Saving 1,000 Species

SAVING 1,000 SPECIES

Obama Administration Fails to Act for 144 Species - http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/144-species-12-14-20...

Suit to Challenge Protection Delay for 144 Species
Interior Department Fails to Act as Species Spiral Toward Extinction - http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/144-species-12-14-20...

The Center has identified 1,000 plants and animals across the United States and globe that need protection soon to escape extinction. We’ve embarked on the biggest campaign in Endangered Species Act history to save them.

In December 2009, we filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for long delays in granting federal protection to 144 species, including the plains buffalo, the California golden trout, the black-footed albatross, the dusky tree vole, 32 Pacific Northwest mollusks and many others struggling to survive. Scientific petitions have been filed to grant these species the federal safeguards they need, but because of bureaucratic foot-dragging from the past and now current administration, they’ve been waiting for protection in some cases for decades. .

The 144 species add to the backlog of 249 “candidate” http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/candidate_project/index.html
species that are officially recognized as deserving protection but have been “precluded” from receiving it. Through our Candidate Project, the Center is working to save all 249 species on the candidate list, including the Pacific fisher, the elfin woods warbler, the Oregon spotted frog, and the white fringeless orchid. Some of these species have been waiting for protection for more than 30 years. Many species have gone extinct languishing on the candidate list.

Finally, the Center is embarking on a campaign to protect southeastern aquatic species, including fish, mussels, crayfish, and others. The southeastern United States is a global hotspot for aquatic biological diversity, containing an unparalleled richness of fauna. Unfortunately, much of this aquatic diversity is at high risk of extinction. More than 70 percent of mussels, 48 percent of crayfish, and 28 percent of fishes are considered endangered, threatened, or of special concern by the American Fisheries Society.

The centerpiece of our Southeastern Aquatic Species and Rivers Campaign will be a petition to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service to protect 500 to 600 imperiled Southeast aquatic species as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Through careful research, including an extensive search of species databases and scientific literature, the Center has identified a list of species to include in the petition and is now working to complete it. The petition will call attention to the severity and scale of the problem of biodiversity loss in Southeast rivers and streams and will eventually provide protection to hundreds of species, and ultimately force changes in management of hundreds of watersheds across the Southeast.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/1000_species/index.html
http://www.rareearthtones.org/ringtones/Images/CBDSmBanner.gif