Even though the beleaguered Preble’s meadow jumping mouse has won support from a new group of scientists, its protection is far from guaranteed.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that even though a report it requested says the mouse is a unique subspecies, that finding will not dictate the agency’s final decision on whether to end federal protection for the rodent.
“We are looking at this report as well as all the peer-reviewed science and public comments, the whole body of information,” agency spokeswoman Diane Katzenberger said.
“One is not weighted over another,” she said.
In a report made public Monday, an independent panel of scientists concluded that the mouse is its own subspecies – not a more common mouse.
The agency will decide by early August whether Preble’s meadow jumping mouse should retain federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.
In 1998, the mouse was declared a “threatened” species in Colorado and Wyoming.
A decision could end years of haggling over the tiny mouse, often seen as a barrier to development in the Front Range’s fastest-growing counties.
A decision is long overdue, said those on both sides.
“I think the fact we’re talking about this today is proof that the Endangered Species Act isn’t working,” said Kent Holsinger, attorney for a coalition that sued to force the mouse off the list of threatened species.
Colorado conservation groups say the panel’s work should end the genetic debate over the Preble’s mouse.
“This is consistent with what the other scientists keep saying – this is a distinct subspecies,” said Erin Robertson, staff biologist for Center for Native ecosystems. “At this point, there shouldn’t be any questions.”
The independent panel of scientists was convened in June to unravel the science supporting the work of Dr. Rob Roy Ramey and Dr. Tim King, the two scientists who reached very different conclusions regarding the mouse’s genetics.
Ramey, a science adviser to the Interior Department, concluded in 2003 that the mouse is not genetically distinct from the more common Bear Lodge jumping meadow mouse and doesn’t need federal protection.
In January, King, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in West Virginia released a study rebutting Ramey’s work. He followed up with a published report last month saying Ramey used flawed data to reach his conclusions.
The panel agreed with King, writing that some of Ramey’s samples were contamined, leading to the difference in the findings.
“Basically, the panel supports the major points we raised, so we obviously feel vindicated,” King said.
Ramey did not return phone calls Monday seeking comment.
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or at kmcguire@denverpost.com.
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, it originally mischaracterized one of the conclusions drawn by a scientific panel regarding the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse. The panel’s report said one reason for differences in two studies of the mouse’s genetics was “clear evidence of contamination” in some of the samples analyzed by Dr. Rob Roy Ramey.
