This report looks at the distinct population segments (DPSs) process as it is applied to the gray wolf. It also reviews experimental populations of wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and their protections.
This report analyzes the DPS designation process as it is applied to the gray wolf. It also examines experimental populations of wolves under the ESA and their protections. As part of its oversight responsibilities, Congress has conducted hearings on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s application of science to endangered species.
The appearance of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or “mad cow disease”) in North America in 2003 raised meat safety concerns and disrupted trade for cattle and beef producers. A major issue for Congress has been how to rebuild foreign confidence in the safety of U.S. beef and regain lost markets like Japan and Korea. Among other issues are whether additional measures are needed to further protect the public and cattle herd, and concerns over the relative costs and benefits of such measures for consumers, taxpayers and industry.
This report provides information on how Highly Migratory Species (HMS) like tunas, oceanic sharks, sailfishes, swordfishes, bill-fishes, and marlins are managed differently because of their migratory behavior. This includes information on which of these fish belongs to who basing on the jurisdiction on where these species migrate to. Updated April 21, 2000.
This report summarizes the fact that northern right whale is the most endangered among all the whale species. The National Marine Fisheries Service is taking extra measures to protect these whales from any negative human interactions.
This report discusses oversight issues and legislation introduced in the 111th Congress to address specific concerns related to how The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is implemented and how endangered and threatened species are managed.
This report discusses the purpose of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which is threefold: to provide a means to conserve ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend; to provide a program to protect those species; and to take steps to achieve the purposes of related treaties and conventions.
On May 14, 2008, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the listing of polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The listing itself was praised by some environmentalists, other parties, who opposed the listing itself, argued that the science supporting listing was weak, but felt that the regulations mitigated some of the economic impacts of the listing.
This report discusses a variety of animal agriculture issues that generated debate during the 106th Congress, including low livestock prices, especially for hogs. Economic difficulties have revived questions such as the impacts of consolidation in the livestock industry, and the price effects of animal imports from Canada and Mexico. This report also discusses a number of legislative proposals to assist livestock producers and enforce sanitary and phytosanitary standards, as well as continuing trade disputes and negotiations with China, the European Union, New Zealand, and Australia.
Steel jaw leghold traps are used in 47 States in the United States to capture furbearing animals (Florida and Rhode Island have prohibited use except with special permit for nuisance animals, and New Jersey has banned all uses). In addition to use by the fur industry, these traps are employed by State agencies in game management (e.g., to control predators and diseases). The leghold trap issue pits animal welfare groups opposed to the pain and suffering of trapped animals against supporters of the trap who maintain that alternatives are not cost effective and/or efficient.
Fish and marine mammals are important resources in the open ocean and nearshore coastal areas. A diverse body of laws and regulations guides the management of these resources by a multitude of federal agencies.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages the 717 units in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The system includes 500 national wildlife refuges, 166 waterfowl production areas, and 51 wildlife coordination areas.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including low livestock prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, generated interest in the 106th and 107th Congresses. This report addresses this issues in detail.
On May 16, 1996, 23 Members of Congress sent a letter to President Clinton expressing their concern over Norway's announcement that it intended to permit its whalers to kill as many as 425 minke whales that year. The co-signers urged the President "to take decisive action to prevent Norway from resuming its illicit whale harvesting," including the possible use of economic sanctions. For its 1997 hunt, Norway has increased its quota to 580 animals.
Mexican spotted owls (MSOs) have the largest geographic distribution of the three spotted owl subspecies, with most occurring on National Forest lands in Arizona and New Mexico. Habitat loss and modification due to logging and fire prompted the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list MSOs as a threatened species in March 1993. As required in Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Forest Service (FS) is consulting with the FWS on 125 timber sales proposed for the region. These consultations are to be completed in October 1993 and a critical habitat designation for the species is expected by November 1992
Mexican wolves were extirpated from the United States by the 1940s as part of the Predatory Animal and Rodent Control program (PARC); wild wolves are believed to exist in secluded areas in Mexico. Listed on the endangered species list in 1967, Mexican wolves exist in the United States only in captivity. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is currently developing plans to reintroduce the wolves into their historic habitat. The plans are controversial, and the species' conservation may be debated during reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
This report discusses oversight issues and legislation introduced in the 111th Congress to address Endangered Species Act (ESA) implementation and management of endangered and threatened species.
This report discusses four species of non-indigenous Asian carp that are expanding their range in U.S. waterways, resulting in a variety of concerns and problems. Three species--bighead, silver, and black carp--are of particular note, based on the perceived degree of environmental concern. Current controversy relates to what measures might be necessary and sufficient to prevent movement of Asian carp from the Mississippi River drainage into the Great Lakes through the Chicago Area Waterway System. Bills have been introduced in the 111th Congress to direct actions to avoid the possibility of carp becoming established in the Great Lakes.
This report discusses issues for congress regarding whether new legislative authorities and funding are needed to address issues related to invasive species and their increasing economic and ecological impacts on such disparate matters as power plant operations, grazing lands, and coral reef fishes.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
A variety of animal agriculture issues, including prices, the impact of consolidation in the meat production/packing industry, trade, and the environmental impacts of large feedlots, continue to generate interest in Congress. This issue brief discusses these issues, as well as the 2002 farm bill, which contains several provisions affecting animal agriculture, including protections for contract growers, disaster assistance, country-of-origin labeling, and increased funding for conservation purposes.
This report discusses the status and current issues regarding animal agriculture that is being transformed by rapid advances in biotechnology. This report will be updated as significant developments in agricultural biotechnology occur and as Congress develops legislation addressing emerging agricultural biotechnology issues.
This report reviews the types of air emissions from livestock and poultry operations and their human health and environmental impacts. It then discusses provisions of several federal laws concerned with environmental impacts, beginning with the Clean Water Act, because protecting water resources has been the primary regulatory focus regarding livestock and animal operations.
In 1964, the Wilderness Act established a national system of congressionally designated areas to be preserved in a wilderness condition: “where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” This report provides a brief history of wilderness, describes what wilderness is, identifies permitted and prohibited uses in wilderness areas, and provides data on the 109.8 million acres of designated wilderness areas as of January 1, 2015.
This report reviews the types of air emissions from livestock and poultry operations and their human health and environmental impacts. It then discusses provisions of several federal laws concerned with environmental impacts, beginning with the Clean Water Act, because protecting water resources has been the primary regulatory focus regarding livestock and animal operations.
This report provides an overview of the debate and legislation to modify or curtail some practices regarding animal care on the farm, during transport, or at slaughter.
This report provides an overview of the debate and legislation to modify or curtail some practices regarding animal care on the farm, during transport, or at slaughter.
This report focuses on animal ID and, to a lesser extent, on meat traceability. However, traceability, and the somewhat different but related concepts of "identity prevention" and "product segregation," also pertain to other agricultural products and issues.
This report reviews the types of air emissions from livestock and poultry operations and their human health and environmental impacts. It then discusses provisions of several federal laws concerned with environmental impacts, beginning with the Clean Water Act, because protecting water resources has been the primary regulatory focus regarding livestock and animal operations.
This report reviews the types of air emissions from livestock and poultry operations and their human health and environmental impacts. It then discusses provisions of several federal laws concerned with environmental impacts, beginning with the Clean Water Act, because protecting water resources has been the primary regulatory focus regarding livestock and animal operations.
This report discusses the fur seal trade in the U.S. and Canada and environmental and animal cruelty concerns regarding the methods and numbers of seals killed each year. It provides a variety of materials related to the management, hunting, and harvesting of fur seals and focuses especially on the practice in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. Legislative proposals regarding seal hunting are also discussed.
This report gives an overview of what "wilderness" means in the United States based on the Wilderness Act enacted by Congress in 1964. It also includes information about wilderness usage and statistics.
This report focuses on the international trade in terrestrial fauna, largely excluding trade in illegal plants, including timber, and fish. Potential issues for Congress include (1) determining funding for trade inspection and investigation; (2) evaluating effectiveness of U.S. foreign aid to combat wildlife trafficking; (3) developing ways to encourage regulation of the wildlife trade; (4) trade sanctions to penalize weak enforcement of wildlife laws; (5) incorporating wildlife trade provisions into free trade agreements; and (6) addressing the domestic and international demand for illegal wildlife.
This report analyzes the DPS designation process as it is applied to the gray wolf. It also examines experimental populations of wolves under the ESA and their protections.
This report provides information about animal identification and proposed solutions. Livestock industry groups, animal health officials, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been working to establish a nationwide identification (ID) system capable of quickly tracking animals from birth to slaughter, to deal with animal diseases and/or to satisfy foreign market specifications. Some consumer groups are among those who believe ID also would be useful for food safety or retail labeling purposes.
Fish and marine mammals are important resources in the open ocean and nearshore coastal areas. A diverse body of laws and regulations guides the management of these resources by a multitude of federal agencies.
From its inception in 1972, one of the goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was to reduce the incidental mortality of dolphins in the ETP tuna fishery. Regulations promulgated under MMPA authority set standards for tuna seining and motivated technological improvements that reduced dolphin mortalities in this fishery -- by 1977, annual dolphin mortality by U.S. tuna seiners had declined to about 25,450 animals. Despite the extensive mortalities, no ETP dolphin population has been listed as endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. However, two ETP dolphin stocks were listed as depleted under the MMPA.
Sharply higher feed costs, fueled by competing use demands for corn and soybeans and by rising energy prices, are affecting the beef, pork, dairy, and poultry industries. In contrast, wholesales prices for most animal products have held steady. Some analysts argue that current public policies, including financial incentives that divert corn from feed uses into ethanol production, have exacerbated if not caused these higher costs. Other factors include crop production declines due to weather, and higher global demand for consumption. Proposed options aimed at easing the impacts of higher feed costs include changes in ethanol incentives, use of conservation land for forage use, and direct aid to producers.
Fish and marine mammals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas; many federal laws and regulations guide their management. This report discusses a variety of laws and legislation pertaining to this issue.
Fish and marine mammals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas; many federal laws and regulations guide their management. This report discusses a variety of laws and legislation pertaining to this issue.
An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) among livestock in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe that began in February 2001 has raised concerns about the United States’ ability to prevent the disease from spreading to this country and readiness to eradicate it should an outbreak occur. This report describes the characteristics of the FMD virus and disease, the current measures the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is taking to prevent its importation, and the authorities USDA has to act to eradicate an outbreak. The FMD threat also raises issues concerning the adequacy of funding for disease exclusion and research, the availability of vaccines, and USDA’s authority to move preemptively against a potential outbreak, among other things.
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