The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is safe in Coloradobut in Wyoming the tiny rodent is on its own.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday ruled the mouse would be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in Colorado.
In Wyoming, where agency officials said it lives in agricultural counties with low human population pressure, the mouse will not be protected as a threatened species.
“For Colorado, basically nothing changes,” said Susan Linner, supervisor of the service’s Colorado field office. The already identified critical habitat areas — stretching from Larimer through Boulder, Jefferson, Douglas and Teller counties — will remain in place. A new management plan with a new critical habitat map will be developed by 2010, Linner said.
Tuesday’s ruling was criticized by five environmental groups, which said scientific evidence supported the protection of Preble’s mice in both states.
Mark Jaffe, The Denver Post
