The Gary Null Blog

Genetically Engineered Agriculture on 54 Refuges in 8 States Targeted as Illegal

WASHINGTON - November 2 - A lawsuit filed today in federal court seeks to end cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops on fifty-four national wildlife refuges across the Midwest.  The suit is the latest in a series of successful lawsuits by public interest groups to stop planting of GE crops on wildlife refuges.  

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the Center for Food Safety (CFS), Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), and Beyond Pesticides, this federal lawsuit charges that the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) unlawfully entered into cooperative farming agreements and approved planting of GE crops in eight Midwestern states (IL, IA, IN, MI, MN, MO, OH, and WI) without the environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act  and in violation of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act and FWS’s own policy. 

This is the fourth lawsuit filed by CFS and PEER challenging FWS permitting GE crops on wildlife refuges.  Previously, the two groups successfully challenged approval of GE plantings on two wildlife refuges in Delaware, which forced FWS to end GE planting in the entire 12-state Northeastern Region.  Earlier this year, CFS, PEER and Beyond Pesticides filed suit to block planting GE crops on twenty-five refuges across eight states in the Southeast.