Displaying items by tag: center for biological diversity
Updated: Feds agree to reconsider ESA status of big, elusive salamander known only in Knox County area
The limestone cliffs and bluffs of Ijams Nature Center are home to the Berry Cave salamander. The cave is very hard to find, is gated, and entry is forbidden to protect both the salamander and bat populations. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
Lawsuit prompts federal agency to reconsider protections for rare East Tennessee salamander
KNOXVILLE — The Southern Environmental Law Center, which championed the conservation of a salamander found only in a series of caves within the Knoxville Metropolitan Area, announced Jan. 16 that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to reconsider inclusion of the Berry Cave salamander on the Endangered Species List.
The release from SELC follows; the original story published in July 2024 continues below.
“The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, reached an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that requires the agency to reconsider listing the Berry Cave salamander—a rare salamander that is only found in a handful of East Tennessee caves—as an endangered species.
The already rare salamanders are under immense pressure from sprawling development in the region, and even the largest observed populations of the Berry Cave salamander are quickly declining. Survey results indicate that a population found in Knoxville’s Meads Quarry Cave—historically one of the salamander’s relative strongholds—fell by 65 percent between 2004 and 2019.
Thursday’s agreement comes eight months after the conservation groups sued the Service, arguing that the agency violated federal law when it denied Endangered Species Act protections for the Berry Cave salamander in 2019. The surprising denial came at a time when the agency’s regional leadership had directed staff to implement a quota system that set annual targets for denying species protections—a system that may have inappropriately influenced the Berry Cave salamander decision.
The agreement requires the agency to reevaluate the Berry Cave salamander’s status and determine by August 2029 whether it should be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
“This agreement is an important step toward securing long-overdue protections for the Berry Cave salamander and correcting a harmful mistake from the Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Liz Rasheed, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We hope the agency will follow the science — as required by law — and give these one-of-a-kind salamanders the protections they need to have a shot at survival.”
- center for biological diversity
- endangered and threatened species
- berry cave salamander
- john nolt
- foundation for global sustainability
- ijams nature center
- limestone caves
- knox county caves
- endangered species act
- mead’s quarry
- gyrinophilus gulolineatus
- james white parkway extension
- southern environmental law center
- salamanders
- cavedwelling amphibians
- southern appalachian salamanders
- environmental ethics
- esa lawsuit
- east tennessee endangered species
- hayworth hollow
Rare Tennessee salamander at center of new Endangered Species Act lawsuit
Environmental groups are suing the U.S. government to force addition of the Berry Cave salamander to the Endangered Species List. It is one of the largest cave salamanders, and can grow up to 6 inches. Dr. Matthew Niemiller
50 percent of the known Berry Cave salamander population is in rapidly developing Knox County
KNOXVILLE — The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on May 7, arguing that the agency violated federal law when it denied Endangered Species Act protections for a rare salamander that is only found in a handful of East Tennessee caves.
The Berry Cave salamander has pink feathery gills, lives its entire life in caves, and can grow to over 9 inches in length — making it the largest cave-dwelling salamander in North America. The salamander is also incredibly rare. Populations have been found in just a small number of isolated caves, and in several of these caves only one salamander has ever been observed.
Unique to our bioregion
“The Berry Cave salamander is found nowhere else on Earth, and its populations are dwindling in the face of rapid development and a changing climate,” said Liz Rasheed, a senior associate attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “This lawsuit seeks to correct an egregious error that puts this incredible salamander at an even greater risk of extinction.”
- berry cave salamander
- endangered species act
- southern environmental law center
- center for biological diversity
- matthew niemiller
- us fish and wildlife service
- liz rasheed
- meads quarry cave
- chelsea stewartfusek
- knox county caves
- east tennessee water quality
- endangered species act lawsuits
- salamanders
- salamander biodiversity
- salamander populations
- mead's quarry
Southern enviros again take aim at budding TVA strategy to replace coal with fossil gas
Warnings posted in Dickson County near Tennessee Gas Pipeline property. John Partipilo/Courtesy Tennessee Lookout
Environmental groups sue Tennessee Valley Authority over proposed new power plant
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
NASHVILLE — A trio of environmental groups filed suit against the Tennessee Valley Authority, claiming the utility violated federal law by failing to properly evaluate climate, environmental and financial impacts of a proposed new gas-fired plant in Cumberland City, Tennessee.
The lawsuit, filed in a Nashville federal court this month, also claims that TVA quietly inked a deal with an international pipeline company to supply the gas-fired plant, even as it publicly went through the motions of seeking input on alternative sources of power to replace the Cumberland Fossil Plant, its aging coal-fire facility located about 60 miles northwest of Nashville.
The groups are seeking an immediate halt to construction on the gas plant and an order forcing the utility to revise the existing environmental impact study used as the basis for moving forward with the gas-fired plant.
“Our country’s largest utility has gamed the system to fast-track dirty energy projects and that’s why we’re going to court to stop it,” Gaby Sarri-Tobar, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “TVA needs to be held accountable for its reckless pursuit of a new fossil gas plant in the midst of the climate emergency.”
Dixie Valley toad receives final endangered species protections
Dixie Valley Toad. Patrick Donnelly / Center for Biological Diversity
The Dixie Valley toad — among the most vulnerable amphibians in the country — is an irreplaceable piece of Nevada’s and our nation’s biodiversity, according to an Instagram post shared by the Center for Biological Diversity (@centerforbiodiv). It includes a brief video of the species.
Lawsuit alleges TVA paid dues to industry trade groups that undermine environmental protections
The Kingston Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tennessee is shown in this file image from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
TVA denies lobbying or cronyism, cites need for “expertise and analysis”
Editor's Note: This report is a collaboration between Hellbender Press and Hard Knox Wire.
A coalition of environmental groups who joined forces to stop the Tennessee Valley Authority from using ratepayer money to fund trade groups who lobby against the Clean Air Act and other environmental protections filed a federal lawsuit against the utility.
The environmentalists claim the practice potentially raises conflicts of interest and throws into doubt TVA’s willingness to comply with clean air laws even as the utility retires its coal plants in order to transition to a mix of fossil gas and nuclear power.
The 20-page lawsuit was filed Sept. 9 in federal court in Knoxville by a half-dozen groups, including the Knoxville-based Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). The groups aren’t seeking monetary damages other than court costs and legal fees.
TVA has invested millions of dollars in measurable air quality improvements as it prepares to divest from coal as a main electricity source. Nevertheless, TVA paid membership dues to interest groups such as Edison Electric Institute (which is headquartered five blocks from the U.S. Capitol) and Energy and Wildlife Action Coalition, according to the plaintiff’s suit.
“TVA has not been officially served with the lawsuit, so it would be inappropriate to comment on its specifics,” TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said early Thursday.
“As the nation’s largest public power provider and a federal agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority needs to demonstrate leadership by halting the financing of groups propping up the fossil fuel economy,” said Howard Crystal, legal director at CBD’sEnergy Justiceprogram. “Instead it funds these groups to do its dirty work while it moves forward with building new fossil gas plants. TVA can and must do better.”
TVA contends it merely wants to get input from multiple stakeholders with multiple perspectives.
“As a federal agency, TVA is prohibited from participating in lobbying activities, and the TVA Board has directed that any dues, membership fees, or financial contributions paid to external organizations not be used for purposes inconsistent with TVA’s statutory mission or legal obligations.“Like other major utilities, TVA’s membership in a diverse array of external organizations allows TVA access to specialized expertise and analysis that directly benefits all of our customers at a cost significantly lower than if TVA were to undertake such work alone.”
Maggie Shober, director of utility reform at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said TVA has a special responsibility to support environmental protections.
“TVA is unique in the power industry in that environmental stewardship and economic development are codified in the agency’s founding mission,” she said. “It is imperative that the largest public power utility operate with accountability and transparency, stop funding anti-environment and anti-green jobs work, and invest in clean energy that will support the health of the Valley and the people who depend on it.”
Daniel Tait, chief operating officer of plaintiff Energy Alabama, said: “TVA has forced its customers to make political speech by taking money from their utility bills and using it for anti-clean energy advocacy. We have repeatedly called on the TVA inspector general to investigate this misuse of customer funds but after hearing and seeing nothing, we felt compelled to act.”
The path to the lawsuit began when the groups used the Freedom of Information Act to discover that TVA paid $200,000 in 2018 to the Utility Water Act Group, which lobbies against parts of the Clean Water Act. They also learned the utility was paying $500,000 a year to join the Edison Electric Institute, a group that represents all private, investor-owned utility companies in the country.