The Associated Press
August 4, 2004
Conservationists warned the federal government Tuesday that they plan to sue to force an endangered species listing for the Pacific fisher, a cousin of the weasel that hunts in old-growth forests of the West.
The Center for Biological Diversity and five other conservation groups filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its decision in April that the fisher warranted Endangered Species Act protection, but was precluded by more pressing matters.
“There are species that have gone extinct waiting for protection,” said Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity in Portland. “The fisher is just one more species that needs protection of all old-growth forests in the Northwest.”
Only 31 species have been listed as threatened or endangered under President George W. Bush
, compared with 394 in eight years under President Clinton and 234 under President George H.W. Bush, Greenwald said. The backlog of candidates for protection is about 300 species.