HONOLULU, Hawaii, October 5. 2008 (ENS) – Conservationists are expressing mixed reactions to the federal government’s proposal to add 48 species found only on the island of Kauai to the federal endangered species list and also to designate critical habitat for them. While advocates support the ecosystem approach proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife…
WASHINGTON, DC, September 15, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration’s authorization of increased snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park violates the fundamental legal responsibility of the National Park Service to protect the clean air, wildlife, and natural quiet of national parks for the benefit of all visitors, a federal court ruled today. The administration authorized…
WASHINGTON, DC, August 21, 2008 (ENS) – Saying the Bush administration’s most recent Endangered Species Act rulemaking is “anti-democratic,” 104 conservation and scientific organizations today submitted a letter to Cabinet officials calling for increased transparency and opportunities for public participation. The new rule published in the Federal Register last week would change the way the…
WASHINGTON, DC, August 12, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration has proposed sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act, releasing a plan to give federal agencies the authority to decide without expert consultation whether their activities could harm endangered and threatened species. Administration officials contend the proposal will make the law easier to implement, but…
WASHINGTON, DC, June 18, 2008 (ENS) – President George W. Bush today called on Congress to expand domestic oil production to lower record high oil and gas prices by lifting a ban on oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf that has been in place since 1981. Drilling for oil offshore is one of four…
WASHINGTON, DC, June 12, 2008 (ENS) – The federal Migratory Bird Conservation Commission today approved $4 million to purchase more than 18,000 acres of prairie wetland and grassland habitat for the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Minnesota In one of the largest purchases to use dollars generated by Federal Duck Stamp sales and…
By J.R. Pegg WASHINGTON, DC, May 14, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration reluctantly declared the polar bear a threatened species today, concluding that the loss of Arctic sea ice has put the future of the iconic species in peril. But the administration also took steps to ensure the decision will not require new efforts…
PAGE, Arizona, March 6, 2008 (ENS) – More than 300,000 gallons of water per second is now gushing through the Grand Canyon, released from Lake Powell near the Arizona-Utah border in an effort to restore sandbars needed by native plants and fish. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne Wednesday pulled a lever at Glen Canyon Dam to…
WASHINGTON, DC, January 4, 2008 (ENS) – Twenty-nine conservation projects encompassing nearly 10,000 acres of coastal wetlands will be funded with $20.5 million from 2008 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Friday. The grants will be used to acquire, restore or enhance coastal wetlands to provide long-term conservation benefits to fish,…