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More than 100 Groups Urge President Biden to Reverse DHS Waiver of Federal Laws to Expedite Border Wall Construction

The Center for Biological Diversity, ACLU, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, GreenLatinos, Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, and more than 100 others sent a letter to President Biden. The letter urges the President to reverse a Department of Homeland Security decision to waive legal protections for border communities and wildlife to facilitate the “expeditious construction of barriers” along the Texas-Mexico border near the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Pursuant to authority granted by Congress in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas exercised his authority to “waive in their entirety” dozens of federal statutes, including the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Migratory Bird Conservation Act, Clean Air Act, National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Eagle Protection Act, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, Administrative Procedure Act, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

Federal Judge Rejects Massachusetts Fishers’ Challenge to Federal Approval of Offshore Wind Farm Project

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a motion for summary judgement filed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and other federal defendants in a lawsuit brought by Massachusetts fishers. The fishers claimed that the agencies improperly approved a proposed wind farm project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. They brought claims under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled the fishers failed to establish standing on their ESA, NEPA, and MMPA claims (where the claims were not found to be moot). Judge Talwani further ruled that the fishers failed to provide sufficient evidence of statutory violations and to establish in their CWA and OCSLA claims that the challenged federal actions related to the wind farm project were arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise unlawful.

California Legislation Imposes Moratoriums on Certain Rodenticides

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1322, which imposes a moratorium on the use of first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides containing the ingredient diphacinone. It also imposes a temporary moratorium on the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides containing any of four listed ingredients until the state takes certain certification action. The moratoriums are subject to certain exceptions. These rodenticide ingredients are used in rat poisons and can harm humans, companion animals, and wildlife like bobcats.

Overfishing of Krill in the Southern Ocean Is a Danger to Marine Life and Climate Change

Scientists have warned that krill fishing is decimating the Antarctic population of the shrimp-like animals. Krill remove as much as 23 megatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, and krill fishing is banned in the waters of the United States due to its potential detrimental impacts on marine mammals and other animals that feed on krill. The contested Southern Ocean, however, is where krill are most abundant, and that area lacks sufficient international protections to prevent overfishing. At the most recent meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, China and Russia voted to block a U.S. proposal to restrict the unloading of krill to cargo vessels at sea and also voted down a proposal for the creation of a large nature reserve along the Antarctic Peninsula.

Canada’s Cabinet Rejects Emergency Order to Protect Endangered Northern Spotted Owl

Canada's Cabinet rejected an emergency order to protect the critically endangered northern spotted owl in British Columbia. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault initially said he would recommend the emergency order under Canada's Species at Risk Act in February 2023 but delayed until September. During this period, the owl population plummeted from three to one, with only one wild-born owl remaining in the Fraser Canyon region. Two captive-bred owls released earlier this year were found dead, and another was injured and brought back to captivity. The Wilderness Committee, represented by Ecojustice, is challenging Guilbeault's eight-month delay in court, raising concerns about the government's adherence to the Species at Risk Act. The hearing is scheduled to take place the week of October 15th.

FWS Announced 90-Day Findings on Potential ESA Uplisting of West Indian Manatees

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) announced 90-day findings on two petitions to reclassify the West Indian manatee under the Endangered Species Act, finding that the petitions “present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted.” One petition, submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Miami Waterkeeper, Save the Manatee Club, and Frank S. González García, seeks to reclassify the West Indian manatee and the Florida and Antillean manatee subspecies from threatened to endangered. The other petition, submitted by Julio C. Colón, requests that FWS list the Puerto Rico population of the Antillean manatee as an endangered distinct population segment of the West Indian manatee. FWS will be issuing a 12-month petition finding and will accept comments and new scientific and commercial data relating to the petitioned actions from the public.

Prince Edward Island Records First Rabies Case in Over a Decade

Prince Edward Island has reported its first rabies case in over a decade. A bat found in a Queens County home tested positive for the virus, marking the island's first documented case since 2009. The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative for the Atlantic region, which operates the bat hotline, submitted the animal for testing to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency lab in Ottawa after displays of abnormal behaviour. Although rabies is rare in humans from bat contact, public health officials advise residents to be cautious. Islanders are encouraged to contact the bat hotline or the Fish and Wildlife Division office if they encounter a bat indoors.

Federal Court Upholds Omission of Big Game Protections from Revised Forest Management Plan

The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana upheld the U.S. Forest Service’s (Forest Service) decision to remove a set of long-standing big game protection standards from the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Plan. In granting summary judgement to the federal government, the court ruled that the Forest Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) adequately considered the standards in revising the Plan. The challenge was brought by the Helena Hunters and Anglers Association, Western Watersheds Project, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians. The plaintiffs argued that the Forest Service and FWS failed to sufficiently consider how the standards removal would impact grizzly bears in violation of the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act.

Ontario Seizes Nearly 100 Racoons From Animal Rehabilitation Facility

Mally’s Third Chance Raccoon Rescue in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, says the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has seized ninety-five raccoons from its rehabilitation centre. The owners of the facility are accused of more than twenty violations of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act relating to failures to comply to its licensing conditions. The Ministry, which claims to have acted on a tip from the public, says that the raccoons are being cared for in a secure facility. A volunteer with Mally’s Third Chance noted that “every single raccoon on the property was seized” and that discovering the current location and health of the animals is their top priority.

Malaysian Wildlife Department Defends Use of Puppies as Panther Bait

Malaysia's Wildlife Department defended its use of puppies as live bait to capture black panthers. The department used puppies after attempts with a goat failed. The Wildlife Department Director General stated that using live animals is standard procedure, and the puppies were unharmed and swiftly released once the panther was caught. The operation faced criticism from animal rights groups, with calls for more ethical methods. Panthers in Malaysia are a protected species, but they sometimes stray into villages due to habitat loss.