Lawsuit Launched to Speed Endangered Species Act Protection for 417 Species

The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to act on petitions to protect more than 417 animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act. The notice includes species from across the United States, including Florida sandhill cranes, coastal flatwood crayfish, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and many others. The agency has failed to make a required “12-month finding” for the 417 species, most of which were petitioned for between 2008 and 2010 by the Center and others, meaning the findings are five to seven years late. Long delays in protection of species under the Endangered Species Act have been a persistent problem for decades: At least 42 species have gone extinct waiting for protection.