NEWS

Wildlife officials looking for clues in wolf poisoning Wildlife officials say they have no suspects in their investigation into poisoned bait left for wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in central Idaho. "Poison cases are very hard to make, especially when it's showing up mostly on public land," said Roy Brown, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servie agent based in Wyoming. "Short of seeing someone put it out, how do you tie it back to people?" On June 3, Fish and Wildlife Service agents confirmed that a male gray wolf found dead last month in the wilderness area was killed by eating meat laced with a gray granular pesticide known as Temik. The pesticide is commonly applied to agricultural crops such as potatoes and sugar beets....
Bill to permit shooting of wolves apparently dead A bill permitting Oregon ranchers to shoot wolves that attack their livestock looks to be dead this legislative session, after some ranchers criticized it for imposing too many conditions. The bill would have relaxed an Oregon law that prohibits killing wolves and would pay ranchers for livestock and dogs injured or killed by wolves. It was a compromise arrived at by some environmental groups, hunters and some ranchers who said it balanced wolf protections and controls. But the Oregon Cattlemen's Association and some others argued there were too many limits on when people could shoot wolves. The plan said wolves could be shot only if they're caught attacking livestock, not before or after an attack....
Fine for illegally killing grizzlies hiked to $8,000 Illegally killing a grizzly bear in Montana will cost poachers a lot more than it used to, but still not as much as a trophy bighorn sheep. House Bill 514 increased the fine for illegally killing a bear from $2,000 to $8,000. The bill went into effect immediately upon passage earlier this spring, so it would cover grizzly bear poachings this year. The grizzly bear is also protected from hunting under both state and federal law. Under federal law, it is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. But most cases of illegally killed bears in the state are prosecuted under state statute. The earlier fine was seen by some bear conservationists as too lenient, considering the fines for killing game animals that aren't threatened....
REPORT SHOWS U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE FAILED TO MAKE PROGRESS PROTECTING NATION’S WILDLIFE The Center for Biological Diversity released a report today demonstrating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is failing to make “expeditious progress” listing known imperiled species as threatened or endangered as required by the Endangered Species Act. There are currently 286 candidate species that have on average been waiting for protection for 17 years. The Report shows that under the Bush Administration, progress by FWS towards protecting these and other species has crashed to the lowest level since the landmark law was passed in 1974. The report calls for sweeping changes to the listing program, including creating and fully funding a “listing swat team” to protect all of the 286 candidate species caught in the listing backlog in the next five years, and an increase in listing funding to 25 million dollars annually. The report documented that FWS under the Bush Administration has listed the fewest number of species of any Administration, only protecting 30 species for a rate of 7 species per year. This compares to listing of 498 species by FWS under the Clinton Administration for a rate of 65 species per year and 2225 under the elder Bush’s Administration for a rate of 59 species per year. The Bush Administration also is the only Administration to only list species under court order....click here(pdf) to view the report....
Governors seek species act changes Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal joined governors from other Western states Monday in asking Congress to relax the Endangered Species Act. The governors want states to be able to combine federal requirements to deal with several species at the same time, among other changes. The Western Governors' Association has proposed four areas where the Endangered Species Act could be improved to make it more workable and effective: * Increase the role for states. * Increase certainty and technical assistance for landowners and water users. * Increase and stabilize funding for the states. * Streamline provisions in the act, for example, by providing for statewide, multi-species strategies....
Yellowstone grizzlies no longer endangered Federal wildlife officials say they plan to propose ending Endangered Species Act protection for grizzly bears around Yellowstone National Park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could make the proposal as early as next month, said Chris Servheen, grizzly recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said delisting is being considered because the bear population has been growing steadily and adequate protections are in place for the bears and their habitat. "We're on the verge of doing what we set out to do," Servheen said. "If I wasn't comfortable, I wouldn't be doing this." Delisting would not automatically make the bears vulnerable to hunting. Instead, states would protect and control the bear population under their existing federally approved bear management plans....
U.S. Supreme Court action good news for cave bugs The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear a case involving Central Texas cave bugs has eaten holes in property rights advocates' arguments that endangered species protection is unjustly applied. The case challenged the Endangered Species Act as it is used under the Commerce Clause, which gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. "It's great news," said John Kostyack, National Wildlife Federation senior counsel. "We see this as the final nail in the coffin of the 10-year-long campaign of property rights advocates to have the ESA declared unconstitutional." In the case -- GDF Realty Investments vs. Gale A. Norton, Secretary of the Interior -- property rights advocates argued the clause was being erroneously applied to species found in a single state....
Seventh Circuit Preserves Home Builders' Efficient Storm Water Permit A recent court decision by the United States Court of Appeals’ Seventh Circuit rejected threats to a federal permit that is vitally important to home builders and home buyers. The Construction General Permit, which regulates storm water discharges during the home building process, is viewed by builders as the most efficient available option for achieving the strict requirements for complying with federal storm water rules. “This is a critical victory for home builders because lawsuits like these eat away at housing affordability,” said David Wilson, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a custom home builder from Ketchum, Idaho. “Builders want to protect the environment, but we do not want more layers of regulation that cost time and money to fulfill and do little to protect the environment.” Compliance with existing storm water requirements already adds from $1,400 to $4,500 to the cost of every lot, he said. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the Construction General Permit does not violate the Clean Water Act’s requirements for public notice and public hearing. The court also held that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which issues the permit, complied with requirements of the Endangered Species Act and dismissed the remaining permit challenges, saying the petitioner lacked standing....
Colorado governor assails U.S. 'hypocrisy' in mad cow policy Colorado Gov. Bill Owens said Monday it is ``hypocrisy'' for the United States to pressure Japan to lift a ban on U.S. beef over mad cow concerns while banning Canadian beef for the same reason. ``It's this sort of hypocrisy that makes it very difficult for the U.S. to win any sort of trade war,'' Owens said at the Western Governors' Association meeting. Owens and other governors said the U.S. action is encouraging Canada to build its own meatpacking plants, instead of relying on plants south of its border, and taking away jobs in Western states. The premiers of two Canadian provinces told the governors the U.S. ban had gone on long enough....

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