SALEM, Ore.— The Middle for Organic Variety sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at this time for failing to find out if the Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle warrants Endangered Species Act safety, and for failing to finalize safety for 3 different species, a plant known as the marrón bacora and the longsolid and Canoe Creek clubshell mussels.
The lawsuit was filed within the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Oregon.
“Daily safety is delayed, these 4 unimaginable species are at a larger danger of extinction,” mentioned Camila Cossío, a employees lawyer on the Middle. “These species spotlight the vary of biodiversity at stake within the extinction disaster, from a rare beetle discovered on the Oregon coast to the Canoe Creek clubshell mussel, very important to the well being of Alabama’s Coosa River.”
The Middle petitioned the Service to guard the Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle in 2020, however the company missed a 12-month window to resolve whether or not to take action. The Middle petitioned to guard longsolid and Canoe Creek clubshell mussels in 2010. Following Middle litigation the Service proposed safety for the mussels in 2020 however did not difficulty a last rule inside one yr as required.
A petition to guard marrón bacora was first submitted in 1996. After a number of rounds of litigation by the Middle, the Service lastly agreed to guard the plant in 2020 however has but to offer last safety.
“The Endangered Species Act is tremendously efficient at saving species from extinction,” mentioned Cossío. “Nevertheless it solely works if the Service really grants species safety.”
Species Background
The Siuslaw hairy-necked tiger beetle: A fierce predator, the beetle was named after Siuslaw Native Individuals and the Siuslaw River of the central Oregon Coast. The beetle was as soon as discovered on coastal seashores from Northern California to southern Washington however has disappeared from most locations it was traditionally discovered. The tiger beetle is threatened by habitat loss, off-road autos, local weather change, coastal erosion, trampling by beachgoers, inbreeding, and invasive species.
The longsolid: The longsolid mussel is 5 inches lengthy with a light-brown shell that options darker brown stripes and a pronounced ridge. It lives within the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee River basins in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. It’s threatened by water air pollution from urbanization, agriculture, oil and fuel drilling, pipeline development, coal mining and coal-fired energy crops, and elevated stream temperatures and storm occasions pushed by local weather change.
The Canoe Creek clubshell: This freshwater mussel lives solely in Huge Canoe Creek and Little Canoe Creek West, tributaries of the Coosa River in northeast Alabama. It’s about 3.5 inches lengthy, with a darkish yellow-to-brown outer shell, an iridescent mother-of-pearl white interior shell and a salmon-orange physique. The species is threatened by runoff from agriculture and forestry, a deliberate pump-storage mission, water air pollution from growth, and extreme drought exacerbated by local weather change. Solely 25 mussels had been present in current surveys. All had been growing old adults, indicating lack of profitable replica.
Marrón bacora: This flowering shrub can attain 10 ft in peak and is discovered on St. John within the U.S. Virgin Islands and Tortola within the British Virgin Islands. Marrón bacora was regarded as extinct till it was rediscovered within the early Nineties. There are solely a handful of populations, and low numbers of people in every. The plant is threatened by growth and local weather change. St. John was devastated in 2017 by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Service discovered that local weather change is predicted to extend the frequency and depth of tropical storms, hurricanes, and extreme droughts.
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Four Oregon lawmakers are calling on Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to help stop a plan that would kill 450,000 barred owls in an effort to save endangered spotted owls over the next 30 years.
The entrepreneurs were named by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
In a letter sent Tuesday, state Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Stayton, Rep. David Gomberg, D-Lincoln County, Rep. Virgle Osborne, R-Roseburg, and Sen.-elect Bruce Starr, R-Yamhill and Polk counties, asked the incoming Trump administration officials to stop the reportedly more than $1 billion project, calling it a “budget buster” and “impractical.”
Environmental groups Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy in late 2024 filed a federal lawsuit in Washington state to stop the planned killing of the barred owls.
Here is why the Oregon lawmakers are opposed to the plan, what the plan would do and why it is controversial.
In August 2024, after years of planning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came up with a proposal to kill a maximum of 450,000 invasive barred owls over 30 years as a way to quell habitat competition between them and the northern spotted owl.
Spotted owl populations have been rapidly declining due in part to competition from invasive barred owls, which originate in the eastern United States. Northern spotted owls are listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
According to the USFWS plan, barred owls are one of the main factors driving the rapid decline of northern and California spotted owls, and with their removal, less than one-half of 1% of the North American barred owl population would be killed.
The plan was formally approved by the Biden administration in September 2024.
Shortly after it was announced, Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy immediately responded in opposition to the plan to kill barred owls. They argued the plan was both ill-conceived and that habitat loss is the main factor driving the spotted owls decline.
“Spotted owls have experienced significant population decline over decades,” a news release from the groups filing the lawsuit said. “This decline began and continues due to habitat loss, particularly the timber harvest of old growth forest. The plan is not only ill-conceived and inhumane, but also destined to fail as a strategy to save the spotted owl.”
In their complaint, the groups argued the USFWS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to properly analyze the impacts of their strategy and improperly rejecting reasonable alternatives to the mass killing of barred owls, such as nonlethal population control approaches, spotted owl rehabilitation efforts and better protections for owl habitat.
The four Oregon lawmakers are siding with the environmental groups and calling for Musk and Ramaswamy to reverse the federal government’s plan to kill the barred owls. It was not immediately clear how the two could stop the plan.
The lawmakers letter stated the plan was impractical and a “budget buster,” with cost estimates for the plan around $1.35 billion, according to a press release by the two groups.
The letter speculates there likely isn’t an excess of people willing to do the killing for free: “it is expected that the individuals doing the shooting across millions of acres – including within Crater Lake National Park – will require compensation for the arduous, night-time hunts,” according to the press release.
“A billion-dollar price tag for this project should get the attention of everyone on the Trump team concerned about government efficiency,” Diehl said. “Killing one type of owl to save another is outrageous and doomed to fail. This plan will swallow up Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars for no good reason.”
USFWS says they aren’t trying to trade one bird for the other.
“As wildlife professionals, we approached this issue carefully and did not come to this decision lightly,” USFWS Oregon State Supervisor Kessina Lee said in announcing the decision in August. “Spotted owls are at a crossroads, and we need to manage both barred owls and habitat to save them. This isn’t about choosing one owl over the other. If we act now, future generations will be able to see both owls in our Western forests.”
Statesman Journal reporter Zach Urness contributed to this report.
Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval can be reached at GSandoval@gannett.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.
A rebound basket with 3.5 seconds left in overtime allowed Santa Clara to escape with an 82-81 overtime win over Oregon State in men’s basketball Thursday night.
The Beavers, looking for their first road win of the season and their third since 2021, just missed when Tyeree Bryan’s tip-in with 3.5 seconds left was the difference.
Oregon State, leading 81-78, had two chances to rescue the win.
Adama Bal, fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, made his first two free throws but missed the third. But Bal outfought OSU for the rebound, then kicked the ball out to Christoph Tilly, whose three-point shot glanced off the rim. Bryan then knifed between two Beaver rebounders, collecting the ball with his right hand and tipping it off the backboard and into the basket.
OSU (12-5, 2-2 WCC) came up short on a half-court shot at the buzzer.
The loss spoiled what was a 12-point second-half comeback for Oregon State, which led by as many as four points in overtime.
Parsa Fallah led the Beavers with 24 points and seven rebounds. Michael Rataj had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Isaiah Sy scored 12 points and Damarco Minor 11.
Elijah Maji scored 21 points for Santa Clara (11-6, 3-1), which has won eight of its last nine games.
The game was tied at 32-32 at halftime following a first half where OSU trailed by as many as 12 points. Fallah and Minor combined to score the final eight points as OSU finished the half on a 10-2 run.
The game began to get away from the Beavers again as Santa Clara built a 60-48 lead with 9:43 remaining. Sy got OSU going with a three-pointer, as the Beavers whittled away at the deficit. OSU eventually grabbed the lead at 67-65 with 5:19 left on another three by Sy. It was a defensive brawl for the rest of regulation, as neither team scored during the final 1:58.
Oregon State never trailed in overtime until the final three seconds. A Sy three with 1:29 left gave the Beavers a four-point cushion. After the Broncos later cut the lead to one, Fallah’s layup with 17 seconds left put OSU up 81-78.
Oregon State returns to action Saturday when the Beavers complete their two-game road trip at Pacific. Game time is 7 p.m.
–Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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Cal Mukumoto answers to the Oregon Board of Forestry, a citizen board appointed by the governor that helps oversee and implement forest policy. His resignation was announced Thursday during a board meeting by Chair Jim Kelly.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Oregon State Forester Cal Mukumoto has resigned.
Mukumoto’s resignation was announced Thursday by Board of Forestry Chair Jim Kelly during a meeting of the board. Mukumoto answers to the board, a citizen panel appointed by the governor that helps oversee and implement forest policy.
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