From BushGreenWatch: "A lawsuit filed last week asserts that the Bush Administration is allowing a special task force from the chemical industry to lobby secretly and illegally inside the Environmental Protection Agency. The task force aims to circumvent current protections for endangered species. If successful, it will be easier for the industry to gain approval for the use of certain pesticides. The lawsuit alleges that the industry group, representing 14 agrochemical companies, is meeting regularly behind closed doors with EPA officials in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Federal 'sunshine' laws require that such meetings be open to members of the public. The industry strategy, according to internal documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, is to eliminate the role of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries, whose biologists currently serve as oversight experts as to whether a pesticide poses a risk to wildlife."

Legendary primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall blasted Bush's environmental policies this week. Goodall says Bush has launched an onslaught "against the Endangered Species Act that may cause more African animals to be slaughtered or captured for profit. Goodall says Bush's idiotic actions may reverse the gains in conservation made by decades of hard work, sacrifice, and patience. "When I start talking about the long list of reversals of legislation that the Bush administration has introduced over the last three years, it's terrifying," Goodall said.

CNN reports: "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to change its policy to permit the importation of endangered species, their parts and products from countries that promote wildlife conservation programs... Adam Roberts, a senior research associate at the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute, an advocacy group for endangered species, called the proposed policy 'a horribly dangerous precedent, a wrong-headed conservation policy propelled by the circus and zoo, trophy-hunting lobby in the United States and others who want to profit by the commercialization of live animals or dead ones.' 'Eco-tourism' activities - such as safaris and whale-watching trips - generate more income than would trophy-hunting and whale killing, he said."

NBC News reports: "At least 700 bird, mammal and amphibian species threatened with extinction, and probably many more, have no protection in any part of their ranges, according to an analysis released Thursday. Another 943 species likely face similar situations since their protected areas are too small to be effective, said the study by Conservation International and the World Conservation Union. Presented at the World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, the study warned of a major wave of extinctions unless nations immediately open or expand protected areas. If nothing is done, 'we will probably see the disappearance of many of these populations in the next 10 or 20 years,' said Conservation International scientist Gustavo Fonseca. 'This will represent extinction to the scale that we have not seen before as a human species.'... Of the priority areas, 80 percent are in tropical areas, particularly rain forests and islands."

The Washington Post and the rest of the corporate media kept the story of the military's assault on endangered species out of the news - until slipping this pathetic postage-stamp-sized after-the-fact story into "Washington in Brief" (you'll have to scroll down to even find the story). That's all wildlife means to the GOP-media empire - a postscript. Meanwhile, the REAL reason Rumsfeld's Pentagon is pushing to do away with environmental laws on military land is as a prelude to auctioning off this unprotected land to greedy Republican developers in the not-so-distant future. Let's block this assault on America's land and conscience!

A U.S. District Judge, at Bush's request, rolled back protection of several hundred thousand acres of land in Southern California deemed a critical habitat for two endangered species - the gnatcatcher and fairy shrimp. First, Bush and Cheney let Enron's robber barons manufacture an energy crisis and bleed Californians dry. Next, Bush pressed a federal court to open up oil drilling on the coast. Now he wants to let his biggest real estate developing contributors run amok on protected lands. Is it any wonder Republicans are as rare as the endangered gnat catcher in the Golden State?

Property rights activists - the same folks Gail Norton has outspokenly supported - don't want to share "their" wildlands with the gray wolf, a native species that was mercilessly hunted to extinction, but has made a comeback in Idaho. Now, these property righters have proven which of the two species is the most rabid and most dangerous, and it isn't the wolf. These terrorists have viciously spread a poison called Compound 1080 throughout the back country of central Idaho, to kill the wolves "to protect sheep." Of course, these psychopaths don't care that they could also kill anything else - including children, pets, and their own sheep - who might handle it. Besides, most animal damage control officers across the nation will tell you, when sheep are killed by predators, it is most often the fault of lazy, cheap farmers, who refuse to implement adequate fencing and other precautions.