Photo: Langelle/GJEP

Trump’s move to allow GMO crops in wildlife refuges is not unexpected with the administration already reversing wildlife refuge prohibition. Last Fall the Center for Food Safety sued over the withdrawal of the prohibition. The case is ongoing. If they win, the withdrawal will be vacated and the prohibition reinstated, and actions like this proposal would remain unlawful.

With Nation Distracted by Public Health and Economic Crises, Trump Moves to Allow GMO Crops in Wildlife Refuges

Common Dreams 20 Mar 2020

Julia Conley

As the U.S. faces an unemployment crisis, economic meltdown, and a public health emergency with the coronavirus, the Trump administration moved quietly on Friday to further threaten dozens of endangered species in the southeastern United States by proposing the planting of genetically engineered crops on wild public lands.

The administration proposal this week aims to allow the planting of GE seeds in the 44,000 acres of farmland within the Southeastern Region of the national wildlife refuge system—a reversal of existing policy.

The move would increase the use of glyphosate and other pesticides that have been linked to harmful effects on bees, butterflies, and other pollinators necessary to humans’ food supply, as well as other species that live in the wildlife refuges.

“It’s a no-brainer that this kind of pesticide-intensive agriculture shouldn’t be allowed on public lands that are critical to wildlife conservation and preservation of the unique ecosystems of the southeastern U.S,” said Hannah Connor, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.

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