{"id":1985461,"date":"2023-07-28T19:25:04","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T23:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abbotts-water-buoys-could-go-extinct-if-biden-succeeds-in-deeming-mussels-endangered\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T19:27:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T23:27:46","slug":"abbotts-water-buoys-could-go-extinct-if-biden-succeeds-in-deeming-mussels-endangered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abbotts-water-buoys-could-go-extinct-if-biden-succeeds-in-deeming-mussels-endangered\/","title":{"rendered":"Abbott&#8217;s water buoys at risk of extinction if Biden labels mussels endangered."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fabbotts-water-buoys-could-go-extinct-if-biden-succeeds-in-deeming-mussels-endangered%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1985461&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Federal Government Takes Action to Protect Rare\u2062 Mussels \u2064in \u200bthe\u200c Rio Grande<\/h2>\n<p>The \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-us-citizenship-test-requiring-greater-english-skills-draws-concerns-from-immigrants-and-advocates-too-difficult\/\" title=\"New US citizenship test causing worries among immigrants and advocates - too hard.\">federal\u200b government<\/a> has made a sudden move this week \u2063to safeguard two rare mussel species in the Rio Grande,\u2063 right where Governor Greg\u200b Abbott\u2062 (R-TX) has installed a 1,000-foot line of\u200d buoys to prevent immigrants from\u2063 crossing.<\/p>\n<p>The Interior Department&#8217;s U.S. Fish and\u200d Wildlife Service (FWS) announced \u200cthat it\u200b would list two\u200c species of freshwater mussels, \u2062including the Mexican fawnsfoot, as endangered.<\/p>\n<h3>Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against\u2062 Abbott<\/h3>\n<p>On the same day, the \u200bJustice Department filed a\u200d lawsuit against Abbott, ordering the removal of the floating barrier in Eagle Pass. The lawsuit claims that \u200bthe barrier poses threats to navigation, public\u2062 safety, and humanitarian concerns. It focuses on\u200b a\u2064 1,000-foot\u2062 portion of the border, which is approximately\u2063 one-fifth of a mile on the 2,000-mile southern\u200d boundary.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200bWhite House and \u200cthe FWS have not responded to \u200drequests for comment regarding the timing\u2062 of the proposal or whether it was a political attempt to interfere with\u200b Abbott&#8217;s buoys.<\/p>\n<h3>Endangerment Declaration \u200dand Critical Habitat<\/h3>\n<p>An endangerment \u2064declaration\u200d could compel Abbott to \u2063dismantle the 1,000-foot-long string of large red\u2063 buoys and prevent the state from adding more buoys in the border river\u2063 due to its designation as\u200b a &#8220;critical habitat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For\u200b over three decades, the federal\u2063 government has been aware of the \u200bdeclining\u200b population of these mussels.\u200b FWS first brought attention to the mussels in 1991 and has been reviewing their status under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2064most recent \u200breview, conducted \u2062in \u200bFebruary of this year, determined that the \u200dRio Grande is the only\u2062 place in the\u2062 world where \u200cthese mussels exist. Mussels serve \u2064as &#8220;biological indicators \u2063of \u200bhealthy streams and rivers \u2063that benefit people and wildlife,&#8221; according to FWS.<\/p>\n<p>FWS predicts that the species \u200cwill decline to a &#8220;very \u200dlow&#8221; condition within the next 25 years and become extinct\u200d within 50 years.<\/p>\n<h3>Abbott&#8217;s Defiance and\u200d Legal \u2064Battle<\/h3>\n<p>Despite being sued, Abbott has\u200b refused to remove the \u2062floating barriers\u200c in\u2064 the \u2064Rio Grande,\u200c openly defying the Biden administration&#8217;s order.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter to \u200cPresident\u2064 Biden, Abbott \u200dstated, &#8220;Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to\u200b deal with the crisis you have caused. Texas will \u2064see you in court, Mr. President.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Abbott had \u200cannounced \u2063the erection\u2063 of a maritime wall on June 8, \u200baiming to slow down\u200d and\u200b deter individuals attempting to cross\u200b the border.<\/p>\n<p>Texas proceeded with the installation of the buoys in early July, despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nine-states-and-d-c-still-have-mask-mandates-in-place\/\" title=\"Nine States and D.C. Still Have Mask Mandates in Place\">facing legal challenges<\/a>\u2063 from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abbotts-water-buoys-could-go-extinct-if-biden-succeeds-in-deeming-mussels-endangered\/\" title=\"Abbott's water buoys at risk of extinction if Biden labels mussels endangered.\">local kayak tour\u2062 company<\/a> and a complaint from Mexico regarding a violation\u2063 of \u2064a water \u200btreaty.<\/p>\n<p>While some locals\u200b expressed \u200coptimism about the maritime\u2062 barrier, others \u2062worried that \u2062it may \u2064be too little, too late.<\/p>\n<p><em>Click here to read more from The Washington \u200cExaminer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US Fish and Wildlife Service has acted swiftly to safeguard two endangered mussel species in the Rio Grande. Interestingly, this move coincides with Governor Greg Abbott&#8217;s installation of a 1,000-foot line of buoys to prevent immigrants from crossing the river.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1985462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1985461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1985461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1985462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1985461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1985461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1985461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}