Washington, D.C. — Today dozens of non-governmental organizations and scientists sent a letter to President Biden supporting the candidacy of Michael Phillips for Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Conservation groups believe that Phillips is the ideal candidate for the position as a respected leader in biodiversity conservation with special expertise in endangered species management. “His vision has resulted in critical ecological restoration of vast landscapes across North America through his leadership of gray and red wolf reintroductions. His ability to direct conservation of some of the most controversial animals, from wolves and grizzly bears to bison and black-footed ferrets and his excellent track record as a Montana Senator and Representative have prepared him well for the challenges of directing the USFWS through unprecedented challenges of biodiversity and climate crises. His demonstrated leadership, ability to coalesce diverse interests toward a common goal and big picture vision with deep knowledge of strategic planning and implementation would serve him well in this position,” the letter states.

The Director of USFWS oversees a budget of over $1.5 billion to conserve, protect, and enhance native species of fish, wildlife, plants, and their respective habitats. “Phillips’ stellar credentials and strong science-based background should make him everyone’s top candidate for this critical role,” said Camilla Fox, Founder and Executive Director of Project Coyote. “Additionally, he served as an elected policymaker and knows the intricate functioning of state and federal governments, and the USFWS in particular,” said Fox. In addition to Phillips’ extensive experience with USFWS-jurisdictional issues, including serving on recovery teams for myriad iconic species, he also has expertise in international conservation, including through his involvement with IUCN specialist groups for bison, wolves, and other canids.

“The Biden-Harris Administration faces monumental wildlife conservation challenges in the coming years.  The sixth mass extinction of life on earth has begun and we humans are the cause.  The USFWS must provide enlightened, science-based leadership to stem the tide of extinction and protect our country’s diverse wildlife heritage for current and future generations,” said Dave Parsons, a career USFWS wildlife biologist who led the Mexican wolf recovery program from 1990-99. “Reversing existential threats to biological diversity and the health and critical functions of ecosystems will require bold new leadership at the US Fish and Wildlife Service,  With his decades of wildlife conservation experience in every region of the country, including Alaska, Mike is the right choice for the job.”

“From species reintroductions to the climate crisis, Mike Phillips has the knowledge needed to inform effective science-based decision-making,” said Dr. William Ripple, distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University. “Mike is the leader we need to navigate through complex and uncharted territory.” 

Phillips’ tireless efforts for wildlife and wildlands have been recognized by numerous entities over the years, including most recently by The Wildlife Society who awarded him the prestigious 2021 Aldo Leopold Memorial Award, in recognition of his distinguished service to wildlife conservation.

“Mr. Phillips has been an exceptional conservation leader for decades and an effective legislator for his diverse constituents,” said Nuna Teal, PhD, Program Director of One Earth. “No one is better equipped to lead USFWS through the biodiversity challenges we are facing today.”

Read the letter to President Biden here.

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PETA India’s request to Kerala on Tuesday comes within two months of the group installing a warning billboard in Delhi about the meat industry’s link to the spread of bird flu

IANS | Thiruvananthapuram | September 22, 2021 10:40 am

Photo: IANS

The death of a 12-year-old child in Kerala from the Nipah virus has prompted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India to urge Kerala’s minister for animal husbandry and dairy development, J. Chinchrani, to close down pig farms in the state to prevent further spread of the infection and a potential epidemic.

PETA India’s request to Kerala on Tuesday comes within two months of the group installing a warning billboard in Delhi about the meat industry’s link to the spread of bird flu. In Delhi, an 11-year-old boy had succumbed to complications from H5N1 bird flu, an infection with a 60 percent mortality rate, in July.

“The crowded animal farms of the meat industry create hotspots for zoonotic diseases. These killer facilities need to be shut down immediately and permanently before they cost more lives,” said PETA India Vegan Foods and Nutrition Specialist Dr. Kiran Ahuja.

https://interestingengineering.com/something-enormous-just-slammed-into-jupiter

And the scar could be bigger than Earth.By  Brad BerganSep 22, 2021 (Updated: Sep 22, 2021 22:13 EDT)Jupiter, with the shadow of its moon, Io.NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Kevin M. Gill

Some planets take a lot of hits for us.

Jupiter, the largest gas giant in the solar system, was just slammed by an asteroid, according to an initial tweet from ESA Operations.

As the strongest gravitational force next to the sun, this isn’t that uncommon. But it serves to remind us that, while the Earth isn’t moving in a shooting gallery of apocalyptic asteroids, asteroid detection technology must continue to expand, lest one day we awake to learn it’s the last any of us will ever live before an extinction-level impact.

Jupiter gets punched in the face a lot

On September 13, 2021, at roughly 6:39 PM EDT, amateur astronomers monitored and recorded a colossally bright flash of what seemed to be an impact on Jupiter. Harald Paleske of Germany was recording the shadow of Jupiter’s moon, Io, as it passed in front of the planet. But other astronomers involved included José Luis of Brazil, Michel Jacquesson and Jean-Paul Arnould in France, Simone Gelelli of Italy, and Didier Walliang and Alexis Desmougin of the Société Lorraine d’Astronomie, also on France. Many also filmed the event, and suspect an impact on Jupiter.

https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.481.0_en.html#goog_229260979https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.481.0_en.html#goog_1520458150https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.481.0_en.html#goog_1385608350javascript:falsejavascript:falsejavascript:falsejavascript:false

While still unconfirmed, the putative event would mark only the eighth impact witnessed on Jupiter since the initial impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994, which disintegrated into separate parts as Jupiter’s immense tidal forces ripped it open, transforming the singular asteroid into a rapid-fire event of glorious mayhem. Sadly, no one on Earth was able to see the explosions, since the impacts happened on Jupiter’s far side. But a 7.2-ft (2.2-m) Hawaii-based telescope photographed the heat signatures of each impact site as they swiveled into view. The Hubble Space Telescope also snapped grim pictures of the dark, bruise-colored smears strewn beneath the clouds, aptly named “scars.”

NASA is upgrading Earth’s planetary defense against NEOs

As of writing, scientists are unsure how often Jupiter is impacted by something so massive or high-velocity that it generates an impact flash we can see from Earth, but the consensus is it’s fairly often; between 20 and 60 times every year. If the Earth experienced significant impacts with the same frequency, its surface might look very different, and so would whatever survived. But luckily, Jupiter’s unconscionably strong gravitational field is gigantic, and accelerates incoming meteorites to unkind speeds, multiplying the kinetic energy of the incoming bodies by several orders of magnitude, which is proportional to the level of energy released upon impact (think of how baseballs hurt more if they slam into you with greater speed).

But Jupiter doesn’t take every cosmic hit headed Earth’s way. Some scientists suspect we’re overdue for another asteroid impact of a similar scale to the one that spelled doom for the dinosaurs. These happen once every 50 to 60 million years. Lucky for us, NASA gave the green light for a new space telescope, called the Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEO Surveyor), in June. And it’s designed to upgrade Earth’s planetary defense network by detecting cosmic bodies with potentially dangerous orbital trajectories. “[W]e think there are about 25,000 NEOs large enough to wipe out an area like Southern California,” said NEO Survey Project Leader Amy Mainzer in a statement from the University of Arizona. “Once they get bigger than about 450 feet in diameter, they can cause severe regional damage. We want to find these, and as many smaller ones as possible.” This could take a few years to launch, and we have other means of detecting NEOs. But whenever a monumental impact flashes from the cloud tops of Jupiter, remember: That might have been us.

Default Mono Sans Mono Serif Sans Serif Comic Fancy Small CapsDefault X-Small Small Medium Large X-Large XX-LargeDefault Outline Dark Outline Light Outline Dark Bold Outline Light Bold Shadow Dark Shadow Light Shadow Dark Bold Shadow Light BoldDefault Black Silver Gray White Maroon Red Purple Fuchsia Green Lime Olive Yellow Navy Blue Teal Aqua OrangeDefault 100% 75% 50% 25% 0%Default Black Silver Gray White Maroon Red Purple Fuchsia Green Lime Olive Yellow Navy Blue Teal Aqua OrangeDefault 100% 75% 50% 25% 0%By Amber RuchPublished: Sep. 21, 2021 at 12:19 PM PDT|Updated: 20 hours ago

VAN BUREN, Mo. (KFVS) – Sixteen people were cited for illegal squirrel hunting in and around the Current River Conservation Area.

According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, out-of-state hunters harvested 471 squirrels over a two-day period.

Missouri regulations only allow each hunter to kill 20 squirrels in 48 hours.

Agents say the group harvested 151 squirrels over the limit.ADVERTISEMENThttps://574fd7877dd800c28bb3d884c95343a6.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

They said they learned about the incident after a tip from a concern

https://www.kfvs12.com/2021/09/21/16-people-cited-illegal-squirrel-hunting-around-current-river-conservation-area/