Center for
Biological Diversity
April 2017
Image © by Jim Robertson,
Animals in the Wild
A win not just for prairie dogs but for endangered species across the
country: The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the federal
government does have authority to protect Utah prairie dogs and other
endangered species occurring in a single state.
In a stinging rebuke to extreme private-property-rights advocates, a
Republican judge concluded that eliminating protections for "purely
intrastate species" would "leave a gaping hole" and "undercut the
conservation purposes" of the Endangered Species Act.
The Center and allies submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case
supporting protections for prairie dogs.
"We're tremendously relieved," said Noah Greenwald, our endangered species
director.
"If the decision had gone the other way, iconic species like the Florida panther and southern sea otter could have lost protection."
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