Monarch Butterfly May Soon Be Protected Under Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the conservation status of the monarch butterfly.

According to a recent news story, the monarch butterfly may soon be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The monarch butterfly is a striking orange and black butterfly, well-known for making annual migrations from the United States to Mexico. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering designating the species as threatened under the ESA at the request of conservation groups. Designation as a federally-threatened species would grant the increasingly rare butterfly greater protections under the law. Research for the final decision will take about one year.

Take action. Contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and express your support for greater protections for the monarch butterfly.

Wolves Need Protection

Wolves need the protections of the Endangered Species Act.

We need to protect wolves, not destroy them. One way to protect them is to ensure wolves fall under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. According to the National Resources Defense Council:

Scientists who have commented on the delisting of wolves indicate several thousand wolves are needed in many areas to ensure their long-term survival. That number has yet to be reached in many locations in the United States.
o Tourism has been affected positively by the introduction and maintenance of a viable wolf population in certain areas of the country. For example, a 2006 study by the University of Montana found that tourists visiting Yellowstone National Park to see wolves brought $35 million annually to the region’s economy, which yields more than $70 million in added benefit to communities in the Northern Rockies.
o The ecological balance of the region is maintained when predator and prey are able to co-exist. Elk populations are healthier, streams run cold and clear, and other wildlife populations are in balance.

As a top predator, wolves are a necessary component of a healthy and balanced environment. To remove protection would create an imbalance that could wreak havoc on the environment. Write to the secretary of the Interior urging her to place wolves on the Endangered Species List.

The Honorable Sally Jewell
Secretary
Department of Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington DC 20240

White Rhinos in Danger

Despite threats from poachers. the southern white rhino is the only species of rhino not listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Southern white rhinos are in danger. They are being poached for their horns, especially. The southern white rhino is the only rhino species not listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service states that it will take immediate action to list the southern white rhinoceros as threatened under the ESA. The public is invited to comment on this ruling before October 11. Please go to the Service’s comment page and let them know you support the decision to protect the southern white rhinoceros.

African Lions in Danger

Only with strict protection will future generations of lions roam freely in the wild.

African lions need protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). With fewer than 35,000 in the wild and with their numbers dwindling, without protection now, they may become extinct. While loss of habitat is one reason for their declining numbers, one of the bigger challenges to the species’ survival comes from the United States—the world’s largest importer of lion trophies and lion parts.

Urge the acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the African lion under the ESA now.

Daniel M. Ashe, Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240

When you think about it…why should we have an Endangered Species Act?

Protecting endangered animals and protecting natural areas often goes hand in hand.

People sometimes question why wolves need to be protected, or why a fish found nowhere else but in Utah’s Virgin River (the woundfin) deserves to be listed on the Endangered Species List. When we have so many formidable problems in the world, why are we concerned about the survival of a few animals, insects, fish, and plants?

When a species begins to fail to thrive in its environment, something is terribly wrong. Maybe the environment has been paved over, cut down, blown up, or burned. Maybe the environment has become too polluted to support the species. As each species is lost, the environment becomes less and less habitable for all living beings, humans included.

Along with the loss of species comes the loss of parkland, forests, beaches, and waterways that form our national and local parks. Given that the National Park Service often plays host to over 200 million visitors a year, that loss is inestimable as a source beauty and serenity.

By protecting species through the Endangered Species Act, we protect their habitat as well. We reverse the destruction and pollution and attempt to return the area to a healthy environment for all—including us.

When you think about it…how could we not have an Endangered Species Act?

When you think about it…we all have some control over what species survive.

There are many ways we can share our skills and talents to help protect animals.

We may not be able to, with the stroke of a pen, save endangered species; but we can sue to protect species that are endangered. According to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), individuals are allowed to sue the government to enforce the law. Called “citizen-suit,” the provision gives public-interest groups and individuals the right to petition and sue the government to make sure the act protects species as it was intended to do.

The ESA has helped many species, including the American bald eagle, gray whale, and peregrine falcon, among hundreds of others. About 1,400 species of plants and animals are listed as endangered or threatened in the United States, but there are as many as 250 species awaiting listing. For some, their time may run out before the government takes action.

There’s an additional provision in the act that provides direct protection of habitat that species need to survive and recover. It’s called the “critical-habitat provision.”

The ESA is a critical tool to protect endangered and threatened species in our country. Since its enactment, few species have gone extinct once they have been granted protection under the act. The goal of the ESA is to increase species that are endangered or threatened to fully recover and eventually be delisted. When you think about it, we all can help preserve plants and animals before we lose any more. We can join environmental groups, local and national, and share our time, talent, and money with them as they work to protect the endangered species of our country.

 

Minnows Reclassified as Endangered

Paws Up!

To the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for reclassifying two fish as endangered.

The spikedace and loach minnow have recently been protected under the Endangered Species Act due to climate change.

According to a news story, “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service … pointed to prolonged drought, climate change and an increase in nonnative fish for its decision to reclassify as endangered two fish [spikedace and loach minnow] found in New Mexico and Arizona.”

Drought is a major problem in the desert Southwest. According to the article, “The Southwest is definitely going to have to get better at using water than it already is if there’s going to be any hope, not just for these fish, but virtually every native fish,” Greenwald [species director at the Center for Biological Diversity] said. “The population of almost every species that depends on rivers and streams in the Southwest has gone down.”

Species preservation is one of the reasons the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted in 1973. Two federal agencies are responsible for administering and enforcing the ESA: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They share responsibility for species that inhabit both marine and land areas; FWS is further responsible for all marine species; NOAA for freshwater fish.

Take Action: Thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for giving these two fish further protection.

Rowan W. Gould, Acting Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240

Source:
Albuquerque Joural Online

Victory for Yellowstone Grizzly Bears

Paws Up!

To the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, for striking down the 2007 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the Yellowstone grizzly bear from Endangered Species Act protection.

A recent ruling by a US federal court will restore endangered species protection for grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park. In its decision, the court cited a surge in infestations by beetles as a cause of declining numbers of whitebark pine, a staple food source for the bears. The increase in parasitic beetles has been tied to global warming, as warmer temperatures during winter months have enabled the beetles to survive seasonal die-off, allowing them to inflict greater and more widespread damage to the trees. The association with global warming makes this the second such protection enacted in recognition of the effects of climate change, after the polar bear. The panel of judges pointed out that loss of whitebark pine trees in areas of higher elevation within the national park would inevitably force bears to forage into more populous areas and create tensions with people and livestock.

Take Action: Write to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and applaud them for reinstating important protections for the Yellowstone grizzly, and request the court to continue efforts towards protecting other wildlife. Write the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and urge the service to list the whitebark pine as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, which is an issue currently under annual review.

The Honorable Sidney R. Thomas
U.S. Courts for the Ninth Circuit
P.O. Box 193939
San Francisco, CA 94119-3939
Tele. No.: 415 355-8800

Gary Frazer
Assistant Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Endangered Species Program
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420
Arlington, VA 22203

Sources:
The LA Times
Reuters