WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three groups filed suit today in United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decision to cancel its plans to phase out lead ammunition at one of the nation’s national wildlife refuges.
Montreal, Canada – Today, governments from around the world agreed to adopt the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, in conclusion of the United Nations’ Biodiversity Conference (COP15).
In a major setback for wildlife protection and conservation, a federal district court today sided with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, delaying the restoration of comprehensive Endangered Species Act protections for hundreds of species and the places they call home.
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released an Instruction Memorandum (IM) to all field staff, effective immediately, which will inventory and assess habitat connectivity to identify how to manage public lands and best support priority species. This assessment would then be used to inform land use plans and revisions on public lands that the BLM manages.
SEATTLE-- Today, Washington Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee issued a long-awaited final report evaluating the services of the four lower Snake River dams and their devastating impacts on salmon populations. The report concludes that the current state of salmon recovery projects on the Snake River is unsustainable and will not lead to the recovery of salmon populations, whose numbers have been declining for decades due in large part to the four dams.
PORTLAND, OR— Today fishing and conservation groups in long-running litigation to protect endangered salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers joined with the State of Oregon, Nez Perce Tribe and United States to ask the U.S. District Court to extend a stay of the litigation by up to one year.
Today the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources voted out of committee Senator Daines’ bill that would remove requirements under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). S. 2561, ostensibly centered around undoing the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. United States Forest Service (Cottonwood) court decision, would eliminate the reinitiation of programmatic consultation with the Forest Service for its land management plans.
Today, a coalition of wildlife advocates, hunters, and anglers challenged the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the Forest Service’s decision to abandon all 10 crucial wildlife standards that have guided wildlife habitat management of the Helena National Forest for 30 years. In the forest plan revision process, the agencies failed to conduct legally required analysis of the effects this decision would have on threatened grizzly bears, Canada lynx, and big game species including elk. The abandonment of these standards significantly weakens protections for wildlife including preservation of important hiding cover, and allows increases in road density in wildlife habitat – a primary factor in grizzly bear mortality.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House passed the Recovering America's Wildlife Act (RAWA) with a 231-190 vote. This historic bipartisan bill would invest nearly $1.4 billion for states, territories, and Tribes to amplify their work in recovering, conserving, and protecting at-risk wildlife and habitat.
In response, Bradley Williams, Associate Director of Legislative and Administrative Advocacy released the following statement:
Today, six conservation groups submitted a comprehensive recommendation to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), calling on the state to prioritize the health of the Greater Yellowstone region’s wild ungulate herds and to begin phasing out 22 state-run feedgrounds in northwestern Wyoming, where tens of thousands of elk are artificially fed each winter. The agency is poised to issue a draft feedground management plan early next year.
Groups sued the Biden administration today for issuing a regulation that allows oil and gas companies to harass Southern Beaufort Sea polar bears despite the likelihood of causing injury and death.
BOISE, ID — Citing risk to federally protected species, today ten groups filed a notice of intent to sue the state of Idaho in response to the state’s newest wolf hunting laws.