 © April 15, 2009 - All rights reserved |
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – An environmental group is suing the federal government, saying the Obama administration has failed to address a backlog of animals and plants that need to be considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
WildEarth Guardians said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has failed to carry out his duties under the act and that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has failed to act on a petition seeking protection for two rare plants, a jackrabbit and a salamander found in the Southwest.
The species are among 13 that WildEarth Guardians sought protection for with a series of petitions filed last fall.
The Obama administration has issued only two findings under the Endangered Species Act despite a backlog of more than 300 species that are candidates for protection, said Nicole Rosmarino, the organization's wildlife program director.
"We would like to see them shift gears," she said. "Maybe they're just late coming out of the gate, but the ones that pay the price for a delay are these species that are on the brink. They don't have the luxury of time."
The Interior Department and the Fish and Wildlife Service cited policy in declining to comment on the pending litigation.
WildEarth Guardians petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service in October to designate the 13 species as endangered or threatened and to set aside critical habitat. The petitions were filed as part of the group's "Western Ark" project, which aims to call attention to the many species that need protection.
The group contends that nearly all the species listed in the petitions, including the four at the center of Wednesday's lawsuit, face a common threat of climate change. The species also are either restricted to small areas or have extremely small populations.
The species at the center the lawsuit are the white-sided jackrabbit, the Jemez Mountains salamander, Wright's marsh thistle and the Chihuahua scurfpea.
One of the two populations of white-sided jackrabbits in New Mexico has disappeared and the other's numbers have declined dramatically since the 1970s.