Two environmental organizations sued the Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday for missing an Endangered Species Act deadline involving the Miami cave crayfish.
Although the federal agency proposed listing the rare, subterranean critters as threatened two years ago, it has yet to take final action. Under the ESA, a final yea-or-nay listing decision was due within one year of the Sept. 23, 2023, listing proposal.
“Miami cave crayfish have suffered for too long without endangered species protections, but this legal action could finally get them desperately needed safeguards,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Florida-based attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Whitlock added that the ESA can “protect rare wildlife from extinction, but it can’t save these crayfish if the Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t follow the law.”
