• Animals

Court Issues Leviathan Ruling In Favor of Right Whales

• Endangered Species Act
• gillnets
• whales

A federal court in Washington, D.C. handed the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale a leviathan victory ruling that the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service’s decision to open up two areas amounting to 3,000 square miles off the New England coast to gillnet fishing violated the Endangered Species Act.  The Court restored the previous prohibition on the use of gillnets by fishermen in the whales’ critical habitat.

Why This Matters:  There are only 400 North Atlantic Right Whales remaining and 30 have died as a result of ship strikes and gear entanglements since 2017.  In recent years, the areas that the government re-opened to fishing have become increasingly important as gathering and feeding spots for right whales, with up to a quarter of the population spotted in these areas during some seasons of the year. 

• Land

Trump “Jokes” About Border Wall Pardons

• border wall
• Endangered Species Act
• NEPA
• pardon
• property rights
• Takings

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the President told subordinates they should “take the land” and could break the law in order to get the border wall completed because he would “pardon” them – a statement the White House later claimed was just a joke. 

• Animals

Breakthroughs in Global Protection From Trade for Mako Sharks and Giraffes

• #30x30
• Blue Sphere Foundation
• CITES
• endangered species
• Endangered Species Act
• giraffe
• mako shark

Delegates from around the world came to the defense of one of the most critically endangered marine species — the mako shark (often targeted for shark fin soup) — moving ahead a global trade ban for final consideration by the U.N. body that deals with trade in endangered species despite opposition to the ban by Japan, Canada, and the United States.  Final approval of the ban is expected later this week.

• Animals

Trump Rolls Back Endangered Species Protections, Despite Widespread Public Support

• Endangered Species Act
• ESA
• Trump

Enacted with bipartisan support in 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the United States’ most effective species conservation law but the Trump Administration has made the act a target in their efforts to roll back environmental protections. As Vox reported, yesterday, “the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration […]

• Animals

The Endangered Species Act Is Now the One That Is Endangered

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• Endangered Species Act
• IFAW
• IPBES
• IPCC

By Beth Allgood, U.S. Country Director, International Fund for Animal Welfare According to a 2019 independent survey conducted on behalf of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a vast majority of Americans affirmed that it is ‘very important’ for the United States to protect endangered species both domestically and across the globe. Three in […]

One Cool Thing: Turtle Power!

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• Endangered Species Act
• loggerhead turtles
• threatened species

Loggerhead turtles have laid a record number of nests this year on the East Coast of the U.S. from North Carolina to Florida — more than 12,200, smashing the previous record by nearly a thousand nests in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.  And while just the nest numbers alone bode well for the future […]