Should private companies that accidentally kill migratory birds be held criminally responsible? The Trump administration didn’t think so and changed an interpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty that made an unintentional killing of migratory birds a crime. Now the Fish and Wildlife Service is reversing the Trump administration’s decision. The Migratory Bird Treaty was…
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The Snail Darter Is Back
Remember the snail darter (or, more likely, hearing about it)? In 1975, the Endangered Species Act temporarily halted construction of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River because it would endanger the habitat of the snail darter, a three-inch fish (shown above). The snail darter will be taken off the list, reports Dino Grandoni…
The White Supremacy of Birds?
The Washington Post has collected an amazing number of reasons to stop being a birder—all reflecting the fact that many birds are named after people deemed to be racists. “The Bachman’s sparrow, Wallace’s fruit dove and other winged creatures bear the names of men who fought for the Southern cause, stole skulls from Indian graves…
Biden’s Land Management Appointee Gets a Grilling from Republican Senators
In a hearing June 8, Republicans challenged Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination as head of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Interior Department bureau is in charge of cattle grazing, energy development, and logging on about 245 million acres of publicly owned, mostly western land. Manning-Stone is a long-time environmentalist who is a senior advisor on…
Can a Rancher Kill a Grizzly Bear in Self-Defense?
The growing numbers of grizzly bears in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, are rankling ranchers. So the Montana legislature has passed two bills that aim at giving ranchers more rights to kill grizzlies. But will these laws fly? The will undoubtedly run into conflict with federal regulations for the grizzly, which is still listed as an…
Supreme Court Nixes Sierra Club FOIA Request, Protects ‘Deliberative Process’
Although most non-classified documents are available to the public, there are exceptions. The Supreme Court told the Sierra Club on March 3 that it could not have access to draft documents prepared in 2013 by staff members of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Amy Coney Barrett wrote the 7-2…