Environmentalists have now dragged the Fish and Wildlife Service back into court to secure designation of what could be more than a half-million acres of critical habitat for the endangered southern Sierra Nevada fisher.
In the latest turn of a fight begun more than 25 years ago, the Center for Biological Diversity last Thursday filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging the federal agency missed a key Endangered Species Act critical habitat deadline.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s delay in protecting the forested lands that Southern Sierra Nevada fishers call home threatens the very survival of these adorable mammals,” Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director at the center, said in a statement.
Zaccardi added that “by protecting the places where fishers live we can help them recover while also safeguarding California’s cherished wild landscapes.”
