Trump’s Interior team will now land in Canada lynx lair

By Michael Doyle | 01/29/2025 01:42 PM EST

The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering new critical habitat for the threatened wildcat.

A Canada lynx is released in Schoolcraft County in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

A Canada lynx is released in Schoolcraft County in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. John Pepin/Michigan Department of Natural Resources via AP

The oft-debated Canada lynx is now teed up as one of the first high-profile Endangered Species Act dilemmas to greet the Trump administration’s Interior Department.

With the passing of a midnight Tuesday deadline, the Fish and Wildlife Service has more than 38,000 public comments to sift through as it plots potential changes to the lynx’s designated critical habitat.

The critical habitat has vexed federal officials for years, as has the overall status of the snow-loving bobcat relative. It is currently listed as threatened under the ESA, a position that some Westerners and prior Trump administration officials have disputed.

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“Canada lynx populations in the contiguous U.S. do not meet the standards for a Distinct Population Segment and do not meet the criteria for Endangered Species Act listing,” Redge Johnson, director of Utah’s Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, wrote on Jan. 22, adding that “the species therefore should not be listed under the ESA.”

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