Resilient Habitat Program News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Researchers are studying the feeding habits of Arctic charr to help predict how other fish species could adapt to a warming climate. Arctic charr are considered glacial relics, once filling some of the deepest, coldest ponds of New England, but today, populate just a dozen lakes throughout Maine. Michael Kinnison, director of the Maine Center for Genetics and the Environment at the University of Maine, calls the Arctic charr a "canary in the coal mine" for climate-change resilience. ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystem grizzly bears from the Endangered Species List. Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, worries grizzlies could face the same fate as wolves if management is turned over to states. ...

Whales are disturbed by vessel noise, but a measure in Olympia would provide a greater buffer for the endangered orcas in Puget Sound. The legislation increases the distance that recreational boaters must maintain from Southern Resident killer whales, from 400 yards to a thousand yards. That puts the distance in line with whale-watching vehicles. ...

This winter, volunteers counted more than 335,000 Western monarch butterflies in an annual survey, a big improvement over the last few years, but still far short of historical numbers. Observers only counted 2,000 of the iconic black-and-orange butterflies in 2020, and then 250,000 in 2021. Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón, senior manager of the Climate-Resilient Habitat Program, and monarch recovery strategist with the National Wildlife Federation, said it still represents a 90% decline in numbers over the past few decades. ...