skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

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

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Condors to be Reintroduced in NorCal; Threats Remain

play audio
Play

Wednesday, May 8, 2019   

ARCATA, Calif. - The California condor soon may return to the skies in northwestern California - but conservation groups are calling for action to improve their chances of survival.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the Yurok Tribe, have proposed reintroducing the condor to the northern part of its historic range, which includes Oregon and northern Nevada. However, Pamela Flick, senior California representative for the group Defenders of Wildlife, said the states need some policy changes to pave the way.

"Defenders of Wildlife remains concerned about releasing condors into a landscape rife with threats to their continued survival," she said, "from the familiar threat of lead poisoning to the emerging threat of rodenticide poisoning."

California's ban on lead ammunition takes full effect July 1. Oregon's lead-ammunition program is voluntary, and Nevada doesn't regulate it at all.

Condors also fall victim to certain types of anticoagulant rat poison by eating tainted carcasses. Assembly Bill 1788 partially addresses the issue by banning the chemicals on state land, but Flick said the main problem is with illegal marijuana operations.

"Thousands of illegal marijuana farms have been identified here in California," she said, "with a substantial concentration of these sites located in the area of release in northwest California."

The public can weigh in on the federal environmental assessment of the condor reintroduction program Thursday morning in Klamath and at an evening meeting in Arcata.

The California condor almost went extinct in 1985, with only 22 birds remaining. But there are now 290 birds in southern California and the Baja Peninsula in Mexico, thanks to successful reintroduction programs there.

The text of AB 1788 is online at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, and meeting information is at parkplanning.nps.gov.

Disclosure: Defenders of Wildlife contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species & Wildlife, Energy Policy, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

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