Latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service News
Feds propose protection for giant salamanders devastated by Hurricane Helene
You never forget your first time seeing a giant salamander, according to Andy Hill. He was a teenager, standing thigh-high in the Watauga River outside Boone, North Carolina, casting a line on an early fall day when he saw his first eastern hellbender. The salamander stretched 2...
New approach to Rocky Mountain grizzlies sought ahead of the second Trump presidency
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Environmental groups are asking the U.S. government to do more to protect Rocky Mountain grizzly bears before the next Trump administration decides the big bruins’ future. The groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday to take steps to...
Monarch butterflies to be listed as a threatened species in US
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials announced a decision Tuesday to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies after years of warnings from environmentalists that populations are shrinking and the beloved pollinator may not survive climate change. The U.S. Fish and...
Canada lynx proposed for new habitat protections in US southern Rockies
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials finalized a recovery plan for imperiled populations of Canada lynx on Wednesday and proposed new habitat protections in the southern Rocky Mountains for the forest-dwelling wildcats that are threatened by climate change. The fate of...
Federal wildlife officials review the removal of a bald eagle nest in Alabama
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Federal wildlife officials are reviewing the removal of a bald eagle nest at the site of a planned subdivision in the east Alabama city of Auburn following an outcry by some local residents, the agency announced Tuesday. Agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
Environmentalists concerned after protected Mexican wolf dies in Arizona
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A federally protected female Mexican wolf was found dead in an area near the northern Arizona city of Flagstaff, alarming environmentalists who worry someone may have deliberately killed the animal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arizona Game and...
Red-cockaded woodpeckers' recovery in southeast leads to status change from endangered to threatened
WASHINGTON (AP) — The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday. "The downlisting of the...
Grand Teton grizzly bear No. 399 that delighted visitors for decades is killed by vehicle in Wyoming
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A famous grizzly bear beloved for decades by countless tourists, biologists and professional wildlife photographers in Grand Teton National Park is dead after being struck by a vehicle in western Wyoming. Grizzly No. 399 died Tuesday night on a highway in...
Proposed Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge expansion could lead to buyout of mining project
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A federal agency proposed an expansion of the Okefenokee Swamp's vast wildlife refuge on Friday, which could lead to a buyout offer for land intended for a private company's mining project that conservationists have fought for years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
Ken Paxton sues Biden administration over listing Texas lizard as endangered
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that his office is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Biden administration officials for declaring a rare lizard endangered earlier this year. The dunes sagebrush lizard burrows in the...
