DENVER—The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse was removed from the threatened species list in Wyoming on Wednesday, but federal officials said it remains on the threatened list in Colorado.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision will likely release thousands of acres in Wyoming from federal land-use restrictions. But the rules would remain in place on thousands more acres in Colorado, including portions of the heavily populated Front Range.
The decision matches the agency’s recommendations issued last fall.
The mouse was removed from federal protection in Wyoming because it was found throughout that state’s North Platte River basin where it was not previously known to exist, the agency said.
Few new threats are expected in the mouse’s Wyoming range because the human population growth rate is low and the primary human activities, haying and grazing, don’t pose much danger to the creature, the agency said.
In Colorado, rapid development has destroyed much of the mouse’s habitat, and growth projections show no letup is likely, the agency said.
“Without the protection of the Endangered Species Act, most of the remaining habitat will be lost or altered within the foreseeable future,” the agency said.
The 3-inch mouse uses its 6-inch tail and strong hind legs to launch itself a foot and a half into the air, where it can abruptly change directions mid-jump. It roams at night along streams through undisturbed grasslands, eating insects, spiders, fungus, moss, willow, sunflower, grasses and seeds. It hibernates from mid-October to early May.
