Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Some 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins, depriving ocean habitats of this vital top predator.

Last week there was some great news for the Sphyrna lewini species of hammerhead shark as Costa Rica awarded Appendix III CITES protection to the beleaguered species.

Found mostly along the coasts of its natural range in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans hammerhead shark fins are one of the most prized in Asian markets. Because these scalloped hammerheads swim in large schools, they are targeted by fisheries and particularly susceptible to overfishing.  The high commercial value of the shark’s fins combined with the low value of hammerhead shark meat has led to widespread finning of the species, a wasteful and often illegal practice in which the fins are severed only to have the shark thrown back into the ocean to die a slow, painful death.

Defenders of Wildlife worked closely with the Costa Rican government to secure this listing for the hammerhead shark, and while it is an important first step towards worldwide shark conservation more countries and their leaders must recognize that this wasteful practice must stop.

Click here to learn more about Defenders work on sharks.  

Photo Courtesy of Fort Peck Journal

In some happy news, some of the genetically pure bison that were transferred to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation last month have become proud parents.  As of today 13 newborns were reported among the herd with more reportedly expected soon.

According to the story in the Great Falls Tribune, the herd has taken to the newborns immediately and is doing a good job protecting them by huddling around them, keeping them close and not letting them drift too far away.

“The birth of the first bison calf at Fort Peck Reservation is the next positive step in wild bison restoration to the Great Plains with a new generation of pure bison starting their lives,” said Jonathan Proctor, Defenders’ Rocky Mountain region representative.

Photo Courtesy of Fort Peck Journal

Thanks to all our Defenders supporters for all your actions and donations that helped bring these wild bison home!

Read the full success story.

Learn more about what Defenders is doing to help bison.

You can check out Fort Peck Journal’s Facebook Page for more baby bison photos as they become available.

Gov. Scott vetoed the Jurassic Park bill, which would have allowed state zoos to lease state lands for research on animals like rhinos.

Which is worse: an elephant in the room or rhino in the backyard? Thanks to a move by Florida Governor Rick Scott, residents of the Sunshine State won’t have to find out–at least for now. He put an end to the state’s controversial “Jurassic Park” bill on Friday, vetoing the piece of legislation that would have allowed state zoos and aquariums to lease state-owned land to conduct breeding and research on animals including giraffes, zebras and rhinos.

While rejecting HB 1117,, Gov. Scott wrote that it “lacks sufficient safeguards” to “ensure the protection of state … lands, native species and habitats.” That’s a message Defenders has been delivering to Tallahassee ever since the Florida Legislature sent the measure to Gov. Scott’s desk in March. Evidence shows that exotic animals and plants can cause serious costly damage to our public lands, and present an array of serious problems including the escape of animals, the spread of nonnative seed from feed, and potential spread of disease.

Florida ecosystems and native wildlife are already at risk from exotic species run wild. And as America saw last fall in Ohio, escaped animals may even pose a threat to people and property.

Defenders’ Laurie Macdonald said of the bill’s rejection, “Gov. Scott’s veto signals a commitment to protecting the natural Florida we all know and love. Now our public land managers can concentrate on fulfilling their mission of protecting and restoring native wildlife and habitat—without fear of an angry rhino stomping on  those plans.”

Animals like the Florida panther depend on the state's public lands for survival.

This victory comes with a caveat – technically the state already has the authority to lease lands out to this purpose. But as Laurie warned the Tampa Bay Times, “We will be watching very closely any applications for this use.”

YOU DID IT!

Thanks go out to the thousands of Defenders supporters wrote to Gov. Scott asking him to veto this misguided bill. Your efforts help protect the native wildlife that makes Florida such a unique and special place!

Learn more about how we’re working to protect Florida wildlife and habitats.

Lindsey Sterling-Krank of the Human Society (left), Jonathan Proctor of Defenders and Kristy Bly of World Wildlife Fund do their best jump-yip imitation after successfully relocating hundreds of prairie dogs at Thunder Basin last summer.

It’s not everyday that Defenders gets recognition from the federal government for our tireless work to protect and restore wildlife. So when it does happen, it’s cause for serious celebration!

For the second straight year, our prairie expert Jonathan Proctor received an award for his efforts to save prairie dog colonies across the Great Plains. This time he’s getting the Rocky Mountain Region award for “Outstanding Wildlife Partners” from the U.S. Forest Service for work that started several years ago at Conata Basin, part of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South Dakota,  and has expanded more recently to include Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming.

Jonathan has been instrumental in promoting several prairie dog conservation projects. But in particular, he helped implement new nonlethal prairie dog management strategies on public lands. At Conata Basin, a tall-grass “vegetative buffer” has helped reduce poisoning by over 90 percent. At Thunder Basin, a precedent-setting relocation project has moved hundreds of prairie dogs from areas near private lands where they’re often shot or poisoned to fully protected ground at the center of the grassland. Protecting these prairie dogs also ensures the survival of all the species that depend on them for food or use their burrows for shelter, including burrowing owls, ferruginous hawks, golden eagles, swift foxes, badgers and endangered black-footed ferrets. (Read more here about our success at Thunder Basin.)

Lindsey, Jonathan and Kristy at Thunder Basin in 2011.

But Jonathan didn’t do it alone. What makes this award truly special is that it recognizes our close collaboration with World Wildlife Fund and the Prairie Dog Coalition of the Humane Society of the United States, as well as our project partners with the U.S. Forest Service, Wyoming Game and Fish and many individual landowners.

Here’s the text of the award:

Outstanding Wildlife Partners – 2012

Lindsey Sterling Krank – Prairie Dog Coalition, The Humane Society of US
Jonathan Proctor – Defenders of Wildlife
Kristy Bly – World Wildlife Fund

Managing prairie dogs, the endangered black-footed ferret, and associated wildlife species on the National Grasslands is often difficult, costly and fraught with controversy.  The Forest Service has received invaluable support from Kristy Bly of World Wildlife Fund, Jonathan Proctor of Defenders of Wildlife, and Lindsey Sterling Krank of the Prairie Dog Coalition-a program of The Humane Society of the United States.

These three individuals and their organizations have been important partners on the Buffalo Gap and Thunder Basin National Grasslands. Over the past four years, these individuals have worked individually or coordinated as a group with the Forest Service and accomplished the following:

1. Purchased 12.5 miles of electric fence materials worth approximately $18,600 for Conata Basin.  This fencing material was key to successfully reducing prairie dog colonization onto adjacent private land by forming an ungrazed vegetative buffer. They provided about 3 miles of electric fence to Thunder Basin for use in prairie dog translocation projects and to create vegetative buffers. Also provided labor to help install electric fences.
2. Purchased prairie dog shooting closure signs worth close to $2,000.
3. Purchased and delivered $10,000 worth of Delta Dust in 2008 for emergency plague control in the Conata Basin, the first year plague was discovered in the ferret reintroduction area.
4. Provided dust donations in 2010 and 2011 for operations in the Conata Basin and Thunder Basin National Grassland.  The donation in 2011 alone consisted of 3,095 pounds of Delta Dust worth approximately $31,000, which helped protect 14,708 acres of habitat from plague.
5. In Dec. 2011, World Wildlife Fund worked with the Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Prairie Wildlife Research to prepare a grant proposal for Conata Basin black-footed ferret recovery, securing $155, 950 worth of Delta Dust and other supplies to be used over the next several years.  Without WWF’s assistance it is unlikely that this would have been successful.
6. Provided labor, equipment and expertise to conduct a prairie dog relocation effort on National Forest System lands, implementing the revised Thunder Basin National Grassland Plan.  This project reduces conflicts with private landowners, while restoring prairie dog habitat that had been diminished by plague in the heart of the ferret reintroduction area. As a result, 899 prairie dogs were moved from conflict areas and 8 new colonies were re-established.
7. Their commitment and tenacity has not only resulted in successful projects, but also helped develop more positive relationships between the Forest Service, environmental groups, and local ranchers and landowners by fostering communication and developing creative solutions.

In appreciation for their tireless efforts, positive attitudes, creative problem-solving, and passion for conservation of prairie species, we are pleased to present Jonathon, Lindsey and Kristy with this award.

Congratulations, Jonathan! And nice team work, everyone!

These days it isn’t often that you see Democrats and Republicans doing anything together, let alone raising a glass in celebration. But that’s exactly what happened last week as Defenders and other conservation groups gathered at a local Washington, DC watering hole to pay tribute lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for their role in last summer’s defeat of the “extinction rider.”

Rewind to last July. The House leadership had attached to the bill funding the Department of the Interior numerous anti-conservation riders — unpopular policy changes that get tacked onto funding bills. Among the host of bad riders on this bill was a particularly nasty one that would have blocked any and all new species from being added to the endangered species list. Oh, species could still come off, but no new listings could happen, a longstanding goal of Big Oil, Big Developers and other special interests.

Wildife champion Rep. Norm Dicks

Passage of this crazy rider seemed almost assured. Almost. Because our longtime champion Rep. Norm Dicks had other ideas. He came to Defenders and other conservation groups and said, “I think we can do this! I think we can get defeat this thing!” And thus followed a vigorous push to yank the rider when it came to the House floor, with Rep. Dicks working the channels in Congress while conservation groups lobbied individual members and activated the grassroots.

Now, Rep. Dicks fighting the good fight for conservation is nothing new. Nor is it unusual for conservation groups to rally against a bad bill. But this time we had help from the other side of the aisle. Because part of the push in Congress involved outreach to moderate Republicans that we knew took their environmental stewardship responsibilities seriously. And that outreach was successful because in the end, 37 Republicans broke from their own leadership to support an amendment killing the species listing rider. Conservation groups, pro-environment Democrats and moderate Republicans had teamed up to stop the extinction rider. And we won.

So to reward those friends on the Hill who had worked so hard on behalf of endangered species, Defenders on other conservation groups gathered and presented to four key members plaques commemorating their principled stand.

Rep. Mike Thompson

First was Rep. Dicks, our long-time champion, who was recognized for volunteering to lead the fight and teeing up the battle in Congress. Then came Rep Thompson who stepped up and was crucial in bringing along moderate and conservative Democrats and Rep. Fitzpatrick who courageously broke party ranks and brought 36 other Republicans with him. And last but not least was Rep. Hanabusa, who eagerly stepped into the fray, even though she was only a freshman.

GOP Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick receives his award

These days, conservation successes in the House seem few and far between so it was nice to finally win one. And it was even nicer to be able to recognize with friends from both sides of the aisle as important to the effort because I think we can all agree that protecting our natural heritage for future generations shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

Ruling restores vital role of wildlife experts in forest fire planning

Golden eagle.

WASHINGTON (Feb. 7, 2012) – The U.S. District Court of D.C. struck down Bush administration regulations yesterday that would have allowed National Fire Plan projects to move forward without consulting the government’s own wildlife experts. Defenders initially challenged the regulations in 2006, arguing that the regulations violated long-standing Endangered Species Act procedures that help protect the environment and imperiled wildlife.

The following is a statement from Mike Senatore, vice president of conservation law for Defenders of Wildlife:

“The U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies should consult wildlife experts when considering projects that might affect endangered and threatened wildlife. That’s the simple proposition behind one of the most critical provisions of the Endangered Species Act. But the Bush administration ignored the opinion of its own scientific experts and tried to brush aside this common sense and legally mandated requirement. Regional wildlife directors knew it was wrong, environmental advocates knew it was wrong, and the American people knew it was wrong. Now a federal judge has finally thrown out these ill-conceived regulations, upholding our nation’s commitment to protecting imperiled wildlife. This decision makes it clear that the existing consultation process already allows for timely and effective forest fire planning without discarding vital wildlife protections.”

Background:
The Endangered Species Act requires that federal agencies consult with experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to determine the impacts of their actions on endangered and threatened wildlife. Regulations issued by the Bush administration in 2003 altered this legal duty to severely limit the role of wildlife experts when considering projects under the National Fire Plan. Similar regulations to short-circuit the consultation process for registration of pesticides were previously overturned by another federal court. A much broader Bush administration policy that essentially eliminated all consultation requirements was issued at the end of 2008 but was promptly withdrawn by the Obama administration in 2009.

Defenders was represented in this case by Eric Glitzenstein of the law firm Meyer, Glitzenstein and Crystal.

Learn more about Defenders’ efforts to uphold the Endangered Species Act

Read more about the Bush administration’s attempts to undermine the Section 7 consultation process