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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Today should have been a day for celebration, a day on which the rusty patched bumble bee gained the protection that it so obviously deserves. Instead it has become a day of uncertainty, not only over the future of the Endangered Species Act process but of future of the rusty patched bumble bee itself. The following statement is on the Xerces blog, at <a href="http://www.xerces.org/blog/rusty-patched-bumble-bee-deserves-protection-not-delay/">http://www.xerces.org/blog/rusty-patched-bumble-bee-deserves-protection-not-delay/</a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Rusty patched bumble bee deserves protection, not delay</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Rich Hatfield, Senior Conservation Biologist</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Today, February 10, 2017, the rusty patched bumble bee was slated to receive the federal protection it so clearly deserves. Unfortunately, the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/20/memorandum-heads-executive-departments-and-agencies">Executive Order</a> signed by the president on Inauguration Day freezing all new regulations while the new administration reviews “questions of fact, law, and policy they raise” has unnecessarily <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/02/10/2017-02865/endangered-and-threatened-species-rusty-patched-bumble-bee-delay-of-effective-date">delayed the implementation</a> of this rule until March 21, 2017—60 days after the Executive Order was signed. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">In the case of the Endangered Species Act and the rusty patched bumble bee, the law and the science are plain. According to the law, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under authority of the Department of the Interior, must make an endangered species listing decision “solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available”. The scientific evidence for the decline of the rusty patched bumble bee is undeniable, and has been reviewed by the USFWS, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and multiple independent peer-reviewed scientific studies. In short, there is scientific consensus that this species is critically endangered and agreement that current regulations are inadequate to protect this species and help it down the road to recovery.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Since the Xerces Society filed a <a href="http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Bombus-affinis-petition.pdf">petition</a> in 2013 to have this species listed as endangered, it has been under consideration by the USFWS. The <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/11/2017-00195/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-endangered-species-status-for-rusty-patched-bumble-bee">rule published by the USFWS</a> in January of 2017 (along with associated documents) provided clear and convincing evidence that this species is in immediate danger of extinction and in need of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. For these reasons we remain confident and hopeful that when the new administration reviews this rule for questions of fact, law, and policy they will recognize the essential role that pollinators play in our food security, the obvious need of this species for endangered species protection, and the clear-cut purpose of the Endangered Species Act to provide those protections under United States law. As such, we see this announcement of a delay in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order as just that, a delay. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">In addition to scientific consensus, there has been vast public support for the listing decision. The USFWS received nearly <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FWS-R3-ES-2015-0112" target="_blank">100,000 comments</a> on the proposed listing during the public comment period - the vast majority of those were in enthusiastic support of the decision. Additionally, over 128,000 people signed a <a href="https://www.change.org/p/add-the-rusty-patched-bumble-bee-to-the-list-of-endangered-species" target="_blank">Xerces Society petition on change.org</a> to encourage the USFWS to add the rusty patched bumble bee to the Endangered Species Act. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Protection for the rusty patched bumble bee have already been delayed for over four years. Any additional delay would further imperil this animal, and could ultimately lead to its extinction. Extinction is forever, and to quote a friend of mine—Sam Droege, a biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey—“bees are not optional.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">----------</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Matthew Shepherd</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Communications Director</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><img border="0" width="128" height="48" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D28391.0B24E6B0" alt="Xerces-logo-CMYK-email_Outlook"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Protecting the Life That Sustains Us</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Connect: <a href="http://www.xerces.org/">www.xerces.org</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/xerces.society/">Facebook</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/xercessociety">Twitter</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/xercessociety/?hl=en">Instagram</a> <a href="http://www.xerces.org/blog/">Blog</a> <a href="https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001HTk7N6nZumLPinBr8VACbNdTXCe732bGu6KpqC13JAKPti_HBe5xyr7t0p4mDfKe2dOsd-TB1qvv772s6GQfVa_SbKKfwBiwl4blH4KvCjq4dpmA2M9UNZ2axlQwu_1Gvjrl2Rb53WUZwsddwCzyorgxedLAaMy3">E-newsletter</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232, USA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Office: (503) 232-6639 x110</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Cell: (503) 807-1577</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><a href="mailto:matthew.shepherd@xerces.org">matthew.shepherd@xerces.org</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></body></html>