Jackson, WY-- Today, the National Park Service and Wyoming Game and Fish Department reported that an elk tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Grand Teton National Park. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a rapidly-spreading wildlife epidemic that is killing elk, moose and deer herds across the country, particularly in western states. CWD is a neurological ailment that is always fatal and has the potential to wipe out entire herds of elk.
Reno, NV-- A broad coalition of conservationists, Native Americans, sportsmen and women, elected officials and others are celebrating the Congressional vote today that denies the U.S. military its long sought-after expansions of two major facilities in Nevada, at the Fallon Naval Air Station and the Nellis Test and Training Range.
Today, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a proposed authorization that would allow for the harassment of threatened polar bears as part of destructive seismic testing for oil in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Much of the Arctic Refuge is designated as critical habitat for polar bears because mother bears den and nurture their cubs there during the winter.
Helena, MT— Today, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff will present final recommendations of Governor Bullock’s Grizzly Bear Advisory Council for grizzly bear management in the state at a meeting of the Montana legislature’s Environmental Quality Council.
WASHINGTON, D.C— The Trump administration today announced a new proposed rule to circumvent establishing habitat protections for endangered species. The rule follows a string of other proposals to weaken the Endangered Species Act, including another rule proposed just last month putting additional restrictions on designation of critical habitat.
Pinedale, WY-- Today, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved an updated plan to address the state’s rapidly-accelerating chronic wasting disease wildlife epidemic. The plan includes additional and more targeted monitoring for the disease statewide, and some plans to minimize artificial animal concentration areas. The plan does not address artificial winter feeding of elk.
SAN FRANCISCO--The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld the Montana District Court’s opinion that reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for the Yellowstone region’s grizzly bear population. The decision spares the grizzlies from plans for trophy hunts in the states of Wyoming and Idaho.
Earthjustice, representing the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and National Parks Conservation Association, argued for restoring protections to Yellowstone grizzly bears.
Washington, DC— Today as the country faces an uprising for racial justice and ongoing pandemic, the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in efforts to strip critical protections in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Washington, DC— The Sierra Club secured over 14,437 documents from the Department of the Interior through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), including call logs, meetings and email communications that are now available for the public. Find and search the documents online here.
Included in the lowlights are:
TUCSON, Arizona— The Trump administration’s latest border wall plan, which would wall off the last jaguar migration paths and bulldoze Arizona’s Sky Island mountains, has drawn opposition from thousands of people across the country.
PINEDALE, Wyo.— The Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club filed a lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to allow 72 grizzly bears to be killed to accommodate livestock grazing in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest, near Yellowstone National Park.