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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Lawsuit Seeks Federal Protection for Canada Lynx in New Mexico

By Sue Major Holmes
The Associated Press
    A coalition of conservation and animal protection groups on Monday sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a continuing effort to force it to extend Endangered Species Act protection to the Canada lynx in New Mexico.
    The Colorado Division of Wildlife, which has released more than 200 lynx in Colorado since 1999, tracked about 60 of the animals into New Mexico's Taos, Rio Arriba and San Juan counties from 1999 to 2006, the lawsuit said.
    The federal government lists the elusive, furry cats as threatened in 14 states— but not in New Mexico.
    "We've thought the Fish and Wildlife Service's position on lynx in New Mexico is very odd," said Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians, one of the groups that sued. "Once lynx cross from Colorado into New Mexico— which they have been doing— they're suddenly not protected anymore. We don't think that makes any sense."
    Fish and Wildlife officials have not seen the lawsuit and cannot comment on ongoing litigation, said Diane Katzenberger, a spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife in Denver. In August, conservation groups petitioned for protection for the cats, asking the agency to make a decision on the species' status in New Mexico.
    The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., complains that Fish and Wildlife failed to make a finding on the petition within 90 days as required by the Endangered Species Act. The law gives the agency 90 days to determine whether the petition provides sufficient information for the agency to then determine whether a listing may be warranted.
    The lawsuit says the agency told petitioners it had a tentative budget allocation to complete a finding this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
    The conservation groups contend the decision not to issue a 90-day finding violates the law, is "arbitrary and capricious" and constitutes an unreasonable delay.
    The groups that petitioned, and subsequently sued, are WildEarth Guardians of Santa Fe; Center for Native Ecosystems in Paonia, Colo.; Animal Protection of New Mexico in Albuquerque; Carson Forest Watch of Llano, N.M.; and the Animal Protection Institute of Sacramento, Calif.