A federal judge has temporarily blocked the opening of the first public grizzly bear hunts in Wyoming and Idaho in more than 40 years, as he considers whether the government was wrong to lift federal protections on the animals. The US district judge Dana Christensen’s order came just two days before the states prepared to […]
Tag: us fish and wildlife service
POLL: Should Trump’s administration be allowed to lift the ban on pesticides?
The Trump administration has rescinded an Obama-era ban on the use of pesticides linked to declining bee populations and the cultivation of genetically modified crops in dozens of national wildlife refuges where farming is permitted. Environmentalists, who had sued to bring about the two-year-old ban, said on Friday that lifting the restriction poses a grave […]
U.S. court ruling complicates Trump’s elephant and lion policy
On December 22, a federal appeals court ruled that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) did not properly follow procedures when it banned importing elephant “trophies” – including heads, tusks, or other parts – from Zimbabwe in 2014. While the ruling was aimed at an Obama Administration policy, its impact will likely influence how […]
Trump slashes size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments in Utah
Donald Trump was widely condemned on Monday for drastically shrinking two national monuments, representing the biggest elimination of public lands protection in US history. The president modified designations for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, potentially opening the land to big corporate developers and the oil and gas industry. The move – a repudiation […]
First US bumblebee species listed as endangered after numbers plummet
The rusty patched bumblebee, a prized but vanishing pollinator once familiar to much of North America, was listed on Tuesday as an endangered species, becoming the first wild bee in the continental United States to gain such federal protection. One of several species facing sharp declines, the bumblebee known to scientists as Bombus affinis has […]
POLL: Should the manatees’ endangered status be reduced?
A US government move to downgrade the conservation status of manatees and green sea turtles is premature, an environment group has warned, despite encouraging signs that both species are recovering. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed that the West Indian manatee be down-listed from endangered to threatened under the endangered species act. […]
POLL: Should the US extend endangered species status to lions in Africa?
The US plans to extend its endangered species protection to lions in Africa, five months after an American dentist caused an international furore by killing Cecil, a famed lion which lived in Zimbabwe. US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will classify lions in southern and eastern Africa as threatened, with those in the central and […]
Puffins at Petit Manan Light on a foggy day
The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula artica) is undoubtedly the most popular bird for Maine visitors – birders and non-birders alike. It breeds in colonies on coastal islands off Maine and Atlantic Canada. The Petit Manan Lighthouse island is a part of the Maine Coastal Island National Wildlife Refuge, and hosts a healthy colony of nesting Puffins. […]
