Tag: ESA

Western Wolf Coalition Challenges Nationwide Wolf Delisting

January 14, 2021 — The most recent data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its state partners show an estimated 4,400 wolves inhabit the western Great Lakes states, but only 108 wolves in Washington state (with only 20 outside of eastern Washington), 158 in Oregon (with only 16 outside of northeastern Oregon), and a scant 15 exist in California. Nevada, Utah, and Colorado have had a few wolf sightings over the past three years, but wolves remain functionally absent from their historical habitat in these states.

USFWS cuts northern spotted owl critical habitat by 42% in likely death sentence for species

January 13, 2021 — Today, with six days remaining in the Trump administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule eliminating 3.4 million acres of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl in Washington state, Oregon, and California. This decision comes one month after the Service announced that the species should be uplisted from threatened to endangered, but the agency is too busy to provide these desperately needed protections. The elimination of 42% of the endangered species’ critical habitat would likely result in extinction for the northern spotted owl in the U.S. This final rule results from a sweetheart settlement between the Trump administration and the timber industry.

USFWS: Northern spotted owls are endangered, but we’re too busy to help

December 14, 2020 — Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a finding on the northern spotted owl’s listing status, spurred by a lawsuit filed last week by wildlife advocates. The finding states “reclassification of the northern spotted owl from a threatened species to an endangered species is warranted but precluded by higher priority actions to amend the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. We will develop a proposed rule to reclassify the northern spotted owl as our priorities allow.”

BLOG: Environmental Rollbacks Gut Core Conservation Laws

Trump Administration Pushing Through Environmental Rollbacks During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Gene McCarthy Cascadia Wildlands Legal Intern, Summer 2020 It can be exhausting keeping up with the constant barrage of unfortunate news covering the current administration’s breakneck efforts to remove environmental safeguards. Unfortunately, the past six months during the COVID-19 pandemic have been no exception. … Continue reading BLOG: Environmental Rollbacks Gut Core Conservation Laws

Legal Victory for Marbled Murrelets in Oregon!

August 7, 2019 — An Oregon judge has issued a decision concluding the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission violated Oregon law in denying a petition filed by five conservation groups demanding the commission uplist the murrelet from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.

Wolves Under Assault on Multiple Fronts, Your Help Needed!

Both Washington and Oregon have released their 2018 wolf numbers and the Pacific Northwest has demonstrated minor gains in the face of continued poaching and state-funded wolf killing (Oregon’s wolf population increased from 124 wolves to 137 wolves statewide and Washington’s wolf population increased from 122 to 126). California’s wolves continue to live on the … Continue reading Wolves Under Assault on Multiple Fronts, Your Help Needed!