Now that the polar bear is about to receive over 128 million acres of critical habitat designation, the state of Alaska is taking legal action to challenge the decision.

Following the announcement that threatened polar bears are set to receive over 128 million acres of critical habitat designation, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell and Attorney General Dan Sullivan responded by taking legal action against federal protection of polar bears.

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The spotted seal, a sea ice-dependent Arctic species, has been denied Endangered Species Act protection by the Obama Administration.

Disappointment: The Center for Biological Diversity has announced that the Obama administration denied Endangered Species Act protection for the spotted seal, a species whose habitat is rapidly melting away due to global warming.

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A class of young school children from Alaska found a dead beluga whale on the beach during a weekly field trip. The Winterberry Elementary School second graders came across the whale along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.   According to their teacher, Meg Eggleston, the children saw the whale moving its tail and were convinced the whale will be fine.   But the whale, dead for hours, had already begun to decompose. 

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Up to 200 walrus carcasses - mostly calves - have been spotted on the shore of Chukchi Sea on Alaska’s northwest coast.

While on their way to a walrus tagging project, federal wildlife researchers discovered nearly 200 dead walruses about 140 miles southwest of Barrow, on Icy Cape.

Although the age and cause of death is not officially known, the walruses appear to be mainly new calves or yearlings, according to early reports.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that they will consider listing the Sonoran desert tortoise as a distinct population.

A 90-day finding on a petition to list the Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus agasizzii) as a distinct population (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act has been announced by the USFWS. This announcement has come after the review of filed petitions showed substantial evidence that the Sonoran desert tortoise may meet the criteria of “discreteness and significance” required for distinct population segments.

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In southeast Utah rests a peaceful town located on the banks of a peaceful river. Here the Green River flows between two canyons, Gray and Labyrinth, allowing for farming and ranching in an arid desert. Driving through Green River, Utah doesn’t take but a few moments, including a stop to purchase some mouth-watering melons, for which Green River is famous. But Green River now has a new claim to fame.

Transition Power Development LLC (TPD) has proposed construction of a 2 unit nuclear power plant known as the Blue Castle Project situated just outside of the peaceful town. In order to maintain the 2 unit nuclear power plant, massive amounts of water would be required. The Kane County Water Conservancy District (KCWCD) has filed a water-rights application in order to facilitate the project. The application requests 29,600 acre-feet of water, which would be diverted from the Green River, a part of the Colorado River drainage.

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Bald eagles in both Michigan and Maine have been removed from the endangered species list.

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A gray wolf was captured alive, fitted with a radio collar and ear tags, and then released in  May in Baker County (Eastern Oregon).

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The gray wolf population in Idaho, Montana, Washington, Utah, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan has recovered enough since being listed as endangered in 1974 to be removed from the list of species that are threatened and endangered.

Secrectary of the Interior Ken Salazaar concurred with the January decison of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the animal.

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The move will restore a longstanding and key protection of the ESA, stripped away by the Bush administration, that required federal agencies to consult with independent federal wildlife experts and scientists to determine how their actions would impact threatened or endangered species.

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The size of critical lynx habitat will increase from 1,841 square miles across three states to 39,000 square miles in six.

The expansion is due to a policy reconsideration because of allegations that Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Julie McDonald used her position to interfere with the way scientific findings were presented to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She resigned in 2007.

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Though President Bush remains in office for only two more weeks, he has left a final trail of devastation to cement his legacy in place. From gutting the endangered species act to allowing toxic waste to flow freely, Bush is pushing 11^th hour executive orders at a potentially record setting pace.

His list of last minute domestic atrocities is not limited to the environment, but many of his most egregious final offenses are those that spoil sensitive habitat and natural resources. This list is merely a sample of Bush’s midnight regulations, along with what is being done to stop him. Here are George Bush’s top five most disgraceful efforts to ruin our environment once more.

5) Actual pine woods to be replaced with a suburb named “Pine Woods”. Plum Creek Timber, the nation’s largest private landowner, has crafted a back door deal with the Bush administration to allow them to pave over logging roads and develop the previously inaccessible land. Local forest agencies are furious about the back door deal, which is being finalized this week. It might not be too late to stop it, so call 1-800-832-1355 and tell Forest Service director (and former timber industry lobbyist) to stop opening up our forests for development.

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A team of eight scientists and conservationists with the Endangered Species Coalition have determined the top 10 species in the United States that deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The animals and plants that were considered for the list, titled “Without a Net,” were nominated by various organizations across the country. The coalition prepared the list because they believe that the US Fish and Wildlife Services do not sufficiently research and list species in need of new protection.

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Endangered US animal and plant species are in danger of losing vital legal protection designed to prevent them from extinction.

The outgoing Bush administration is proposing to rush through legislation that will remove the right of government experts to ensure that dams, highways and other big infrastructure projects don’t pose an unacceptable threat to fragile plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Crucially, the regulations must be approved by Friday if they are to come into effect before President-elect Obama’s swearing-in ceremony on January 20th.

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With a background as an art activist that cares deeply for endangered species, I am pleased to present this darling poster from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which illustrates some of our planet’s most threatened species. Now you can educate your children, in the classroom and out, about modern day extinction and what we can do to prevent it. Entitled What’s Weird, Wonderful, and Needs Help? this educational illustration asks questions such as: “What does a Black Warrior Waterdog look like?” How about a Spectacled Eider? Ever see a Running Buffalo Clover, or something like it in a field?

This new endangered species poster is for kids and the young at heart alike.

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The beluga whales of Alaska’s Cook Inlet are endangered and require additional protection to survive, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Friday. The ruling contradicts Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s administration who has questioned the science showing a decline in the distinctive white species.

It was the second wildlife-themed rebuke Gov. Palin received from Washington this year. The governor had previously asked federal courts to overturn an Interior Department decision declaring polar bears threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

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Federal wildlife agencies have been told not to analyze the effects of emissions on species or habitats. This means that if you have a power-plant near a habitat, the agencies aren’t supposed to look into its emissions in relation to global warming effects on the local species…even if the power plant is the only thing in the area, and even if the species are part of the Endangered Species Act.

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From our friends at ZapRoot: The Endangered Species Act is in grave danger (as we’ve noted here at Red, Green and Blue). Turn your online searching green and charitable with GoodSearch. And, we bring to you all new Green Gadgets.

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In the wake of the decision by the Bush administration to try and neuter the Endangered Species Act, environmental groups across America have come out in opposition to the plans. The latest, the Ecological Society of America, has come out hitting hard.

"The concept of independent scientific review has been in practice since the 18th century and is crucial to ensuring that ideas and proposed work are scientifically sound," said Alison Power, president of the Society and professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. "This overhaul of the Endangered Species Act would place the fate of rare species in the hands of government stakeholders who are not qualified to assess the environmental impacts of their activities."

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Targeting the ESA’s consultation process, the policy changes boil down to this: only when a federal agency feels their intended actions could bring about harm must they consult an outside agency like the Fish and Wildlife Service. Currently,  all of these decisions are subject to an independent scientific review.

If the ambiguity of that policy makes you uncomfortable then please raise your hand because it scares the crap out of me.

First off, our current administration has been, if anything, consistent in its attempt to sidestep environmental policy over the past seven years. Consider this, Bush’s administration has only added about 60 species to the endangered species list. That is about 10-percent of what was listed under the Clinton administration, and only about 3-percent of what the Reagan administration listed. Even George Bush’s dad added around 200 species to the list!

Wait, it gets better. This whole process is incredibly sneaky. These suggested changes are not even subject to Congressional approval. Outside of that, the Interior Department is only allowing comments on the proposal for 30 days, and in an attempt to reduce public outcry they are not accepting any comments via email - snail mail only!

If this sounds sketch, it should. With the proposed changes, for example, agencies won’t even be required to assess how their projects will contribute to global warming, or the effect of those emissions on species and habitat. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Of course, we won’t have many of those around if these changes are allowed.

Fact is, this proposal is obscene and another wicked example of the Bush administration circumventing the law. And don’t let them fool you…the consequences are grand, such that we ourselves might might make the endangered list.

Take Action:

Comment Online via the NRDC

Related Posts:

Where Issues Intertwine: Why Animals Matter
Should All Arctic Species be Listed as Endangered?
Alaska Sues to End the Polar Bear

Image source: Voices at Flickr