[Pollinator] Lawsuit seeks protection for 2 Calif. butterfly species

[Ladadams at aol.com]

>From Greenwire 
ENDANGERED SPECIES: Lawsuit seeks protection for 2 Calif. butterfly species  
(Wednesday, March  18, 2009) 
Colin Sullivan, E&E reporter  
SAN FRANCISCO -- An environmental group filed suit  yesterday to list two 
species of butterfly as endangered. 
In briefs filed in federal district court in San Diego, the  Center for 
Biological Diversity demanded that the Fish and Wildlife Service  reconsider a 2007 
decision to not protect the Hermes copper and Thorne's  hairstreak under the 
Endangered Species Act. 
The group charged that the Bush administration refused to list the  
butterflies even after FWS biologists recommended more research into the matter.  
Documents obtained by the group under a Freedom of Information Act request, the  
suit alleges, show that biologists' call for a "status review" was ignored for  
political reasons. 
Jonathan Evans, an  attorney at the center, said wildfires and climate change 
have decimated both  species. He thinks Bush administration officials 
intentionally overlooked this  reality. 
"It will take years to clean up the  Bush administration's abysmal record on 
wildlife conservation," Evans said.  "Extending endangered species protections 
to these butterflies will help return  science to government decisions." 
The group  has been trying to protect both species for nearly 20 years. In 
1991 and 2006,  the center filed petitions with FWS under the Endangered Species 
Act, both of  which were rejected. The suit challenges the latest decision. 
Asked why the group didn't repetition FWS with the Obama  administration is 
in charge, Evans said they alerted FWS 60 days ago that they  would file the 
lawsuit and never heard back. The lawsuit, he said, is the  group's best option. 
Both species of  butterfly live almost exclusively in the coastal and 
mountain regions of San  Diego County. Recent wildfires in the region destroyed much 
of their habitat,  according to the suit. 







Laurie Davies Adams
Executive  Director
Pollinator Partnership 
423 Washington Street, 5th  floor
San Francisco, CA  94111
415-362-1137
LDA at pollinator.org

_www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 

_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 

National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. 
Beecome  involved at _www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 
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