Endangered Species

A group of conservation organizations notified the federal government Tuesday of plans to challenge changes to the Endangered Species Act that could block efforts to designate the Florida manatee and other species as "threatened."

The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service, accusing the agency of failing to protect the queen conch. The marine snail is also protected statewide

The Interior Department proposed reviving a suite of changes to Endangered Species Act regulations first made during the Republican's first term. Those changes were reversed under former President Biden.

Environmental groups Friday gave formal notice that they could sue federal and state agencies over alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act at an immigrant-detention center in the Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”The notice was in addition to a lawsuit filed June 27 that alleges violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, a federal law that requires evaluating potential environmental impacts before such a project can move forward.

The Naples Zoo today announced the birth of two endangered ring-tailed lemurs, born on March 25. Parents, PJ and Julien, were genetically matched by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums cooperatively managed Species Survival Plan Program.

State panther biologists are hoping the sometimes cruel fate of nature does not repeat itself this year after they checked on a trio of kittens born to a mother who lost last year’s litter to a hungry black bear. They posted pictures of the baby panthers on Instagram

Environmental groups Monday urged a federal appeals court to reject Florida’s request for a stay of a district judge’s ruling in a battle about permitting authority for projects that affect wetlands. Attorneys from the Earthjustice legal organization filed a 37-page brief at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia disputing Florida’s arguments that the ruling by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss should be put on hold while an appeal plays out.

Since passage of the Endangered Species Act 50 years ago, more than 1,700 plants, mammals, fish, insects and other species in the U.S. have been listed as threatened or endangered with extinction. Yet federal government data reveals striking disparities in how much money is allocated to save various biological kingdoms.Of the roughly $1.2 billion a year spent on endangered and threatened species, about half goes toward recovery of just two types of fish: salmon and steelhead trout along the West Coast. Tens of millions of dollars go to other widely known animals including manatees, right whales, grizzly bears and spotted owls.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has nearly halved the acreage involved in its plan to establish a large conservation area in Southwest Florida

Florida residents own rights to decide if 5,000 acres of farmland in Charlotte, Hardee, and Highlands counties will ever be developed now part of Rural and Family Lands