Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Lake of the Lone Indian, John Muir Wilderness

The U.S. Forest Service agreed on Monday to let an independent panel of scientists review the list of plants and animals the agency will be responsible for monitoring in the Sierra Nevada national forests, settling a lawsuit brought by Defenders and our conservation partners in 2008.

The wellbeing of these “indicator species” reflects the overall health of a forest. If the Forest Service finds that logging, for example, would cause the species harm, wildlife officials should take precautionary steps to protect them before allowing a timber harvest to move forward.

Defenders’ forest expert Peter Nelson says, “The settlement gives us greater confidence that the management of Sierra Nevada Forests will be based on science, not politics. This is good news for both Californians and this region’s sensitive wildlife.”

Read the full story on Defenders’ website.

Defenders’ members and supporters submitted more than 40,000 public comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week, voicing opposition to a proposed land swap and road through the ecological heart of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

It’s one of Alaska’s most diverse refuges, with lagoons, tundra and stunning mountain peaks. This incredible habitat is home to brown bears, wolverines, caribou and other wildlife.

Tens of thousands of waterfowl, seabirds and shorebirds rely on the Izembek Refuge for nesting and feeding. In fact, each fall the refuge shelters nearly the entire population of Pacific black brant and emperor geese.

But the community of King Cove (population 938) wants to build a road through federally protected Wilderness lands within the refuge that would put this wondrous place at risk.

In exchange for some $38 million in federal funding to modernize medical facilities and to develop a marine transportation system (including a $9-million hovercraft for emergency medical evacuation), community officials in 1998 had agreed to leave Izembek alone.

A land swap and road proposal threaten the Izembek Nation Wildlife Refuge.

Now the town is backtracking on its promise and vigorously lobbying federal officials and the Fish and Wildlife Service to approve the precedent-setting land swap that would clear the way for this unnecessary, destructive road.

Community representatives claim it would improve emergency access to a nearby airport in Cold Bay, Alaska, but experts estimate that it would take some two hours to reach the airport traveling by road versus approximately 20 minutes by hovercraft, which has successfully performed more than 30 evacuations since 2007.

While a final decision is likely to still be months off, it will be difficult for federal officials to ignore such widespread opposition to the proposal.

A huge thanks on behalf of Izembek’s wild ones goes out to all of you who spoke out against the road.

The North End Trail near Raccoon Lagoon winds through Oak Woodlands.

California lawmakers introduced a bill this week that would designate the biologically rich Berryessa Snow Mountain region as a National Conservation Area, securing protections for its wildlife, lands, waters and abundant recreation opportunities.

U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson, John Garamendi and Lynn Woolsey introduced the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act (H.R. 5545) on Tuesday.

“The Berryessa Snow Mountain Region is a unique national treasure and we have a responsibility to preserve it for our kids and grandkids,” said Rep. Thompson in a statement. “Designating the region as a National Conservation Area will preserve the land, help our local economies, and protect a wide variety of plants and animals. This is the right way forward for the region and our communities.”

Defenders’ California office has been campaigning for more than four years to help raise public awareness and support for Berryessa Snow Mountain, which is home to black bears, badgers, one of the Golden State’s largest wintering populations of bald eagles and more.

The bill’s introduction into the U.S. House of Representatives marks a major milestone on the journey to protect this special place. Stay tuned for more updates on how you can help pass this bill.

Related: Check out this awesome viewing guide to learn more about the region’s diverse plant and animal life.

Damaged croplands could have a second life with solar farms.

BREAKING: The California State Legislature passed a highly controversial bill (AB 1073) today allowing a single massive solar-energy project to bypass mandatory environmental reviews by state and local regulatory agencies.

Despite concerns raised by local citizens, conservation groups and American Indian tribes, the California Energy Commission approved in 2011 an earlier iteration of the Calico solar project, but the project has since changed ownership from Tesserra to K-Road Power and change in content and scope.

Revamping the project would normally require additional local and state environmental studies to evaluate the impact of the new technology, but AB 1073 would send the project straight back to the California Energy Commission (CEC), who is expected to rubberstamp its permit.

Defenders’ California program director, Kim Delfino, criticized the legislature’s vote.

“The legislature’s action is a serious setback in the effort to plan for the best renewable energy future for our nation and California,” Delfino said. “The Calico solar project poses such a significant threat to the sensitive Pisgah Valley that it comes as no surprise that K-Road Power would push for legislation that short circuits any environmental review that would bring to light the project’s true impacts.”

DESERT TORTOISE, (C) Jeff Aardahl/Defenders of Wildlife

The Calico solar project is slated to be built on some 4,000 acres of environmentally sensitive public lands in Pisgah Valley, which provides vital habitat for threatened desert tortoise, golden eagles, desert big horn sheep and other imperiled wildlife.

A number of the nation’s leading conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club, recently filed federal lawsuits against the project due to incomplete, insufficient environmental review of the project’s potential to harm imperiled wildlife and protected species..

“Unfortunately, California’s lawmakers allowed a single developer to bypass environmental laws designed to protect the public’s interest,” Delfino added. “This move is purely for the benefit of one company, does nothing to speed up our transition to clean energy, and will only lead to more controversy, costly delays and destruction of environmentally sensitive lands.”

Forty-four Mexican gray wolves have been illegally killed since 1998.

Another endangered Mexican gray wolf has been gunned down in southeastern Arizona, the 44th known illegal killing since the wolves were reintroduced in the region in 1998.

Although illegal killings rank as the leading cause of death for the most endangered wolf subspecies in the world, few people have ever been prosecuted for killing a Mexican wolf.

Wildlife officials confirmed in April that the young female – a member of the Hawks Nest Pack, which has a good reputation for avoiding cattle – died from a single gunshot wound, according to the Associated Press.

Defenders of Wildlife has contributed $10,000 to a reward fund of almost $60,000 for information leading to the conviction of the person or people responsible for the shooting.

With only some 58 Mexican wolves in the wild, it is crucial that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service release more wolves to keep the population from backsliding toward extinction.

The wind energy project puts endangered California condors at risk.

Hoping to avoid avian “death by turbine,” conservation groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court to protect California’s endangered condors and golden eagles from a wind-energy project in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. The North Sky River wind project will have more than 100 wind turbines on 13,000 acres.

Listen to the story. 

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Kim Delfino, California program director for Defenders of Wildlife, says the project is moving forward, despite their requests to get it redesigned to avoid environmentally sensitive areas and to include measures to protect at-risk birds.

“This project being proposed is right next door to the now-infamous Pine Tree wind facility. A documented total of eight golden eagles have died there so far this year.”

Delfino says the environmental review of the North Sky River project documented more than 50 golden eagle sightings within just 10 miles of the proposed site. Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported nearly 1,600 bird kills, which is among the nation’s highest fatality rates.

The wind energy project also poses a huge threat to other bird species, including the highly endangered California condor, Delfino says.

“All the condors have radio telemetry, and we know where they go. They have flown over this site, and there’s real concern that this site is a very, very bad location.”

The Defenders of Wildlife, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, are asking the federal court to stop the project and require the BLM to complete a thorough review before allowing construction to move forward.

Lori Abbott, Public News Service – CA