Why is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designating critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat?
The San Bernardino kangaroo rat was emergency listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, as amended (Act), on January 27, 1998. Much of the habitat for the species had already by lost, degraded, or fragmented as a result of urban, agriculture, and recreation development; sand and gravel mining; and flood control projects. At the time the species was listed, the Service determined that designating critical habitat was not prudent because such designation could be expected to increase the degree of threat to the San Bernardino kangaroo rat from habitat destruction or vandalism and that critical habitat would not provide any additional protection beyond existing regulatory mechanisms provided by listing under the Act. On March 4, 1999, the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity and Christians Caring for Creation filed a lawsuit against the Service and the Secretary of the Interior for failure to designate critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat. On November 3,
Related Questions
- What is the status of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s previous proposal to designate critical habitat for the threatened Louisiana black bear?
- Why is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designating critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat?
- What areas have been designated as critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat?
