FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: David Gaillard, Predator Conservation Alliance, 406-587-3389
Jasper Carlton, Biodiversity Legal Foundation, 303-926-7606
Mike Senatore, Defenders of Wildlife, 202-682-9400
March 13, 2000
GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST DELAY IN LYNX PROTECTIONS
Bozeman, MT — Twelve conservation groups and one individual filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for its failure to meet a deadline to list the lynx for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Service missed a January 8, 2000 deadline to make its decision, the groups challenged the delay with a Notice of Intent to Sue on January 10, and the Service has since failed to publish a final rule.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the lynx as "Threatened" throughout the contiguous United States on July 8, 1998, which began a 12-month period to make a final determination. The Service failed to meet the 12-month deadline, and invoked a rarely used clause in the Endangered Species Act to extend the deadline to January 8, 2000.
"Just what does it take for the Fish and Wildlife Service to do its job and start protecting imperiled species?" asked David Gaillard of Bozeman, Montana-based Predator Conservation Alliance, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit. "Apparently two previous lawsuits, 12 months to decide on a draft listing proposal, a six-month extension, and now another sixty days since we filed our Notice of Intent to Sue are not enough," he said. "We simply cannot afford to wait any longer to implement conservation actions to protect this magnificent, rare cat and our northern forests where it lives," Gaillard added.
The conservation groups seek federal protections that will bring reforms to forest management and other threats facing lynx in U.S. forests from Maine to Washington state.
"The proposed listing has successfully generated increased research on lynx status and needs, and proposed standards to protect them," said Tom Skeele, director of the Predator Conservation Alliance. "Now is the time to implement our new knowledge to actually benefit lynx out there on the ground," he added.
Attached: Timeline of efforts to protect the lynx under the Endangered Species Act
lynx | forest
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