BILLINGS, Mont. — The Obama administration Tuesday announced a deal with environmentalists to work through a backlog of more than 250 imperiled animals and plants to decide which merit greater protections.
Most are expected to be listed as threatened or endangered if a federal judge approves the agreement, Interior Department officials said. The species to be reviewed include the greater sage grouse, Canada lynx and 110 plants.
That could lay the groundwork for a spate of future conflicts over industrial development, water management and residential expansion wherever humans are encroaching into the natural world.
Conservation groups and government agencies in some cases already are working to prevent such disputes, hoping to avoid a repeat of the bitter fights that emerged over protections for the northern spotted owl, gray wolf and snail darter.
Some of the plants and animals in the announcement were first proposed for protection soon after the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Instead, they languished for decades on a list of “candidate species” that the government could not afford to help.
Final decisions would be due by September 2016. The deal would settle pending litigation between Interior and Denver-based WildEarth Guardians.
Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said the backlog has been made worse by lawsuits that have distracted the Fish and Wildlife Service from needed scientific reviews and restoration work. “This plan will enable the endangered species program to function as it was originally intended,” he said. “Priorities are being set by plaintiffs in courts, instead of by wildlife professionals.”
