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Another Victory! Preble's Mouse Regains Protection in Wyoming
After years of delay due to junk science and political interference, Preble's meadow jumping mouse has finally been given full protection in Wyoming.
Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse
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In July 2008, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service removed protections for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse in Wyoming while keeping the Colorado populations on the Endangered Species list.
In response to a lawsuit filed by BCA and its partners a federal court recently ordered that on August 6th the mouse is to regain full Endangered Species Act protection in Wyoming while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviews the mouse's status. At least for now, the mouse has full protection throughout its entire range.
BLM Considers Road Upgrades to Adobe Town 'Man Camp'
The Bureau of Land Management has launched an ultra-short public comment period to gather concerns about a road right-of-way and reconstruction to access a spot bordering both Adobe Town and the Kinney Rim South citizens' proposed wilderness areas. The road would access an exploratory well site within the Kinney Rim proposed wilderness as well as a 'man camp,' or trailer park for workers, slated for construction near the old airstrip next to the historic Cow Creek Ranch. Have a look at the BCA alert and read the Right-of-Way Environmental Assessment.
Send in your comments by email or postmark by Thursday, August 4th!
Draft EIS Published for a One Thousand-Turbine Wind Power Project Near Rawlins
BLM Simulation of Chokecherry Wind
Farm from Continental Divide Trail
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The Chokecherry wind power project, where a thousand wind turbines are proposed just south of Rawlins in prime sage grouse habitat, is now open for public comment.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is up on the web for public review and comment. (Be warned, it's a huge document!). In one of the dirty tricks of the sage grouse Core Area policy, Anschutz, the project's parent company, got the Sage Grouse Implementation Team to change the boundaries of an important sage grouse Core Area to exclude thousands of acres of prime habitat where Anschutz wanted to build turbines.
Public meetings will be held at the following locations:
August 22
Rawlins
The Jeffrey Center
315 E. Pine
4pm - 7pm
August 23
Saratoga
Platte Valley Community Center
210 west Elm Avenue
4pm - 7pm
Please attend and tell the BLM to protect greater sage grouse habitat.
Adobe Town Coalition Files Legal Appeal Against Exploratory Drilling
Adobe Town
(Photo by Ken Zajak)
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A coalition of conservation groups including BCA, NRDC, The Wilderness Society, and Defenders of Wildlife has filed a case before the Interior Board of Land Appeals, challenging the BLM's approval of a two-well project deep in the heart of lands that the BLM itself declared to possess wilderness character.
The agency later on recanted its finding of wilderness qualities and went ahead and approved the industrial project under a 'Finding of No Significant Impact,' even though the project does in fact have severe impacts on sage grouse, scenery, and public recreation.
New BLM Sage Grouse Policy Offers Opportunity to Reform Wyoming Core Area Strategy
Sage Grouse
(Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
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The BLM recently announced a new strategy for sage grouse conservation, which will apply "science-based conservation measures into Resource Management Plans across regions where the greater sage-grouse is found.
The BLM's ecoregional approach to this issue is commendable, and offers an opportunity to replace the weak and biologically inadequate protection measures in the Wyoming sage grouse Core Area strategy, which were based in political compromise, with strong, science-based protections. If the federal government has the guts.
BCA Moves Protection of Endangered Species Forward by Dropping its 2004 "Warranted But Precluded" Case Against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Acting on recent news that a landmark settlement in a related case has been approved, BCA and Center for Native Ecosystems (now Rocky Mountain Wild) have filed to dismiss a seven year old legal challenge in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
After Wild Earth Guardians (WEG) and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), both of which were parties to our 2004 Warranted But Precluded case, successfully settled a separate case with similar claims BCA and CNE determined that the WEG/CBD settlement largely addressed the claims raised in our 2004 case. So, we dropped it.
Our case paved the way for the WEG/CBD settlement's success and resulted in accelerated listing timelines for the Dakota skipper, Lower Colorado River population of the round-tailed chub, yellow-billed cuckoo, upper Missouri River population of the Arctic grayling, and the yellow-billed loon.
Issues BCA and CNE raised back in 2004, brought about a plan that Fish and Wildlife must now follow to more quickly protect the threatened and endangered wildlife species it has neglected for decades.The Fish and Wildlife Service's new work plan will hopefully fix a system that has been broken for far too long. BCA and its partners will remain watchful and we will not hesitate to renew our legal challenge if the Fish & Wildlife Service fails to perform as promised.
BCA Has New Digs!
BCA is now in its great new home at 412 South 2nd Street in Laramie. Exterior and inside work are still being done so we are not settled just yet, but we invite you come by and see our new office any time.
BCA staff thanks the many volunteers (including our board members) who have helped make this move possible. As we settle in we hope to see much more of our great BCA members and those who want to be part of BCA's efforts. Don't worry. We will post photos of our new office when all the work is done!
Thanks for using your voice for the wild!
Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073
(307) 742-7978 - jennifer@voiceforthewild.org
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