The following article is from the Cowboy State Free Press:
CHEYENNE – As of Saturday, the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is again protected in Wyoming under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reinstating protections for the mouse in the Cowboy State to comply with an order issued by a federal court in Denver.
The mouse is found only by streams on the plains and among the hills along the Front Range of Colorado and southeastern Wyoming.
While found in both states, the number of human beings and related development affecting habitat differs in the two states.
The Fish and Wildlife Service had listed the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse for protections in Colorado in 2008 that it felt were unneeded in Wyoming.
Five local and national conservation organizations, however, filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s interpretation of the law.
U.S. District Judge John I. Kane reversed the agency’s decision. The ruling reinstates protections that date back to 1998 when the mouse was first listed.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status of the mouse. It plans to have that review done by June 2013.
Special regulations will now govern some agricultural operations, landscaping, weed control, ditch maintenance and other activities that affect the mouse’s habitat.
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The Cowboy State Free Press is a Wyoming nonprofit news service that has been founded to bring a full and clear view of state government, elections, taxes and spending to citizens in a way that is understandable and accessible.
Source: Cowboy State Free Press
Posted by Haylie Shipp
