How Politics Drowned Out Science for Ten Endangered Species This report is a distress signal states, and others have resisted for at-risk plants and animals. federal management and adapting Introduction We can only successfully recover to climate change. States have If you were a 1970s biologist who studied declining ocelots or Hermes butterflies, you might them−under the Endangered Species tried to manage at-risk wildlife take action. You might write a bill. And if you wrote that bill, it might have looked very simi- Act−when we follow science. Yet, themselves, and then they kept us lar to the Endangered Species Act. And because it follows the science, it’s our nation’s most we’ve fallen down on the job in in the dark on their conservation effective law in preventing threatened and endangered species from going extinct. many ways. Special interests, state actions and population numbers. agencies, and even some members Thanks to the Act, when a biologist decides whether to list a species as endangered, the only of Congress have always applied As a result, species across the thing that the biologist can consider is science. Other matters, including economics, come pressure on species decisions. The country, on land and in our into play later. The science, however, stays central to every step. difference now is that the Trump waters, have suffered. This report Administration is itself infiltrated examines the lack of scientific But will that approach stand under the Trump Administration? Will U.S. Fish and Wildlife with special interest officials who decisions for: dunes sagebrush Executive Summary Service (FWS) biologists be allowed to follow the science? There are many reasons to fear completely disregard science. lizard, greater sage grouse, Hermes they are not and will not. copper butterfly, leatherback Science has not been followed sea turtle, Mexican wolf, North Due to incredible pressure from oil, gas, fishing, and other industries, and the states, previous in determining critical habitat, Atlantic right whale, ocelot, administrations struggled to hold the line on science. But the Trump Administration has gone adequate population numbers, pallid sturgeon, San Jacinto a step further and thrown science out the window. The administration has hired industry representatives to run its agencies. It pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords. It deemed a sci- and needed protections. Bad Valley crownscale, and wolverine. entific background unnecessary for positions that require scientific knowledge. And it’s trying practices continue—unsustainable Together these species are part of to slash science budgets at NASA, NOAA, EPA, and more. fishing, dams, development, oil a much larger story playing out and gas seismic surveys, and the in the United States right now—a The attack on science at the Department of Interior has mostly flown under the radar. But the border wall. Some highly imperiled turning back of the clock on threat here is just as real and dangerous. Science has been subverted to please special inter- species haven’t even been listed as science. This will harm not just ests—from extractive industries to states—for these vulnerable species. What these species endangered. Oil and gas industries, nature, but all of us. need is quick action to get their recovery back on track. And yet, they also serve as ambassa- dors to a larger story of species conservation concerns. Plants and animals need nothing less than a strong commitment to science. Without that, the forecast is dire for plants, wildlife, and humans. Kierán Suckling Erik Molvar Michael Beck Greg Costello Center for Biological Western Watersheds Endangered Habitats Wildlands Network Diversity Project League William Rossiter Todd Steiner Rhea Suh Cetacean Society Turtle Island Restoration Natural Resources International Network Defense Council Dr. Andrew Rosenberg Jamie Rappaport Clark Leda Huta Union of Concerned Scientists Defenders of Wildlife Endangered Species Coalition 3 Net Decline: Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) The Pacific leatherback is the only soft-shelled sea turtle and is one of the largest reptiles in the world, weighing up to 2,000 pounds. The leatherback can migrate over 10,000 miles from foraging grounds to nesting beaches. This beautiful species plays a key role in keep- In 2015, the Pacific Fishery Management Coun- ing its primary food source—jellyfish—in cil and the California Department of Fish and check. This helps protect important fisher- Wildlife approved a rule to protect the Pacific ies.1 With the loss of leatherbacks, jellyfish leatherback and other species from drift gillnet consume more fish eggs and larvae, making it fishing for swordfish. THE TRUMP ADMINIS- difficult for fish stocks to recover. When leath- TRATION UNEXPECTEDLY WITHDREW THIS erbacks migrate to nesting beaches, their eggs PROPOSED RULE IN JUNE OF THIS YEAR. The transfer nutrients from ocean to land, helping withdrawal reflects the fishing industry’s pow- to rejuvenate beaches.2 erful lobbyists and the Trump Administration’s blatant disregard for recommendations of its own fishery advisors. SCIENCE IGNORED Current Range WESTERN PACIFIC LEATHERBACK POPULA- THREATS: Eastern and Western TIONS DECLINED BY MORE THAN 80 PER- Entanglement in fishing gear Pacific Ocean CENT AND EASTERN PACIFIC LEATHERBACK Illegal harvesting of eggs POPULATIONS DECLINED BY MORE THAN 97 Ingestion of trash (particularly PERCENT OVER THE LAST THREE GENERA- plastic bags) TIONS.3 They are decreasing because of bad Conservation Status fishing practices such as driftnets, the illegal Endangered - Endangered harvest of eggs, and ingestion of trash.4 These Species Act, Critically threats have continued even though leather- Endangered - IUCN Redlist backs have been listed since 1970. Remaining Population estimated 2,300 total; Eastern Pacific subpopulation = 633 and declining > Keystone Species 5 photo©Stephanie Rousseau / Shutterstock.com Rousseau photo©Stephanie photo©IrinaK / Shutterstock.com photo©IrinaK Science Snubbed: Mexican Wolf (Canis lupis baileyi) The Mexican wolf is one of the most endangered North American animals and the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf in the world. As an apex predator at the top of its food chain, a recovered Mexican wolf population should help restore damaged habitats. SCIENCE IGNORED Supporting the killing of wolves5 Denying permits and suing the federal gov- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) ernment to stop needed wolf releases6 assembled Recovery Teams in 2003 and 2010 If the Draft Plan is put in place, Mexican to develop up-to-date Mexican Wolf Recovery wolves will be delisted once they hit 320 in the Plans. These teams of scientists and experts United States. Based on science, and Arizona concluded that recovery requires THREE and New Mexico’s opposition to wolf recovery, INTERCONNECTED U.S. POPULATIONS, the Draft Plan is A RECIPE FOR EXTINCTION, each with at least 250 wolves for NOT RECOVERY. a MINIMUM TOTAL OF 750 ANIMALS.1 Unfortunately, FWS’ 2017 Draft Mexican Wolf OTHER wolves threatened Recovery Plan ignores the recommendations by human activities and falls far short of recovery, calling for: Current Range A RECOVERY GOAL OF 320 TO 380 Red Wolf – Critically Endangered – East-central AZ, West- WOLVES VS. 750 Fewer than 30-45 remain in the wild; central NM, and Northern ONE U.S. RECOVERY ZONE VS. THREE previously hunted to extinction and now Mexico ZONES neglected and mismanaged by FWS. The Colorado and Utah recovery zones were removed for political reasons, leaving just one Alexander Archipelago Wolf – Not zone crossing west-central New Mexico and Listed – Pressures from logging, road Conservation Status east-central Arizona.2 building, and overharvest are destroying Endangered subspecies this rare wolf, the deer it depends on, of gray wolf – Endangered The Draft Plan proposes giving Arizona and and the old-growth forest it calls home. Species Act New Mexico veto power over species manage- ment activities! Both states have a long record Remaining Wild Population of opposing conservation efforts, in spite of Approximately strong public support for the species. 3 The states’ efforts included: THREATS: 113 HUMANS - Special interest in the United States, Spending tax-payer money on anti-wolf and state government and approximately lobbyists4 interference in recovery plans 28 in Mexico 7 photo©Robin Silver photo©Robin Disappearing Dancers: Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) The greater sage-grouse is an umbrella species— protecting it protects over 350 other types of plants and wildlife—for sagebrush environments. When the sage- grouse is distressed, the entire landscape is likely ailing.5 Sage-grouse require large areas of unspoiled, miles of leks instead of 4 mile buffers healthy sagebrush habitat. PROTECTING A 5 percent surface disturbance maximum in SAGE-GROUSE POPULATIONS SAFEGUARDS Wyoming vs. the recommended 3 percent THE ENTIRE HABITAT, INCLUDING OTHER Exceptions, waivers, and modifications to WILDLIFE SUCH AS ELK, PRONGHORNS, the plan, creating loopholes for develop- PYGMY RABBITS, SAGEBRUSH SONGBIRDS, ment AND FERRUGINOUS HAWKS. Now, the Department of Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, on behalf of the Trump Admin- istration, favors ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY SCIENCE IGNORED CHANGES AND PLAN AMENDMENTS, THAT HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO WEAKEN SAGE- Based on science, the greater sage-grouse GROUSE PROTECTIONS PROMISED UNDER should have been listed as endangered un- THE PLANS. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service der the