Wildlife Weekly Wrap-Up

Grizzlies, Wolves, and the Endangered Species Act
A briefing on Capitol Hill this week brought much needed attention to role that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) plays in protecting America’s wildlife, and how the law is as important today as it was when signed by Richard Nixon in 1973. Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Arizona), Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), spoke passionately in favor of protecting key species such as the wolf and grizzly bear, and for the value of the ESA in protecting both species and their habitat. These members also demanded that their colleagues on the Hill resist attempts to undermine the Endangered Species Act. In just 16 months, the 114th Congress has introduced 100 legislative proposals to undermine the ESA, including 50 different proposals to block or remove protections for vulnerable wildlife. Twelve of these legislative attacks are attempts to delist wolves from the Endangered Species Act in specific parts of the country. Panelists at the briefing included premier wildlife photographer Thomas Mangelsen, author Todd Wilkinson, and biologist David Moskowitz. The panelists also called for protecting the ESA as a cornerstone conservation law that is desperately needed in the 21st century to protect wildlife and habitat in a changing climate. The final panelist was Brian Bean, Defenders’ project partner and cofounder of the Wood River Wolf Project. Brian spoke about his experience using nonlethal tools to coexist with wolves on the range in Idaho. Despite the operation having one of the highest concentrations of sheep and wolves sharing the same landscape, the operation also boasts the lowest rate of livestock loss to wolves statewide.

Cameroon Takes a Stand for Elephants
Cameroonian authorities burned thousands of pounds of ivory this week in one of the largest ivory burns in African history. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power applauded the event, saying “the burn sends a clear message to poachers,” and that “the only value ivory has is on elephants.” She’s right: Central Africa’s forest elephants have declined by two thirds between 2002 and 2012, and the illegal ivory trade is rampant.

Recovery of World’s Most Endangered Sea Turtle Falters
The Kemp’s ridley is the smallest and the most endangered of the world’s sea turtle species. It suffered significant declines due to high levels of capture and drowning in shrimp trawls in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite decades of conservation efforts that had resulted in an exponential recovery rate, its numbers and nesting rates have taken a sharp downturn since 2010. Now researchers have a better idea of the species’ historical numbers to provide context for how significantly these turtles have declined. In a historic film from 1947 recently re-discovered and analyzed by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, tens of thousands of Kemp’s ridleys can be seen crawling to shore to nest on their primary nesting beach, near Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, in the Western Gulf of Mexico. Today, only 7,000 to 9,000 nesting females are thought to survive. Though much of the Kemp’s ridley’s life-cycle remains a mystery, scientists suspect that the health of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, which was seriously damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, could be a major factor in the reversal of the positive trend towards recovery. Additionally, wildlife trade, capture in shrimp trawls, climate change and pollution may all be factors preventing the Kemp’s ridley from achieving recovery. You can help sea turtles by turning off beachfront lights, keeping our coasts free of trash, and avoiding nesting areas.

Defenders Says “Stop” on Solar Development
This week, Defenders of Wildlife has been doing everything we possibly can to stop the development of the Panoche Valley Solar Project. Last week, we filed our federal case against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers, and on Wednesday, we filed a restraining order to stop the solar developer from moving giant kangaroo rats, a federally listed endangered species, from the site. The Panoche Valley is the last remaining habitat for the giant kangaroo rat. While we are doing all we can to move away from our dependency on fossil fuels, we want to ensure that renewable energy projects are smart from the start, avoiding important wildlife habitat.

Wildlife Bills Move Forward in the California State Senate
Yesterday, SB 1083 and SB 1282, both bills we support, passed the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality in the California legislature. SB 1083 is a bill that focuses on creating stronger communications procedures to alert local communities to oil spills when they occur. This will also benefit the state’s wildlife, which was affected during the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill. SB 1282 aims to provide consumers clearer labels on products that contain neonicotinoids, which threaten the health and numbers of the state’s pollinators. These bills need to be reviewed in other Senate committees before a vote on the Senate floor, but the good news here is that they are one step closer to becoming law!