Growing Returns

Raise a glass (of tequila!) to celebrate this endangered bat’s recovery

By Kjellen Belcher / Published: April 27, 2018

When the lesser long-nosed bat was first listed as an endangered species 30 years ago, there were fewer than 1,000 bats in existence. Today, the bat’s population has grown to an estimated 200,000 bats living in 75 roosts across the southwestern United States and Mexico.

A lesser long-nosed bat feeding on an Agave blossom at night in Tucson, Arizona.

The lesser long-nosed bat is one of only three nectar-feeding bat species in the U.S. – uniquely providing valuable ecosystem services through bat pollination and the dispersal of fruit seeds, including for agave plants used in tequila production.

The relationship between bats and tequila may seem obscure at first, but the bat-plant association is so strong that the disappearance of one would threaten the survival of the other.

– BATS Magazine

The lesser long-nosed bat is the first bat species to be removed from the endangered species list due to successful recovery. How the bat bounced back is not your typical conservation success story. Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat / Tagged agave, delisting, Endangered Species Act, endangered species act success stories, lesser long-nosed bad, mexico, tequila, Tequila Interchange Project, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Read 1 Response

What to watch for during today’s farm bill markup in the House

By Callie Eideberg / Published: April 18, 2018

The House Agriculture Committee meets today to begin markup on the 2018 draft farm bill. While markup is only the first step of a long process, it will tell us a lot about the road ahead.

The farm bill provides the largest source of federal funding for conservation on private lands – and with 70 percent of U.S. land privately managed, the farm bill is a major driver of efforts to improve water and air quality, increase wildlife habitat and build drought resilience.

While much of the focus will be on whether the Conservation Stewardship Program will be folded into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), here are six additional conservation items to keep an eye on during markup. Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Food, Sustainable Agriculture / Tagged Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, farm bill, house agriculture committee, Natural Resources Conservation Service, RCPP, Regional Conservation Partnerships Program, Secretary of Agriculture, technical assistance, USDA, USDA NRCS | Comments are closed

A rare desert wildflower is no longer endangered, but the law that saved it may be

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 20, 2018

When most people think about the Endangered Species Act, they picture the bald eagle, the sea turtle or the grizzly bear. They don’t think as often about the grasses, ferns, flowers and conifers that the ESA also protects.

That makes sense when you consider that there are approximately 26 known animal species for every known plant species. But animals, including humans of course, rely heavily on plants for food, oxygen, shelter and more.

Just like animals, plants increasingly face habitat loss, pollution, disease and climate change, which threaten their existence.

There are currently 949 species of plants listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA, including several species of cactus, mint and milkweed – a vital plant for monarch butterflies. But even the more obscure and isolated plants demonstrate how closely plant resilience is tied to the health of both local and broader ecosystems. Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat / Tagged biodiversity, death valley, delisted, delisting, dune grass, endangered species, Endangered Species Act, endangered species act success stories, endangered species act success story, eureka valley, evening primrose, national park, plants | Read 2 Responses

Why Trump should care about the fate of the sage-grouse even more than African elephants

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 5, 2018

When the Trump administration announced that it was lifting the ban on imports of game trophies, there was public outcry. For days, my twitter feed was filled with photos of African elephants. It was, in Trump’s words, a “horror show” – one that ultimately ended when the president made the decision to keep the trophy ban in place.

At the same time the trophy ban was making headlines across the globe, a different story was unfolding back home. A great American wildlife conservation story was being rewritten. Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat / Tagged America first, conservation, elephant trophies, Endangered Species Act, greater sage-grouse, Interior department, oil and gas, ryan zinke, trophy hunting, wildlife | Read 2 Responses

I’m a rancher, and I support the Endangered Species Act

By Guest Author / Published: January 9, 2018

In a recent op-ed for The Hill, Robert Henneke of the Texas Public Policy Foundation shared his opinion that “The Endangered Species Act is an ineffective regulatory burden.” I believe Mr. Henneke lacked a full perspective of the bedrock American environmental policy.

A sixth generation rancher defends the Endangered Species Act as "a much needed incentive" for conservation

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As a fellow Texan, I was surprised to see Mr. Henneke forget about the great wildlife success stories in our home state. The whooping crane, the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle and the Northern Aplomado Falcon have all experienced growing populations in Texas, thanks to conservation efforts made possible by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Though they are still classified as “endangered,” these species have turned the trajectory from extinction to recovery, so I wouldn’t say the Act is ineffective, and I certainly wouldn’t go so far as Mr. Henneke does to call it “a terrible approach” to saving species with “an abysmal track record.”

I’m a sixth generation rancher in Brady, Texas. My husband George and I love and care for the land, the livestock, and the wide variety of Texas wildlife that call our ranch home. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged Congress, Endangered Species Act, habitat exchange, monarch butterly, ranchers, texas public policy foundation, whooping crane | Comments are closed

The wild turkey may be America’s greatest wildlife conservation success story

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: November 16, 2017

Three male wild American turkeys displaying full plumage. The turkey’s bald head can change color in seconds with excitement or emotion. The birds’ heads can be red, pink, white or blue. [Photo credit: Larry Smith2010]

When most Americans think about great wildlife success stories, they think about the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, or possibly the recent news of sea turtle recovery.

What many people forget, or perhaps never knew, is that America’s wild turkey population was once estimated to be approximately 30,000 – a number comparable to today’s estimates for polar bears worldwide.

Thankfully for us (and the gobblers), American wild turkeys now number close to seven million.

So how did the turkey bounce back? The answer lies in what some consider America’s greatest wildlife conservation success story. Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat / Tagged American wild turkey, bald eagle, conservation, Endangered Species Act, endangered species act success stories, forest service, hunting, National Wild Turkey Federation, Thanksgiving, theodore roosevelt, turkey, wildlife | Read 1 Response

10,000-acre deal to protect sage-grouse marks milestone in conservation

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: November 9, 2017

The imperiled greater sage-grouse avoided an endangered species listing in September 2015 after Western landowners, conservation groups, and state and federal agencies forged a plan to protect its habitat. Read more >>

Today, Kinross Gold U.S.A., Inc., will complete the first purchase of habitat credits to offset impacts to greater sage-grouse through the Nevada Conservation Credit System. The transaction will take place at a signing ceremony in Carson City, Nevada to commemorate the long-term stewardship of nearly 10,000 acres of vital sage-grouse habitat.

Kinross is the first company to participate in the program, buying credits to offset the environmental impacts of its Bald Mountain gold mine in northeast Nevada. The credit projects will include a variety of conservation activities, such as grazing management and fencing maintenance, which will take place over the next 30 years.

The transaction marks a significant milestone in the sage-grouse story, and in America’s conservation history. Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat, Habitat Exchange, Partnerships / Tagged bald mountain gold mine, BLM, Colorado Habitat Exchange, Endangered Species Act, environmental defense fund, habitat exchange, Interior department, kinross, mining company, mitigation, Nevada, nevada conservation credit system, ryan zinke, sage grouse, Wyoming Conservation Exchange | Comments are closed

A plume of hope for an endangered bird and its forest

By Michael Bean / Published: October 10, 2017

The red-cockaded woodpecker is a keystone species of the longleaf pine ecosystem. (Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region)

In the pine forests of the Southeast, a small black and white bird spends its days hammering out cavities in the trunks of mature longleaf pine trees. The red-cockaded woodpecker is endangered, and its status reflects the condition of the entire forest ecosystem upon which it depends.

It was the gradual but steady disappearance of the region’s unique longleaf pine forests due to increased settlement, timber harvesting and development that initially raised concerns about the decline of the red-cockaded woodpecker population in the 1960s.

Since then, collaborative efforts between the federal government and private landowners initiated an encouraging uphill comeback for the keystone species. Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat / Tagged Endangered Species Act, endangered species act success stories, longleaf pine, national wildlife refuge, red-cockaded woodpecker, Safe Harbor, Safe Harbor agreements, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Read 1 Response

“We sink or swim together” in the sagebrush sea, and beyond

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 5, 2017

Western governors, landowners, conservationists and others celebrated the collaborative and bipartisan conservation effort that led to a "not warranted" listing decision for sage-grouse in September 2015.

Today, the Interior Department opened up federal sage-grouse plans to potential changes, despite the concerns of many state, industry, landowner and conservation stakeholders across the country.

John Swartout, a senior policy advisor to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, said that it would be bad for Colorado if the sage-grouse plan, developed over years with local and state involvement, was eliminated, for fears that this would lead to a future Endangered Species Act listing.

“We didn’t work this hard to throw it all away and get a listing,” he said, echoing concerns of others that upending the plans could ultimately lead to the sage-grouse being listed.

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead reiterated what many western governors have told Secretary Zinke – that the states should be consulted about revisions to the plans because they are ultimately the ones who have to face the consequences if the plans fail and a federal listing is warranted.

“If it was a state by state listing decision, that’d be one thing,” Mead said. “But the way we are with the law right now, if one state gets listed, we all are going to get listed. We sink or swim together.” Read More »

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat, Partnerships / Tagged department of interior, Endangered Species Act, Governor Hickenlooper, governor mead, greater sage-grouse, mitigation, secretary zinke | Comments are closed

Sea turtles swim towards a brighter future

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 29, 2017

Sea turtle populations are showing promising signs of recovery after years of decline. (Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region)

There’s some good news in the animal kingdom. Sea turtles, the beloved green jewels of the world’s vast blue oceans, appear to be bouncing back after decades of decline.

Six of seven sea turtle species are currently listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) – the green, loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, olive ridley, hawksbill, and leatherback – and many of them have been on the list since 1970. Since then, conservation efforts have made significant strides in protecting nesting beaches, reducing mortality in fisheries and establishing marine protected areas.

Recent research suggests there is hope for beleaguered sea turtles. Important recovery in some local populations has shown that we can turn things around for sea turtles, especially with effective endangered species policy and improved management.

This comeback is promising, not just for turtles, but also for marine ecosystems and the marine economy at large.

Also posted in Ecosystems, Habitat / Tagged endangered species, Endangered Species Act, endangered species act success stories, fishermen, green sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, kemp's ridley sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, sea turtles, wildlife | Comments are closed