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<NEWS> Wolverines may go onto the Endangered Species List
9 years ago
Although I do not have a ton of time to write this evening, I did want to throw this story out there because it's sort of a big deal.
In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considered adding the wolverine to the Endangered Species List due to climate change, but only a year later rejected the proposal, stating that the evidence was inconclusive. Conservationists filed a lawsuit that year, but farmers, ranchers, big oil, and snowmobile associations backed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, on Monday, April 4th, 2016, Chief Judge Dana L. Christensen of the U.S. District Court for Montana handed down an 80-page judgment in favor of the conservationists and ordered U.S. Fish and Wildlife to reconsider their stance. This means that the wolverine may become the first animal within the lower 48 to receive federal protections because of climate change.
Unlike with polar bears, which were added to the list in 2008 due to climate change and "visible" shrinking ice, wolverine researchers have never been able to produce concrete evidence that climate change affects the animal. Although it has been stated that wolverines require a fresh snowpack to give birth, scientists are still uncertain as to why snow is required for the animal to give birth. It is because of this, that scientists have had a hard time convincing the Feds to protect this animal.
“If evidence shows that wolverines need snow for denning purposes, and the best available science projects a loss of snow as a result of climate where and when wolverines den, then what sense does it make to deny that climate change is a threat to the wolverine simply because research has yet to prove exactly why wolverines need snow for denning?” Christensen wrote in the order. “There is near universal agreement that wolverines require deep snow for reproductive denning purposes.”
Although not yet on the list, this is a triumph for science and could be a huge step in protecting a species that, is not only affected by loss of snow, but is also still trapped for fur and only has an estimated 300 animals in the lower 48. This ruling could also allow other animals that are predicted to be impacted by climate change to be protected by the Endangered Species Act.
READ MORE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/.....n_5673255.html
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060035183
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/s.....Email&_r=0
http://www.theatlantic.com/national.....pecies/477591/
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/.....61e33800d.html
In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considered adding the wolverine to the Endangered Species List due to climate change, but only a year later rejected the proposal, stating that the evidence was inconclusive. Conservationists filed a lawsuit that year, but farmers, ranchers, big oil, and snowmobile associations backed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, on Monday, April 4th, 2016, Chief Judge Dana L. Christensen of the U.S. District Court for Montana handed down an 80-page judgment in favor of the conservationists and ordered U.S. Fish and Wildlife to reconsider their stance. This means that the wolverine may become the first animal within the lower 48 to receive federal protections because of climate change.
Unlike with polar bears, which were added to the list in 2008 due to climate change and "visible" shrinking ice, wolverine researchers have never been able to produce concrete evidence that climate change affects the animal. Although it has been stated that wolverines require a fresh snowpack to give birth, scientists are still uncertain as to why snow is required for the animal to give birth. It is because of this, that scientists have had a hard time convincing the Feds to protect this animal.
“If evidence shows that wolverines need snow for denning purposes, and the best available science projects a loss of snow as a result of climate where and when wolverines den, then what sense does it make to deny that climate change is a threat to the wolverine simply because research has yet to prove exactly why wolverines need snow for denning?” Christensen wrote in the order. “There is near universal agreement that wolverines require deep snow for reproductive denning purposes.”
Although not yet on the list, this is a triumph for science and could be a huge step in protecting a species that, is not only affected by loss of snow, but is also still trapped for fur and only has an estimated 300 animals in the lower 48. This ruling could also allow other animals that are predicted to be impacted by climate change to be protected by the Endangered Species Act.
READ MORE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/.....n_5673255.html
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060035183
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/s.....Email&_r=0
http://www.theatlantic.com/national.....pecies/477591/
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/.....61e33800d.html
