Held from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Bank of Glen Jean at 23 County Route 25/9 directly across the road from Park Headquarters in the Glen Jean area of Fayette County, the meeting will discuss the project to remove excess structures. It will address deferred maintenance needs, as well as allowing community members to give comments during the event on provided cards.

Information about the project will be displayed at the meeting, and park staff will be available to answer questions and listen to comments from the public. At this time the project is in the early proposal stage, and suggestions and comments are appreciated as the planning process moves forward.

A chance to give comments and learn more can be found on the NPS planning website until January 15, 2024 for anyone who cannot go to the public meeting.

The William and Mary study says that while ospreys feed on a variety of fish and other animals, the ospreys' biggest food source is menhaden. The study found many osprey chicks are starving in the nest.

"Since about 2000 we've seen a decline and now we're below .13 chicks per pair," said Dr. Brian Watts, Director of the William and Mary Center for Conservation Biology. "So, now we're actually below what the population was producing during the height of the DDT era; at these reproduction rates, the population is not sustainable."

Watts oversaw the research. Teams of William and Mary researchers studied osprey nesting and reproduction on Mobjack Bay, a bay in the Chesapeake.

"Atlantic menhaden deliveries by males to nests has declined by over 80 percent," said Watts. "In response to that, what we're seeing is a higher rate of nest failures."

Watts says the research suggests overharvest of menhaden is a reason for the decline. Though not directly pointing a finger at industrial menhaden harvest on the bay, Watts says it appears to be a factor.

Virginia is the only Atlantic coast state that allows reduction or industrial fishing in estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay.

Omega Protein is one of the biggest menhaden harvesters on the Chesapeake and has been fishing the bay for more than a century. It uses a fleet of fishing vessels, technology, and spotter planes to take menhaden. The fish are then reduced to fish oil and fish meal and sold for a variety of uses. Omega is based Reedville.

A company spokesperson says the most recent science shows stocks of Atlantic menhaden coastwide is strong. He disputed the findings of the William and Mary study and questioned the methodology and scope of research. He said Omega complies with all current state and federal regulations

However, various conservation groups want to know more about the localized impact of reduction fishing.

"Our concern is what's going on with the ecosystem with this very intense, very efficient fishery taking place in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay," said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Senior Scientist Chris Moore.

Moore says more research is needed to understand the impact: "This is a fishery when it comes to menhaden, especially the reduction fishery, but also the bait fishery that has a very long history in the Chesapeake Bay, but we know the ecosystem changes, and we may need to be more proactive in how we manage this resource to make sure that it continues to fill all of its ecological roles."

More research could be coming. Delegate R. Lee Ware (R-District 72) has introduced a bill in the Virginia General Assembly that would require the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to do a study on the impact of industrial fishing on Virginia's portion of the Chesapeake Bay.

According to the Greenbrier County Health Department, a feral cat from the downtown area of White Sulphur Springs tested positive for rabies.

The Greenbrier County Health Department requests that people keep their pets' rabies vaccine up to date, and to stay alert and not feed, pet, or bring stray animals in the house.

If anyone comes into contact with an animal with suspicious behavior, the Greenbrier County Health Department asks that you inform local officials and immediately seek medical help.

The deadly Sydney funnel-web spider dubbed “Hercules” was found on the Central Coast, about 50 miles north of Sydney, and was initially given to a local hospital, the Australian Reptile Park said in a statement Thursday.

Spider experts from the nearby park retrieved it and soon realized it was the largest male specimen ever received from the public in Australia.

The spider measured 7.9 centimeters (3.1 inches) from foot to foot, surpassing the park’s previous record-holder from 2018, the male funnel-web named “Colossus".

Sydney funnel-web spiders usually range in length from one to five centimeters, with females being generally larger than their male counterparts but not as deadly. They are predominantly found in forested areas and suburban gardens from Sydney, Australia's most populous city, to the coastal city of Newcastle in the north and the Blue Mountains to the west.

"Hercules" will contribute to the reptile park’s antivenom program. Safely captured spiders handed in by the public undergo “milking” to extract venom, essential for producing life-saving antivenom.

"We’re used to having pretty big funnel-web spiders donated to the park, however receiving a male funnel-web this big is like hitting the jackpot,” said Emma Teni, a spider keeper at Australian Reptile Park. “Whilst female funnel-web spiders are venomous, males have proven to be more lethal.

"With having a male funnel-web this size in our collection, his venom output could be enormous, proving incredibly valuable for the park’s venom program.”

Since the inception of the program in 1981, there has not been a fatality in Australia from a funnel-web spider bite.

Recent rainy, humid weather along Australia's east coast has provided the ideal conditions for funnel-web spiders to thrive.

 In a statement released by the White House, President Joe Biden said the law has “safeguarded the incredible biodiversity across our Nation, supported the recovery of imperiled species, and conserved the habitats they depend on.”

Before the act was signed into law in 1973, federal law did not protect species facing extinction. It allows species to be listed as endangered without consideration for the economic consequences, which some say is controversial.

The White House credited the act with preventing 99% of all fish, wildlife, and plants under its protection from going extinct.

“Because of these protections, nearly 300 species have avoided extinction—from the American alligator to the bald eagle,” President Biden said in a statement.

The Endangered Species Act was just one of several pieces of environmental legislation passed beginning in the mid-1960’s, including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Wilderness Act and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

The Endangered Species Act has been described by the Supreme Court as “the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species enacted by any nation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dawn is a 5-year-old retired breeding female from Hawkeye Industries, who has the Raptors Aloft falconry program based out of Berkeley Springs. According to the Three Rivers Avian Center, Dawn was picked up on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, and is a gentle soul who appears to be enjoying her new home as they all get to know each other.

Dawn's name references how barn owls are usually crepuscular, which means that dawn and dusk are when they are most active. She had a former mate named Dusk, however medical possibilities resulted in the pair being split up.

The Three Rivers Avian Center looks forward to having Dawn as their ambassador for a long time.

Each year in the U.S. there are more than a million crashes involving wildlife, with sometimes deadly outcomes for both animals and people. 

"We have an opportunity to do something about it," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. 

The Transportation Department recently announced it's giving $110 million in grants to 19 wildlife crossing projects across the country. The program is the first of its kind and Secretary Pete Buttigieg says it will save lives and boost conservation efforts. 

"It's the right thing to do for conservation and for habitats and wildlife, but it's also the right thing to do for drivers and their kids," Buttigieg said. 

Jeremy Romero with the National Wildlife Federation says as the amount of daily traffic in the U.S. grows, the danger of animal related crashes is growing too.  

"The need for this funding and the need to be able to do these projects in many states across our country is at an all-time high," Romero said.

Some of the grant money will go towards mapping out areas where the crashes commonly occur, and some will go towards construction of wildlife overpasses, underpasses or fences. 

"No two projects are essentially the same," Romero said. "It all depends what those collisions you're trying to mitigate are." 

He says the projects can be complex and expensive, but he argues so is not addressing the problem. 

"Some figures out there have it over $8 billion the cost associated with wildlife vehicle collisions," Romero said. 

Leaders say this money will be put to good use. 

"Some of these projects have success rates upwards of 90% in reducing wildlife vehicle collisions, so that's really amazing," Romero said. 

This is just the first round of grants. The program is set to give out more funding to other projects over the next few years. 

On Monday, zoo officials teased that the DNA results were in, and that they were planning to announce the father of Siska, their 4-month-old female Sumatran orangutan. The paternity debate was between 30-year-old Berani and 16-year-old Jaya.

Then on Tuesday, the zoo made the big announcement with the help of an iconic guest.

Fresh off receiving the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Honor, television host Maury Povich, dressed in a suit and bow tie, announced the identity of Siska's father.

"Now, we want to thank the Denver Zoo for everything they do, but this is really important," said Povich before pulling the results out of the envelope. "When it comes to the orangutan, 4-month-old Siska — Berani, you are the father."

The video then shows zoo staffers cheering for 30-year-old dad.

Following her birth in late August, Siksa became the seventh orangutan to join the Denver Zoo. She's the first baby orangutan born to Eirina, 16, who originally came to the Denver Zoo from Germany in 2016.

According to the Denver Zoo's website, Berani lives in a group with three other females, and was approved for breeding through the Sumatran Orangutan Species Survival Plan. The four orangutans share time in the exhibit and frequently interact with each other.

The Denver Zoo said Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered, with only around 9,200 left in the wild.

The public is invited by the National Park Service (NPS) and the proposal is a part of a bigger project in the park that is funded by the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund and will focus on restoring historic structures, address deferred maintenance needs, educe unnecessary operational costs and maintenance burdens, and invest in park infrastructure.

The meeting will be at Bank of Glen Jean at 23 County Route 25/9 in Mt Hope from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 11, 2024, and information will be given relating to the proposal to demolish 35 excess and deteriorating structures. Of the 35, 21 are considered historic and are listed or eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

For anyone who cannot attend the public meeting, additional information and materials can be found on the National Park Service planning website until January 15, 2024.

Removing dangerous structures, proper disposal of associated building debris, and restoring the sites to where they are in the proper conditions with the surrounding areas are all a part of the NPS proposal. Influences relating to the removal of these buildings from the park will be evaluated through the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act compliance processes.

The NPS acquired many of the buildings and structures through land acquisition within established park boundaries. A lot of them were not planned to be reused by the National Park Service and are currently dilapidated, overgrown, and abandoned safety hazards that are at risk of trespassing, vandalism, and are difficult to maintain. Getting rid of the unneeded structures would allow maintenance needs to be taken care of, and would also get rid of yearly maintenance and law enforcement costs, which would then give staff members time to focus their attention and financial resources on maintaining other resources and facilities so that they can be enjoyed by park visitors.

Structures that are being considered for demolition include:

The National Park Service hopes to complete the cultural and environmental review process for the project midway through 2024, with the aim to execute the demolitions as early as fall 2024.

The Great American Outdoors Act is part of a focused effort to address the major backlog in maintenance in national parks. The fund is supported by energy development revenue and provides up to $1.3 billion per year for five years to the National Park Service so that significant enhancements in national parks to ensure their preservation, opportunities are provided for recreation, education, and enjoyment for current and future visitors can be made.

The court also denied the supplemental motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) request to stop the hearing that was set for Wednesday, Dec. 20.

This ruling comes as the investigation into animal abuse accusations continues in the zoo. Wednesday's hearing could decide the future of more than 90 animals that were seized from the zoo during search warrants.

Court documents say the injunction request was denied in part because, although the short timeframe before the Dec. 20., hearing is "not ideal", it failed to prove owners Karal and Deborah Mogensen's due process rights are being violated or is unconstitutional. It was determined the additional time that would be granted by the injunction would have "little value" to the zoo's ability to build an adequate countersuit.

Furthermore, any preliminary rulings will be eligible for an appeal, allowing for charges or decisions to be overturned.

WFXR News will continue to provide the most up-to-date information when it's available.

--

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) – Attorneys representing the owners of the Natural Bridge Zoo are seeking a delay in a court proceeding that could decide the future of several of the zoo’s animals, almost two weeks after an animal abuse investigation led authorities to search the facility and seize more than 90 animals.

Mario Williams, who represents Natural Bridge Zoo owners Karal and Deborah Mogensen, filed a request for an injunction ahead of a December 20^th hearing on the possible seizure of four giraffes.  According to the court filing, Williams argues Michelle Welch, Virginia's Senior Assistant Attorney General, violated the zoo owners’ constitutional rights by seeking to seize the animals before any potential charges have been filed, and without constitutionally required due process.

On Monday, December 18^th, a federal judge gave the zoo until 10:00 p.m. that evening to file a brief supporting its request for the injunction.  The state then has until 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 19^th to respond.

According to court documents, the zoo claims veterinarians ordered the killing of a white tiger and accused them of “ineptness” and “torture”.  The zoo also takes issue with the state-ordered action plan, which outlines specific steps the state wants to be taken for each of the dozens of animals in the zoo’s care.  

According to documents filed with the court, the plans range from requiring the zoo to provide fresh water, shelter, and fencing to detailed veterinary care needs specific to certain species and individual animals.  The documents filed with the federal court do not include an action plan for Asha, an elephant at Natural Bridge Zoo.  In the immediate aftermath of the search and seizure, a longtime volunteer speaking on behalf of the zoo speculated that the investigation may have had something to do with Asha.

If the federal judge denies the request for an injunction, the potential seizure of the four giraffes is scheduled to be argued at a hearing on Wednesday, December 20^th.

WFXR News will continue to provide you with the latest information as it becomes available.