Environmentalists on Thursday sued the shrinking Fish and Wildlife Service for missed Endangered Species Act decision deadlines for two species of California salamanders.
Citing the agency’s failure to finalize proposals first published in October 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity sued in a bid to compel yea-or-nay action on the Kern Canyon slender salamander and the relictual slender salamander. The October 2022 proposal to list the Kern Canyon species as threatened and the other species as endangered had a final due date of October 2023.
“Protecting these salamanders and their habitat goes hand in hand with protecting other wildlife, clean water and people,” Tara Zuardo, senior advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
While the service has missed ESA deadlines for many years and has often been sued for it, Zuardo highlighted the potential for more of the same as a result of the wholesale personnel cuts driven by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
