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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal">The rusty patched bumble bee is now featured on the wrapper of an Endangered Species Chocolate bar. We’re hoping that’s not the only place you’ll be able to see one in the years ahead. This bumble bee is an important pollinator of prairie wildflowers, and crops such as cranberries, blueberries, and apples. Once common across the Upper Midwest and Eastern Seaboard, in recent years the rusty patched bumble bee has been lost from 87% of its historic range. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">More than a year ago, the Xerces Society petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting Endangered Species Act protection for this bee. The law requires that the Secretary of the Interior must make an initial response—a simple statement of whether or not the petition presents sufficient information to support the requested protection—within 90 days, and if the Secretary finds that protection may be warranted, a decision within one year of whether or not the species should be protected. Neither of these deadlines has been met. Hence, the Xerces Society, with legal representation from <span style="color:black">the Natural Resources Defense Council</span>, is taking the next step. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Today (Tuesday, 5/13) we filed a complaint in the D.C. courts against the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking them to take action on the petition and grant ESA protection to the rusty patched bumble bee. You can read more about this bee and see a copy of the complaint filed on our behalf by NRDC at </span><a href="http://www.xerces.org/2014/05/13/rusty-patched-bumble-bee-threatened-with-extinction/">http://www.xerces.org/2014/05/13/rusty-patched-bumble-bee-threatened-with-extinction/</a>.<span style="color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Matthew</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">________</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Matthew Shepherd</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt">, Communications Director<b></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt">The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation </span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Protecting the Life that Sustains Us</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Stay in touch: </span><b><span style="color:red"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/"><span style="color:red;text-decoration:none">xerces.org</span></a></span></b> <b><span style="color:#17365d"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Xerces-Society/193182577358618"><span style="color:#17365d;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a></span></b> <b><span style="color:#984806"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/enewsletters/"><span style="color:#984806;text-decoration:none">E-newsletter</span></a></span></b> <b><span style="color:#0070c0"><a href="https://twitter.com/xerces_society"><span style="text-decoration:none">Twitter</span></a></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">628 NE Broadway, Ste 200, Portland, OR 97232-1324, USA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Tel: (503) 232-6639 ext. 110; Toll free: 1-855-232 6639 ext. 110; Cell: (503) 807-1577</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#0070c0"><a href="mailto:mdshepherd@xerces.org"><span style="color:#0070c0">mdshepherd@xerces.org</span></a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. To join the Society, make a donation, or read about our work, please visit <span style="color:#0070c0"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/"><span style="color:#0070c0">www.xerces.org</span></a></span>.</span></p>
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