skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

EPA head says he'll roll back dozens of environmental regulations, including rules on climate change; Environmental groups sue over permit for West Virginia valley fills; Doubling down on care: Ohio's push for caregiver tax relief; Uncertain future of Y-12 complex under Trump administration threatens jobs, economy.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Senate Democrats refuse to support GOP budget bill. The EU and Canada respond to steel and aluminum tariffs and some groups work to counter Christian Nationalism, which they call a threat to democracy.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Farmers worry promised federal reimbursements aren't coming while fears mount that the Trump administration's efforts to raise cash means the sale of public lands, and rural America's shortage of doctors has many physicians skipping retirement.

Montana federal judge rules for threatened Arctic grayling

play audio
Play

Monday, August 12, 2024   

A federal district court judge in Missoula has ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must reconsider whether to list Montana's Arctic grayling population under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency argued the listing is not warranted. The court's action was in response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of advocacy groups.

There are six grayling fish species in the Northern Hemisphere, but the colorful Arctic grayling is the only one found in North America and is already extinct in Michigan.

Patrick Kelly, Montana and Washington director for the Western Watersheds Project, part of the coalition suing the agency, said the grayling faces an uphill environmental battle.

"The elephant in the room here with a fish that is very dependent on cold water is climate change, and heat waves and drought, and everything associated with this human-caused phenomenon," Kelly explained.

The court order said the Fish and Wildlife Service has a year to make a new determination on the Arctic grayling. The battle over the fish began in 1991, but the agency contended based on its best science, the fish should not be added to the Endangered Species List.

Kelly pointed out the grayling have continued to face population decline and habitat degradation as the climate changes. He noted the West has faced some of the hottest weather on record and there have been huge stream closures on key rivers where grayling live.

"They're struggling and they have been for a long time," Kelly emphasized. "That's why this is such an important decision, because it's yet another chance, hopefully, for the agency to do the right thing and list this fish, so it can be protected and recovered under the Endangered Species Act."

Protection would require a federal recovery plan to address chronic low water flows in Montana's iconic Big Hole River, among other steps.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
"In Utah, we've been consistently told that transitioning away from coal would devastate our rural communities, but this report reveals a different reality," said Luis Miranda, Utah-based Campaign Organizer for the Sierra Club. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The Sierra Club's Utah chapter said electric utility PacifiCorp's long-term plan to embrace renewable energy has changed and is now placing more relia…


Social Issues

play sound

New data show fewer than half of rural Gen Z'ers believe they can find a good job in their community, compared to nearly 70% of their urban peers…

Environment

play sound

As federal funding for climate initiatives faces steep cuts, nonprofits and philanthropic organizations are stepping into the breach, calling out the …


The U.S. solar industry employs more than 263,000 workers, with jobs in installation, manufacturing, and research continuing to grow. (rh2010/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Michigan ranks 26th in the U.S. for total installed solar capacity, while global capacity rose 21% from 2023. However, there are industry concerns …

Social Issues

play sound

School employees are expressing outrage at the mass layoffs of half the U.S. Department of Education workforce. Secretary of Education Linda …

Social Issues

play sound

Republicans in Washington, D.C. remain focused on greatly reducing federal spending. However, a backlash is mounting in Congressional districts…

Social Issues

play sound

Maryland ranks second in the nation for charging children who have committed crimes as adults. But one expert says a more trauma-informed response in …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021