Bombus affinis
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Paul Williams
Sep 29, 2016, 8:54:29 PM9/29/16
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CONGRATULATIONS to Sarina, Robbin, Elaine, Sydney, Sheila, Rich, Leif, and all of you who have worked so hard for securing protection for Bombus affinis - this is excellent news for the BBSG!
The original petition (filed in 2013) was based on contributions from many, many researchers, but two studies led by Sydney Cameron and Sheila Colla - both documenting the decline of this species - provided strong initial evidence supporting our request that the US Fish & Wildlife Service should consider this species for protection. Observations from dozens of researchers providing occurrence data for this species in the early 2000s also supported both a status review (from 2008) and the petition. In addition to the Xerces Society authors of the petition, both Robbin Thorp and Elaine Evans were co-authors. Robbin should be recognized especially for being one of the first people to call attention to population declines in the North American Bombus sensu stricto species.
More recent efforts by Leif Richardson to compile a database of specimen records, and analyses of these data by Rich Hatfield, with valuable input from other scientists within the BBSG, have contributed to our current understanding of this species' extinction risk. Information from our IUCN Red List assessment for Bombus affinis was submitted to the USFWS during the comment period last autumn, and may have helped to provide evidence for this decision. Rich not only contributed to the petition, but has also done a lot to build public support for this effort (working extensively with filmmakers to produce the recent film - A Ghost in the Making - about this bee).
Lawyers from the Natural Resources Defense Council represented the Xerces Society and filed a lawsuit on our behalf to compel the USFWS to consider our petition. This led to a settlement agreement that set the date of 9/30/2016 for a final determination regarding the petition.
Many thanks to all of you involved. It is great to see movement towards conservation action for threatened bumblebees.
Paul Williams
Chair | IUCN SSC Bumblebee Specialist Group
IUCN.org/bumblebees
The original petition (filed in 2013) was based on contributions from many, many researchers, but two studies led by Sydney Cameron and Sheila Colla - both documenting the decline of this species - provided strong initial evidence supporting our request that the US Fish & Wildlife Service should consider this species for protection. Observations from dozens of researchers providing occurrence data for this species in the early 2000s also supported both a status review (from 2008) and the petition. In addition to the Xerces Society authors of the petition, both Robbin Thorp and Elaine Evans were co-authors. Robbin should be recognized especially for being one of the first people to call attention to population declines in the North American Bombus sensu stricto species.
More recent efforts by Leif Richardson to compile a database of specimen records, and analyses of these data by Rich Hatfield, with valuable input from other scientists within the BBSG, have contributed to our current understanding of this species' extinction risk. Information from our IUCN Red List assessment for Bombus affinis was submitted to the USFWS during the comment period last autumn, and may have helped to provide evidence for this decision. Rich not only contributed to the petition, but has also done a lot to build public support for this effort (working extensively with filmmakers to produce the recent film - A Ghost in the Making - about this bee).
Lawyers from the Natural Resources Defense Council represented the Xerces Society and filed a lawsuit on our behalf to compel the USFWS to consider our petition. This led to a settlement agreement that set the date of 9/30/2016 for a final determination regarding the petition.
Many thanks to all of you involved. It is great to see movement towards conservation action for threatened bumblebees.
Paul Williams
Chair | IUCN SSC Bumblebee Specialist Group
IUCN.org/bumblebees
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