Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied the Colorado River cutthroat trout protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity, a charity dedicated to preserving the future of species on the brink of extinction, last week filed suit challenging this decision stating that it is based on a "flawed Bush-era policy" that only considered the current range of the trout when assessing its endangered status rather than its historic range.
The Bush policy specifies that a species will be considered endangered if it is "in danger of extinction in all or a significant portion of its range" but that the Fish and Wildlife Service should only consider its current, not historic range.
The Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged that the cutthroat trout has been lost from 87% of its historic range and continues to face threats from habitat degradation, nonnative trout and climate change but the policy "effectively chopped protection off at the knees", according to the Center, and "threatens the survival of this unique and beautiful fish."
So far, the Center for Biological Diversity has been successful in working to overturn such decisions and out of 54 lawsuits, the Obama administration has agreed to reconsider 45 decisions.
The cutthroat trout is a very colorful with a distinctive crimson belly and black spots covering its tail, sides and back. Historically, it was found in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
Read the full story here.
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