sierra Club federal policy associate, issued the following statement.
The House today is expected to take up the Salmon Extinction Act, HR 3144. The bill will roll back critical protections for endangered salmon, derail salmon recovery alternatives, and undermine bedrock environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act. Thirteen wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia and Snake River Basin are currently at risk of extinction, none of which have recovered under the inadequate plans the Salmon Extinction Act would continue.
More than 240 environmental, animal welfare and conservation organizations sent a letter to House and Senate leadership today, calling on them to reject riders in 2018 Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency appropriations legislation that would erode the Endangered Species Act and other safeguards for wildlife. The letter comes as Congress is poised to pass yet another continuing resolution that could pave the way for negotiations to begin on a final omnibus appropriations bill for FY 2018. This year’s House and Senate bills currently include provisions that would strip away federal protections for wolves and several other species, choke off funding for listed species if wildlife agencies cannot complete their five-year species reviews on time and block protections for sage-grouse, among many others.
JACKSON, WY -- The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will hold a public meeting tonight in Jackson to gather input on how grizzly bears should be managed in the state. The meeting is one of several being held by the Department. Additional meetings are planned including one in Pinedale tomorrow, and other locations in late November/December. Wyoming joined Montana and Idaho in taking over management of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone region following the animal's removal from the Endangered Species list this summer.
LARAMIE, WY --The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will hold a public meeting tonight to gather input on how grizzly bears should be managed in the state. Wyoming joined Montana and Idaho in taking over management of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone region following the animal's removal from the Endangered Species list.