Groups to sue over cutthroat
Three conservation groups said Tuesday they plan to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the agency's decision to not give the Yellowstone cutthroat trout special protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Rivers Council said they filed a required 60-day notice of intent to sue over what they see as the agency's illegal denial of special federal protection for the fish.
"It's well known and acknowledged that the species has declined and is facing a multitude of threats," Noah Greenwald, a conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, said Tuesday. Among the threats he cited are disease and habitat loss.
Fish and Wildlife has twice said in recent years that the fish did not warrant Endangered Species Act protection. The first decision pertained to the sufficiency of the petition, an agency spokeswoman said; the more recent decision was issued this year.
In response to a 1998 petition, filed by groups including those that plan to sue, the agency determined the request to list the trout as threatened did not present substantial information to indicate listing may be warranted, according to court documents. Conservationists sued over the decision. A federal judge later overturned the decision and, in late 2004, ordered Fish and Wildlife to do a 12-month status review.
That review led to the determination earlier this year. Conservationists say in their notice, however, that the finding violates the Endangered Species Act, because among other things, the best available science was not used in reaching the decision. They also argue the agency failed to list the trout "despite the fact that it is endangered in a significant portion of its range."
The groups say they may not sue if Fish and Wildlife revokes its "negative" finding.
Diane Katzenberger, a regional spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife, said the agency stands behind its finding. She said a status assessment conducted for the fish found "stable, viable and self-sustaining populations of the fish are widely distributed throughout its historic range." While officials acknowledge there had been a decline, she said the status of the trout and trends indicate that the species is "not declining further or in jeopardy of going extinct in the foreseeable future."
She said officials will continue to monitor the fish and situation surrounding them closely.
The conservation groups say degradation of habitat and replacement by non-native trout have wiped Yellowstone cutthroat trout from a large portion of historic range. Greenwald said the fish is found in parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, including Yellowstone National Park, and small parts of Nevada and Utah.
