In place of this week’s Fireside Chat, please join us tomorrow, Friday, May 20th @ 7:00 PM (CST) for an Endangered Species Day Celebration via Zoom!
Endangered Species Day was started in 2006 by the US Congress and takes place every year on the third Friday of May. In place this week’s regularly scheduled Fireside Chat, we hope you can join us tomorrow evening for the annual celebration of our nation’s wildlife and wild places.
– SCHEDULE –
6:00 pm: Introduction by Sponsors
6:15 pm: Eileen Dowd Stukel – Senior Wildlife Diversity Biologist, SD Game, Fish and Parks – will discuss Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA). RAWA exists now as federal House and Senate bills that have made it out of committees and await scheduling for floor votes. The bills that would give a great deal of money (almost 1.4 billion /year) to state and tribal governments to work to protect “at risk” wildlife & plants. Click here for more information on RAWA by the NWF.
7:05 pm: Melissa Smith – Govt. Relations, Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance (GLWA), Executive Director, Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf & Wildlife
Pat Clark – GLWA, Madison Audubon Chapter & Lewiston Outing Club.
Melissa and Pat will speak about “Wolves and Wildflowers” giving a history of listing/delisting actions, review of wolf recovery needs, wolf ecology and lives of wolves. Most grey wolves in the USA were delisted by the Trump administration in November 2020. But due to a February 2022 court decision, they are currently re-listed under the Endangered Species Act in much of the USA (but not in the northern Rockies). Link to discussion of change.
– short break –
8:00 pm: Bradley Phillips – Wildlife Biologist, Black Hills National Forest, Dr. Riley F. Bernard, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor Depart. of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming. Brad & Riley will speak about northern long eared bat.
The bat is at risk due to white-nose syndrome. It has been listed as threatened, but the USFWS proposed in the March 23rd, 2022 Federal Register to list it as endangered. The USFWS is currently accepting comments on the change to its listed status (deadline: 5/23/22).
Meeting ID: 854 3392 0233
Passcode: 534620
One tap mobile +12532158782,,85433920233#,,,,*534620# US (Tacoma) +13462487799,,85433920233#,,,,*534620# US (Houston) Numbers to attend via the telephone: +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Find your local number (international)
Co-sponsors of 2022 Endangered Species Day Celebration include: Prairie Hills Audubon Society, The Norbeck Society, Western Watershed Projects, Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, SD Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby, Rapid City Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, Black Hills Chapter – Dakota Rural Action, Black Hills Chapter of the Sierra Club.
This meeting will be recorded and posted to PHAS web page under Resources and Recordings menu items within a few days.
For more information contact Nancy Hilding 605-7876466, phas.wsd@rapidnet.com
wiwolvesandwildlife.org 