House GOP Asks Biden Admin About Classifying Mussels as Endangered That Could Pull Texas Buoys
“The timing of this proposed rule is highly suspicious.”
Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and other House Republicans asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and President Joe Biden why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) wants to classify two species of mussels as endangered.
Normally, the classification wouldn’t be a big deal, but these species are normally found in the Rio Grande near Texas.
The same Rio Grande where Texas placed buoys to stop migrants from crossing the border.
The same buoys the DOJ sued Texas over last week.
“The timing of this proposed rule is highly suspicious,” wrote Arrington. “On July 24, the Justice Department filed a complaint against the State of Texas for placing a floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande River. The very next day, on July 25, the Service proposed a rule to list these mussel species.”
The rule targets the Salina Musket and Mexican fawnsfoot. Odd that you’ll find them in the Rio Grande near Texas:
The Salina mucket historically occurred in the Texas portion of the Rio Grande drainage in the United States and Mexico. The only known remaining population of Salina mucket is located in the Lower Canyons and Martin Canyon portions of the Rio Grande just downstream of Big Bend National Park in Brewster, Terrell, and Val Verde counties, Texas.
The Mexican fawnsfoot historically occurred in the Rio Grande from approximately the confluence of the Pecos River with the Rio Grande in Val Verde County to downstream just below the current location of Falcon Dam. The only remaining Mexican fawnsfoot population occurs from approximately Eagle Pass, Texas downstream to San Ygnacio, Texas in Zapata County.
The place listed, especially Eagle Pass, are hot spots for migrant crossings.
“In making this proposed listing determination, the Service carefully assessed the status of the Rio Grande mussels, including the past, present and future threats that they face,” announced Amy Lueders, the Service’s Southwest Regional Director, in a press release dated July 24. “Because the single existing populations of both species have low abundance, limited recruitment, and no ability to disperse into new areas, they are extremely vulnerable to extinction.”
Arrington pointed out that FSA filed the Salina musket petition in 2007 and the Mexican fawnsfoot in 2008.
“That means, the Service sat on these petitions for more than fourteen years before making a listing decision on these species,” continued Arrington. “In addition, the Service has proposed nearly 300 miles of critical habitat for the mussels along the border.”
The classification would cause problems for more than the buoys.
“This action will not only impact the State of Texas’ ability to protect the border and its citizens, but also the ability of the U.S Border Patrol to accomplish its mission of protecting the American people and safeguarding our borders,” wrote Arrington. “As you know, any federal or state actions that impact critical habitat, including border security operations, must go through a consultation process with the Service. This process can be lengthy and will most assuredly hamper vital daily border security operations.”
Arrington has four simple questions for Haaland and Biden:
- 1. Why did it take more than fourteen years for the Service to act on the petitions for the Salina musket and Mexican fawnsfoot?
- 2. Was the Service’s action on the listing petitions a direct response to the defense buoys deterring migrants from crossong the southern border?
- 3. Please explain the causes for the endangerment of the species, including any connection to illegal migrant crossings.
- 4. Please provide data sufficient to show how much the species population numbers have decreased since 2021.
Last Wednesday, Judge David Alan Ezra of the U.S. District Court Western District of Texas – Austin Division issued an order for Texas to remove the buoys.
Ezra’s ruling was only a preliminary injunction, not a final ruling.
The state of Texas immediately filed an appeal:
The equities overwhelmingly favor a stay: Texas’s sovereignty and self-defense interests are irreparably harmed even if Texas prevails on appeal. This case also presents serious legal questions with “a broad impact on relations between the states and the federal government.” Weingarten Realty Invs. v. Miller, 661 F.3d 904, 910 n.9 (5th Cir. 2011). Moreover, the district court erred on the merits.
The Fifth Circuit responded on Friday:
IT IS ORDERED that Appellants’ motion for administrative stay of the order of the Western District of Texas, Austin Division dated September 6, 2023, is GRANTED pending further order of the Court.
Arrington Mussel Letter to … by Fox News
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Comments
It’s long past time to end the endangered species act. It is only ever used as a weapon by the bureaucracy against the citizens, and was never fit for purpose.
As a nascent Wildlife Biologist I was involved in the Spotted Owl and Goshawk crud in the early 90’s. I got such a crash course in how corrupt the USFWS, USFS and Dept of The Interior that I left the field.
How long will it take for the Marxist Demoncrat Party (i.e. the U.S. Government) to mandate the same “protection” be extended to the COVID virus ???
Adding a species should require the passage of a bill in Congress.
The administration mustn’t be allowed to clam up on this issue.
Always a shell game w these guys
Nor may they be permitted a flexing of mussels or other intimidating practices.
A-baloney! They will just do as they wish. There will be the environmental nut cases running around in circles whining. I call them Oy-sters.
Texas should respond thusly: “the buoys protect the mussels by preventing illegal immigrants from trampling them and muddying the water as they try and cross the river. The foot traffic would smash the mussels, and the buoys prevent that.”
all the more reason to keep the bouys – to stop the traffic that is endangering the mussels
Duh!
100% agree.
How do buoys endanger mussells that live on the bottom? If anything they protect them from being squished by
illegal immigrants’migrants’ feet.But this post needs a song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbx_6gavLno
The illegals crossing the river cause more risk. Duh…..
Military age male invaders, not migrants.
Lawfare. All the alphabet government agencies working together to advance The Cathedral. Congress passed this nonsense and did it to us. Now the Uniparty is going all out to protect it’s power and plan to subjegate us. Brandon is not in charge,other just give him an ice cream to shut him up, the Deep State is in charge
The clear and present danger is from millions of migrants entering the mussels’ habitat and attempting to cross the river where the mussels live—not to mention the urine, feces and trash they leave behind to foul their habitat for years to come. If anything, the buoys are protecting the mussels from the migrants who are endangering them.
Since the buoys are so obviously protective of the mussels’ habitat, Abbott should thank the Department of the Interior for the information and tell them that he will further expand this protection at state expense.
And he’ll sue the Biden administration on those grounds if they try to force the removal of the buoys for any reason.
Sounds to me like they need a wall on both sides of the Rio Grande to protect these mussels. And we take it out of the EPA’s budget.
Is that the hope of the nation – that the courts will finally say “enough of the BS”?
Fake story.
The Center for Biological Diversity in 2020 filed a lawsuit urging protection of these Texas freshwater mussels. If approved, these mussels will join the Texas hornshell mussel, which also lives in the Rio Grande and in 2018 was deemed an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
“The Endangered Species Act protection gives these mussels a shot at survival and recovery while at the same time improving the health of the Rio Grande,” he said.
The nonprofit sued for federal protection after noting the Salina mucket has been waiting for a decision on whether it should be environmentally protected for 15 years. The Mexican fawnsfoot has been waiting for 16 years, Robinson said.
https://www.borderreport.com/regions/texas/2-rio-grande-mussels-species-up-for-endangered-protections-including-in-area-near-texas-border-buoys/
Fake how?
We all know the answer.
You missed the point it would seem.
Mmmmm! Mussels!
https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Steamed-Mussels-in-White-Wine-Broth-571613?prm-v1
liberals should b indangered
Can this be turned around, and become a hard-stop for any and all illegal border crossing?
Surely the continued existence of these poor, defenseless, slimy creatures is of far more importance than the economic and political plight forcing the invading hoards to illegally crash our southern border! It is after all the physical river crossing by these countless thousands of “fresh of their air-conditioned bus ride” travelers that is destroying the natural river habitat, not the recently installed chain bouys.
Hold on, if this is such a hotspot it sounds even more important to keep the buoys up to keep the illegals from disturbing or displacing the mussels.