Latest news with #WesternWatershedsProject
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Conservation groups urge release of Mexican wolf pack after delay
Conservation groups across the country are calling for the release of Mexican gray wolf Asha and her family after what federal officials said is a logistical delay. Asha, known as F2754 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, became somewhat of a local legend after wandering north of Interstate 40 beyond the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area in New Mexico twice before her capture in December 2023. Officials said they would release Asha, her mate, Arcadia, and their pups after Asha gave birth. Asha's five pups were born at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in May, but the release did not take place as scheduled, according to a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity. The pack's release was originally slated for June 23 to align with elk calving season — which typically occurs late May into June — so Asha could teach her pups how to hunt their native prey, said Greta Anderson, deputy director of the Western Watersheds Project. It was to take place at the biodiverse Ladder Ranch in south-central New Mexico. "If the Fish and Wildlife Service waits any longer, they're missing an optimum window for the wolves to learn how to be wild wolves," Anderson said. The Western Watersheds Project and the Center for Biological Diversity are two of 36 conservation groups that signed a letter sent Tuesday to the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, requesting the immediate release of Asha and her family, dubbed the "Caldera Pack." Although Fish and Wildlife told Anderson in an email the delay was due to "logistical reasons," the conservation groups expressed concern in their letter that lobbying efforts by the livestock industry may have spurred it. "We are troubled that wolf recovery may be being stymied for political reasons," the letter reads. Wolf reintroduction and conservation has long been a controversial subject in the West, with farming and ranching groups and many rural conservatives decrying their impact on livestock and game animals. A week-and-a-half ago Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar introduced legislation to remove endangered species protections for the Mexican wolf. The American Farm Bureau Federation, a Washington-based agriculture lobbying group, released a report Monday highlighting the impact of the Mexican wolf population growth on ranch incomes. "For many ranching families, the return of wolves is not just a wildlife management question, it's a daily reality shaped by decisions made in distant urban centers, often by voters and officials who will never have to look into the eyes of a mother cow searching for her calf," the report reads. But conservationists say Mexican wolves like Asha are integral for a diverse ecosystem. "The longer they stay in captivity, the less likely it is that the pack will be successful if and when they are eventually released, and that their genes will ultimately be introgressed into the population at large," said Center for Biological Diversity Senior Conservation Advocate Michael Robinson. The Mexican wolf — nearly eliminated from the Southwest in the 20th century before it was listed as endangered in 1976, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — now has a population in the wild of at least 286 between New Mexico and Arizona, The New Mexican reported in March. Last month, K-12 students named Asha and Arcadia's pups: Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai and Aala. "In a multitude of public polls over the course of decades, large majorities of New Mexico and Arizona residents in both urban and rural areas support recovery of the Mexican wolf," the conservationists' letter reads. "School children named the members of this wolf family and the public is eager for their success."
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Ninth Circuit pauses predator killing on Nevada's federal public lands
(Photo: Travel Nevada) Native animals, such as mountain lions and coyotes, will get a reprieve from predator control efforts on Nevada public lands thanks to a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals order requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services to reexamine its policy of killing wildlife to benefit cattle ranching and other livestock production. The order, issued Monday, instructs the USDA to redo its environmental analysis to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires the department to demonstrate its actions cause no significant harm to the environment. The ruling does not affect lethal predator control efforts employed by the Nevada Division of Wildlife, except those involving federally-protected lands. 'The decision keeps native carnivores like mountain lions and coyotes from being killed across Nevada's 65 congressionally-designated Wilderness areas and 62 specially-protected Wilderness Study Areas, an area spanning over 6.2 million acres of federally-managed public lands, or roughly 9% of the state's total landmass,' WildEarth Guardians, an environmental organization, said in a news release. 'As the agency attempts to fix its deeply flawed and now invalid environmental analysis, top predators can continue playing their vital ecological roles free of human control and persecution in the state's most remote and rugged public lands,' Jennifer Schwartz, Senior Staff Attorney for WildEarth Guardians, said in a news release. 'Nevada's wilderness and other specially protected areas should be sanctuaries for wildlife and places where people can experience true wilderness—not landscapes laced with traps, snares, and cyanide bombs,' Paul Ruprecht, Nevada Director for Western Watersheds Project, said in a news release. 'The court's decision underscores that the public has a right to know where and how lethal predator control is happening, especially when it puts people, pets, and native wildlife at risk.' WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project, in 2021, challenged a decision allowing USDA-Wildlife Services in Nevada to employ aerial gunning, poisoning, trapping, and shooting of foxes, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, beavers, badgers, rabbits, ravens, and other wildlife on Nevada's federal lands. The ruling marks the second time USDA Wildlife Services has shut down its lethal predator control operations since 2016, when it agreed not to respond to requests for predator control while it conducted an environmental analysis. The effort resumed following a court order allowing the agency to protect livestock grazing on federal lands. Monday's ruling from the Ninth Circuit invalidated that order. The court ruled USDA Wildlife Services' environment analysis was too broad and failed to consider the potential impacts on public safety and health of lethal methods such as lead shot, poisons, and cyanide ejectors, which were approved by President Donald Trump's first administration. The agency's new analysis must rely on current scientific studies of the long-term efficacy of predator control methods.
Boston Globe
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Judge orders Trump to rehire probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies
Advertisement The temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and organizations as the Republican administration moves to dramatically downsize the federal workforce. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'These mass-firings of federal workers were not just an attack on government agencies and their ability to function, they were also a direct assault on public lands, wildlife, and the rule of law,' said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, one of the plaintiffs. The White House did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Assistant US Attorney Michelle Lo declined to comment. Alsup expressed frustration with what he called the government's attempt to sidestep laws and regulations governing a reduction in its workforce — which it is allowed to do — by firing probationary workers who lack protections and cannot appeal. He was appalled that employees were fired for poor performance despite receiving glowing evaluations just months earlier. 'It is sad, a sad day, when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that's a lie,' he said. 'That should not have been done in our country.' Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment. But Alsup, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, has found that difficult to believe. He planned to hold an evidentiary hearing Thursday, but Ezell, the OPM acting director, did not appear to testify in court or even sit for a deposition, and the government withdrew his declaration. Advertisement Alsup encouraged the government to appeal. The case is among multiple lawsuits challenging the mass firings. Another judge in Maryland also appeared skeptical of the Trump administration in a Wednesday hearing held in a lawsuit brought by nearly two dozen states. A judge in the nation's capital, on the other hand, ruled against unions last month, finding the fired workers needed to work through a process set out in employment law. There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers across federal agencies. They include entry level employees but also workers who recently received a promotion. About 15,000 are employed in California, providing services ranging from fire prevention to veterans' care, according to the lawsuit filed by the coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations that represent parks, veterans and small businesses. The plaintiffs said in their complaint that numerous agencies informed workers that the personnel office had ordered the terminations, with an order to use a template email informing workers their firing was for performance reasons.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Conservationists worry Mexican grey wolves could be threatened by cuts to recovery programs
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) –The wild population of Mexican gray wolves saw another year of growth in 2024, but with illegal killings and concerns over budget cuts to recovery programs, conservationists are worried. Story continues below Albuquerque: Family speaks following lawsuit settlement for man shot by police Don't Miss: Officials to give update on deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Politics: Three candidates have announced campaigns for Albuquerque mayor The latest numbers from the annual wild Mexican gray wolf population report show that there are at least 286 wolves in the wild between Arizona and New Mexico. 'Well, 286 is great. It's more than we've ever had in the wild before, but it's really not very many when you figure this is the entire wild population of a species. The population is increasing, but it's not just about numbers,' said Greta Anderson, Deputy Director of Western Watersheds Project. Dating back to the early 1900s, the Mexican gray wolf was hunted and nearly wiped from existence. That was until the 1970s when the Endangered Species Act became law. 'It recognizes the inherent value of the diversity of life forms, and it makes sure that not only do we not let species disappear on our watch, but we work to recover them,' continued Anderson. Utilizing wolves in captivity, reintroduction began in 1998 in Arizona and New Mexico, and these efforts continue to this day. 'So, it is America's best tool to fight extinction, biodiversity loss, and to keep, you know, ecosystems intact and all the wild components of those ecosystems safe and not threatened by, you know, disappearing off the face of the earth,' emphasized Chris Smith, Director for Wild Earth Guardians. But, with threats such as conflict with livestock due to a reduction in prey, illegal killings,and potential budget cuts to recovery programs from the Trump Administration, the lobo population is still at risk. 'We don't really know what's going on with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the Department of the Interior, but we do know that it's being systematically dismantled from within, and that poses a threat,' continued Smith. Following the massive layoffs at national forest and park land, wildlife like the Lobo, are in harms way and harder to track without enough boots on the ground, 'In order to get these wolves off of the endangered species list, which is what everyone wants eventually, this program needs to be funded,' emphasized Smith. According to the Arizona and New Mexico Game and Fish Departments, there are around 350 Mexican wolves maintained at 60 facilities across the US and Mexico as part of the Mexican wolf saving animals from extinction program. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
