New Lawsuit Challenges Delisting of the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel

Today we filed a lawsuit challenging the decision of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel from the protection of the Endangered Species Act.  Friends of Blackwater v. Salazar, No. 1:09-cv-02122 (D.D.C.).   On behalf of Friends of Blackwater, The Wilderness Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, Wild South, and Judith S. Rodd, our complaint challenges the agency’s decision to delist the Squirrel without following the agency’s own Recovery Plan for the species and with utter disregard for the best available science.  We are asking for the Squirrel, which inhabits mountain forests threatened by logging and climate change, to be returned to the list of endangered species.  The complaint and a press release are attached.