Defenders of Wildlife Blog

BREAKING: The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife today sent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a formal notice of intent to sue over the agency’s denial of Endangered Species Act protection to the rare and vanishing cactus ferruginous pygmy owl.

The groups petitioned to restore the tiny owl’s “endangered” status across the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northern Mexico in 2007. Although the agency acknowledged that the pygmy owl faces many threats in the Sonoran Desert and that the region is important to the species as a whole, it denied the petition in October 2011.

Today the Arizona population of fewer than 50 birds is perilously small, and pygmy owls in northern Sonora, Mexico are in decline, according to recent surveys.

“There’s no question that the pygmy owl needs Endangered Species Act protection to survive in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico,” said Noah Greenwald, primary petition author and endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been working to protect pygmy owls for 20 years. “The pygmy owl is an indicator for the health of the Sonoran Desert — save this tiny owl and you save the desert, too.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service denied cactus ferruginous pygmy owls endangered species protections last year.

The agency’s denial of protection for the pygmy owl is based on a proposed policy that sets a very high bar for when species that are endangered in portions of their range can receive protection. The Endangered Species Act defines an endangered species as any “in danger of extinction in all or a significant of portion of its range,” meaning that a species need not be at risk everywhere it occurs to qualify for protection. Under the proposed policy, species that are endangered in portions of their range like the pygmy owl only qualify for protection if loss of that portion threatens the survival of the species as a whole. This is a much higher threshold than has been used before.

Although the policy has not yet been finalized, the agency relied on its reasoning to reverse course and deny the pygmy owl protection. In a draft finding obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the agency determined that the Sonoran Desert qualified as a “significant portion of its range” and therefore the pygmy owl warranted protection. In particular, the agency found that Sonoran Desert pygmy owls are important to the adaptability of the species overall because they occur in a hotter, drier setting and thus may be better able to adapt to a warming world. Following development of the new proposed policy, however, the agency reversed course and determined that loss of pygmy owls from the Sonoran Desert would not endanger the species as a whole and denied protection.

Jason Rylander, senior staff attorney

“This irresponsible decision essentially sets the pygmy owl on a steady path to extinction in the U.S. Southwest,” said Jason Rylander, staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife. “The bald eagle and grizzly bear would never have received protection under the Endangered Species Act if the same policy had been applied to them when they were first considered for listing. We expected more from the Obama administration. This wrongheaded decision should be reversed.”

 The pygmy owl was previously protected as an endangered species in Arizona in 1997 following a 1992 Center petition. In 2003, a federal court ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to better explain its decision that the Arizona population is “distinct” from birds in Mexico, and in 2006, the agency removed protections. As acknowledged by Fish and Wildlife, threats across the Sonoran Desert from urban sprawl, invasive species, fire, drought and other factors are severe. The conservation of dwindling pygmy owl populations in southern Arizona was the initial impetus for the development of Pima County’s landmark Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, which has received broad public support and is currently being finalized.

“Sonoran Desert pygmy owls are unique and deserve our care,” said Greenwald. “Protection of the pygmy owl has proven to be a benefit to the people of southern Arizona by helping to preserve native Sonoran desert habitats that are a source of solace and joy for many.”

Red knots in flight (c) Andrew Harper

Hunkered down in their Southern Hemisphere wintering grounds, red knots may be out of sight. But the plight of the shorebird is certainly not out of mind. Just this week, the state of New Jersey added the red knot to its list of endangered species.

It’s been almost a year since the state initially proposed the uplisting from threatened to endangered. And in that time, population numbers for the shorebird have continued their downward spiral. It’s hard to believe that less than two decades ago, more than 100,000 red knots filled the skies of Delaware Bay. Today, only 13,000 remain.

Wildlife officials said that the new status does not add protections for the birds. However, it is formal recognition that despite years of efforts to help the bird–including a 2008 New Jersey state-instituted moratorium on horseshoe crab fishing–its numbers continue to decline.

With any luck, the listing will get the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), who decided last July to speed up the initiation of the process to formally add the rufa subspecies of red knot to the list of threatened and endangered species. Since 2005, four formal requests to list the red knot under the Endangered Species Act have been submitted to the FWS. Citing a lack of resources and other priorities, the FWS failed to list the bird but placed it on the candidate list in 2006, where it has languished ever since.

Unlike the state listing, a listing under the federal Endangered Species Act would offer some real protections for the birds. It would initiate the development of a recovery plan and require federal agencies whose actions affect red knots to consult with the FWS. With the shorebird continuing its slide toward extinction, such actions may be the last hope for red knots.

Learn more:

Watch Defenders join efforts on the ground to protect the imperiled red knot:

Responsible beach management will allow imperiled wildlife like the piping plover to continue down the path to recovery.

BREAKING: The National Park Service (NPS) today announced new rules to manage off-road vehicle traffic on beaches so nesting and baby sea turtles and birds as well as pedestrians are protected in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, according to conservation groups.

In 2007, the groups—Audubon North Carolina, Defenders of Wildlife and Southern Environmental Law Center— turned to the courts for help in getting the NPS to  implement long overdue safeguards for pedestrians and beach-nesting wildlife on park beaches overrun by off-road vehicles.

“The park service’s rules are a compromise that provides protections for both pedestrians and wildlife while still allowing responsible beach driving,” said Julie Youngman, senior attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center.

The long-awaited rules are the final step in a process agreed to by all parties concerned about beach driving in the national seashore. During an interim management period prior to today’s rulemaking, rare bird and sea turtle populations showed signs of recovery, park visitation held steady or increased annually, and tourism remained strong in Dare County, NC, where much of the seashore is located, despite a recession.

“With both the number of hatchlings and visitors to the beach climbing, the success of responsible beach management is clear,” said Jason Rylander, senior attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. “The new rules will ensure that Cape Hatteras continues to provide enjoyment to beach users while protecting the unique wildlife that call the seashore home.”

Tourism flourished in Dare County during the period when interim protections were in place.  Rental occupancy receipts in Dare County increased by millions over the previous decade as recorded by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. Park visitation and gross occupancy inDareCountyduring peak breeding and nesting season under interim management held steady or increased compared to the three preceding years. According to a state report on tourism for 2009-2010, Dare County experienced an 8.8 percent growth in tourism—making it among the top growth counties in the state during a recession.  The county’s strong tourism industry employed 11,260 people with $172 million in payroll and generated $44.55 million in tax receipts for the state and $39.78 million in local tax receipts.

After three years of temporary protections, a record-breaking 153 sea turtle nests were recorded at Cape Hatteras.

As a unit of the National Park System, Cape Hatteras National Seashore has been required under federal law since 1972 to establish guidelines that minimize harm from the use of off-road vehicles to the natural resources of the seashore in accordance with the best available science for present and future generations. The new rules bring the NPS into compliance with that requirement.

The park service’s rules allow ORV use on the majority of the seashore. Twenty-eight of the seashore’s 67 miles are set aside as year-round ORV routes, with only 26 miles designated as year-round vehicle-free areas for pedestrians, families, and wildlife. The remaining 13 miles of seashore are seasonally open to ORVs.  The plan also proposes new parking facilities, ORV ramps, and water shuttles to increase visitor access to beaches.

“Under the reasonable, science-based management of the past few years, beach-nesting birds and sea turtles are rebounding at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and visitors continue to flock to this national treasure,” said Heather Starck, executive director of Audubon North Carolina. “The new rules appear to give the National Park Service the guidance to protect and manage the natural resources while allowing for responsible ORV use.”

With temporary beach driving rules implemented in April 2008, beach-nesting birds and sea turtles within the national seashore showed signs of recovery after reaching alarming lows under unmanaged beach driving. Only 44 sea turtle nests were recorded in 2004, but a record-breaking 153 sea turtle nests were recorded in 2010 and 147 sea turtle nests were recorded in 2011. No piping plover chicks survived to fledge (learn to fly) in 2002 and 2004, but 15 chicks fledged in 2010 and ten fledged in 2011.

Late condor biologist Mike Tyner looks on as a released California condor takes flight.

With a heavy heart, I write this post about the tragic, untimely death of condor biologist Mike Tyner.

While out checking on a recently released condor in Big Sur, Calif. Mike was fatally struck by a large tree during a severe windstorm on November 30, 2011.

But he was no stranger to putting his life on the line to help save these rare, magnificent birds. In 2008, he joined the rescue team responsible for saving eight condors from the Basin Complex Wildfire, which razed two condor facilities as it raged across Big Sur.

Mike was unassuming, humble and hard working, says Ventana Wildlife Society’s executive director, Kelly Sorenson. “He was truly an exceptional individual. This loss is catastrophic, heartbreaking and painful. As we mourn the passing of a remarkable friend, our hearts go out to his family. Mike will be greatly missed.”

Mike worked for the Ventana Wildlife Society, an organization solely dedicated to monitoring Big Sur’s flock of wild condors. And for several years, Defenders partnered with Ventana, helping to support Mike’s research.

Thanks to Mike, the team was able to locate numerous nests in Big Sur. And twice each year, he led an effort to recapture every condor in the flock to check their blood for lead poisoning—the leading cause of death among endangered condors—helping to ensure that sick condors received urgent, lifesaving medical care.

Although Mike is no longer with us, his dedication and research will be with us every day. His work has left a lasting mark on condor conservation efforts.

Our partners at Ventana Wildlife Society have helped to bring the California condor back from the brink of extinction—thanks, in part, to Mike’s dedication.

May his spirit soar with the condors.

Sage grouse

BREAKING: Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management to update land-use plans with sage grouse protections

WASHINGTON—The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service will update their land-use plans, which outline areas open to development and those that should be protected, to include conservation measures for imperiled sage grouse, the Interior Department announced today.

The federal agencies plan to take a comprehensive approach in responding to the multiple threats to the sage grouse across the western U.S., looking for ways to conserve the species and coordinate habitat conservation across large swaths of land spanning both agencies’ boundaries.

RELATED: Read more about this announcement on Defenders’ experts blog, dotWild.

The greater sage grouse has disappeared from almost half of its former range, and the population has declined by more than half since the late 1960s. Habitat loss is the main threat to the sage grouse’s survival, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Conserving the sage grouse and the habitat it depends on is of critical importance to the western way of life. – Peter Nelson

Defenders of Wildlife is encouraged by the Obama administration’s broad scale approach to sage grouse conservation, says Defenders’ federal lands program director Peter Nelson, and will work with the agencies, states and other stakeholders to ensure that it results in a science-based, comprehensive plan to protect the species from extinction.

“Conserving the sage grouse and the habitat it depends on is of critical importance to the western way of life,” he says. “We’re encouraged by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service’s plan to put in place essential protections for sage grouse and to coordinate their conservation measures across the region. We’re counting on the Obama administration to put forward a smart, scientifically-sound and coordinated strategy for conserving the species and its habitat – one that allows for responsible land use and development while protecting wildlife and public lands for future generations of Americans.”

From the ever-growing dead zone to last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, it’s no secret that the Gulf of Mexico faces a world of trouble. But here’s something you might not know: every hour, an area of coastal wetland equivalent to the size of a football field disappears into Gulf waters. You read that right – every hour. And as any sports fans will tell you, that’s quite a lot of land. Already, 2,000 square miles of the Mississippi River Delta have slipped into the sea.

For the diverse wildlife that make the region’s coastal wetlands home, this loss is devastating. The wetlands at the mouth of the Delta provide habitat for a range of animals, including endangered species such as the Louisiana black bear, wood stork and snail kite. They’re crucial spawning grounds for fish in the Gulf, and also provide wintering habitat for migratory ducks.

And that’s not all – wetlands are important for people too. From decreasing flooding to acting as a buffer from storm surges, this ecosystem provides a natural defense against some of the worst nature can throw at us. The aquatic habitat also removes pollutants from water and recharges groundwater, providing us with a clean, reliable source of drinking water. Not to mention the financial benefits of healthy fisheries and coastal economies. Failure to protect this resource would be a tremendous loss.

Every hour, an area of coastal wetland equivalent to the size of a football field disappears into Gulf waters.

Fortunately, action is being taken to reverse this alarming trend. Right now, the Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force (created by President Obama in the aftermath of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster) is developing a plan to restore the Gulf shore to its former glory and strengthen it going into the future. How do they expect to tackle such an ominous feat? Well, one strategy is to simply let nature take its course.

In this image you can see where water and sediment from the Mississippi is washed into the Gulf of Mexico. Photo courtesy NASA.

Right now, levees direct water flowing from the Mississippi River far out into the Gulf of Mexico, where it carries the nutrients and sediment that result in the dead zone.  The Task Force is looking instead at diverting that river water back into its original destination — the Delta’s vast coastal wetlands. Doing so would not only rebuild previously washed-out habitat, but it would shrink the dead zone as well — simultaneously creating habitat on shore and off. Better yet, this strategy also happens to be the most budget-effective plan of action proposed so far, saving the region hundreds of billions of dollars.

That’s not to say this is a quick fix — restoring the Gulf region will not be easy. But letting this vibrant ecosystem fall into the ocean is simply not an option. By taking advantage of the natural flow of the Mississippi River, we can save time, money and energy, as well as the those who call the coast home.

Learn more:

Get more information about how wetlands are crucial to humans and wildlife. 

Read a more detailed account of the Gulf Task Force’s strategy to save the Gulf.