A federal judge on Thursday upheld the Fish and Wildlife Service’s handling of the endangered black-footed ferret in Wyoming.
Acting three years after environmental organizations filed suit, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service was justified in its designation of the black-footed ferrets in the Cowboy State as a “nonessential experimental population.”
The designation allows added flexibility in dealing with the elongated, underground-dwelling animal that is otherwise strictly protected under the Endangered Species Act.
“Plaintiffs simply disagree with the FWS’s decision about how best to facilitate the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret in the State of Wyoming,” Moss wrote. “The agency’s preferred approach, however, fell well within its discretion and was both reasoned and adequately explained. Nothing more is required.”
