Photo: iStockphoto
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided not to list wolverines in the Lower 48 states as threatened or endangered. The agency concluded that wolverines didn't need Endangered Species Act protections in the Lower 48 since viable populations exist in Canada and Alaska. The FWS said the Lower 48 wolverine population "is not separated from wolverine populations in Canada, and is likely dependent on them to some degree for maintaining genetic diversity." However, some wildlife advocates saw the decision as pawning off species protections to other countries. "This sets a new low in a long line of irresponsible, disturbing decisions made of late by the Bush administration," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, former director of the FWS in the Clinton administration. "The Endangered Species Act was designed to protect and preserve imperiled wildlife populations -- not so that we can pass our responsibilities off onto our border neighbors." Green groups said they'll likely challenge the decision in court.
source: Associated Press, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
see also, in Gristmill: First wolverine in 30 years spotted in California
EU pushes China further after pledge to slow carbon intensity
Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success
Comments
View as Flat
javaearth Posted 12:37 am
11 Mar 2008
The USDA works for the Meat industry
The FDA works for the Pharmaceutical industry
Maybe if government bodies were actually "independent" we could expect better judgments from them! But they are corrupt. And yet we have the audacity to try teaching other countries about freedom and democracies!
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Tasermons Partner Posted 2:52 am
11 Mar 2008
Sheesh...looks like another court battle for the NRDC and the Center for Biological Diversity!
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Wolverine Posted 6:39 am
11 Mar 2008
Seriously, I'm sure the good conservation groups like the Center for Biological Diversity will come to my rescue.
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caniscandida Posted 12:02 am
12 Mar 2008
if you will permit an objective aesthetic opinion from a friend who has your best interests at heart: You are much prettier from behind, as in that Sierra Nevada photo, than face-to-face.
By the way, yesterday I added a reference to an updated report on that California wolverine and where it may be from, on the "first Wolverine in 30 years" thread.
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Wolverine Posted 6:44 am
12 Mar 2008
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