The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse – which has faced more perils than Pauline – is slated to be on the block again today.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is set to rule whether the tiny rodent should remain on the federal endangered species list, according to agency spokeswoman Diane Katzenberger.
The scientific question of whether the Preble’s mouse is a distinct subspecies ran into a political maelstrom when memos showed that former Interior Department official Julie MacDonald attempted to tamper with science.
MacDonald resigned in May as deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks after the department’s inspector general found that she had broken federal rules.
Fish and Wildlife officials said they would review the decisions on about 10 animals – including the Preble’s mouse – made under McDonald.
The decision had to be made by the end of November, under an legal agreement with the state of Wyoming, which is pressing for removing the mouse from the endangered species list. Conservation groups support the listing as a way of preserving open space – the mouse’s natural habitat – along the Front Range. “There is more at stake here than just a mouse,” said Jeremy Nichols, a conservation advocate at the Center for Native Ecosystems.
Mark Jaffe, The Denver Post
