[Pollinator] Rusty patched bumble bee deserves protection, not delay

Fri Feb 10 11:30:12 PST 2017

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
http://www.xerces.org/blog/rusty-patched-bumble-bee-deserves-protection-not-delay/.

*Rusty patched bumble bee deserves protection, not delay*

*Rich Hatfield, Senior Conservation Biologist*

Today, February 10, 2017, the rusty patched bumble bee was slated to
receive the federal protection it so clearly deserves. Unfortunately,
the Executive
Order
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/20/memorandum-heads-executive-departments-and-agencies>
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 delayed the implementation
<https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/02/10/2017-02865/endangered-and-threatened-species-rusty-patched-bumble-bee-delay-of-effective-date>
of this rule until March 21, 2017—60 days after the Executive Order was
signed.

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.

Since the Xerces Society filed a petition
<http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Bombus-affinis-petition.pdf>
in 2013 to have this species listed as endangered, it has been under
consideration by the USFWS. The rule published by the USFWS
<https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/11/2017-00195/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-endangered-species-status-for-rusty-patched-bumble-bee>
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.

In addition to scientific consensus, there has been vast public support for
the listing decision. The USFWS received nearly 100,000 comments
<https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FWS-R3-ES-2015-0112> 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 Xerces Society petition on change.org
<https://www.change.org/p/add-the-rusty-patched-bumble-bee-to-the-list-of-endangered-species>
to encourage the USFWS to add the rusty patched bumble bee to the
Endangered Species Act.

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.”

----------

Matthew Shepherd

Communications Director

[image: Xerces-logo-CMYK-email_Outlook]

Protecting the Life That Sustains Us

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