Martha Williams is Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, an arm of the Interior Department. The agency is responsible for protecting plants and animals listed under the Endangered Species Act and oversees national conservation efforts, fisheries, hatcheries, migratory birds, ecological services and federal wildlife refuges.
But at least a hundred scientists believe the Service isn't doing enough to crack down on red states that flout or simply ignore protections for vulnerable species.
In Montana, where Director Williams was an attorney for Fish, Wildlife and Parks for over twenty years Republican welfare ranchers find great joy in slaughtering wolves from aircraft. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) recommended her for confirmation and said she "has brought collaborative, science-based solutions to the tough problems facing our wildlife and public lands."
But, Center for Biological Diversity governmental affairs director, Brett Hartl said that despite their early support for Williams his group is disappointed with the Biden administration's failure to replace a rule that weakened protections for many species, including gray wolves and grizzly bears. The Center called the Trump Organization's Fish and Wildlife director an "industry shill" because of her past work with Earth killer Monsanto.
In my home state of South Dakota over a hundred native species are at risk to the Republican Party including the endangered pallid sturgeon, paddlefish, black footed ferret, northern long-eared bat, the black-backed woodpecker that feeds on bark beetles and a bird that actually walks underwater – the American dipper, just to name a few.
To prop up the pheasant industry the state's Republican governor put bounties on raccoons and skunks known to feed on prolific invasive zebra mussels.
In 2020 with the Endangered Species Act nearing extinction while still in the clutches of the Trump Organization the USFWS submitted a recovery plan for the Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka) nearing extirpation from the tributaries of the James, Vermillion and Big Sioux Rivers, some of the most polluted waterways in the United States but to zero consequence.
Threatened by the increased conversion of native prairie to cropland the most endangered plant in the chemical toilet that is South Dakota is the white-fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara) found mainly in tallgrass prairies west of the Mississippi River. Insects contaminated with industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals in water supplies are weakening immune systems spreading white nose syndrome to bats as part of Earth's anthropogenic-driven sixth mass extinction.
Director Williams has no plans to step down and her impeachment is unlikely.
ip image: a blue heron fishes at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
"This year marks the 50th anniversaries of CITES and the Endangered Species Act, both of which are vital to the protection of numerous species in the face of climate change, wildlife trafficking, habitat loss and fragmentation, and other challenges." - Director Martha Williams pic.twitter.com/vAf5LBrRBl
— USFWS News (@USFWSNews) March 1, 2023
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