Greens sue to protect wolverines

A coalition of environmental and wildlife groups sued the federal government to force it to protect the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, comes after the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decided in August that, despite scientists’ concerns that climate change would dramatically reduce the wolverine’s habitat, it did not merit protection as an endangered or threatened species.

{mosads}“The wolverine is a famously tough creature that doesn’t back down from anything, but even the wolverine can’t overcome a changing climate by itself,” Earthjustice attorney Adrienne Maxwell said in a statement. “To survive, the wolverine needs the protections that only the Endangered Species Act can provide.”

Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity, called the FWS decision against protection “yet another unfortunate example of politics entering into what should be a purely scientific decision.”

The groups blame the state wildlife directors in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming for FWS’s decision. Those officials argued that computer models were not certain on the impact of climate change to the wolverine.

The wolverine, the largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family, used to be found as far south as New Mexico and Southern California, but it has since retreated as temperatures have changed, the groups said.

The environmental groups promised shortly after FWS announced its decision that they would sue if the agency didn’t reverse itself.

An Interior Department spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.