WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Wildearth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project and Rocky Mountain Wild filed a federal complaint on October 28 in the District of Columbia against U.S. Fist and Wildlife Service regarding the black-footed ferret.
According to the complaint, the black-footed ferret is perhaps the rarest, most imperiled mammal in North America and was widely believed to be extinct until 1981. Ever since, the fate of the species has depended on the successful reintroduction of captive-bred descendants.
Plaintiffs allege that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency responsible for the ferret’s recovery under the Endangered Species Act, abdicated its duty to reintroduce and recover the species to the State of Wyoming and its agencies under the guise of providing maximum regulatory flexibility to private landowners.
Plaintiffs allege that instead of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relying on the best science to save the species, it granted Wyoming's fish and wildlife agency, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, sweeping and unprecedented control over all ferret reintroductions in the state, which caused the numbers of the ferret to ultimately decline. In doing this, the plaintiff alleges the defendants violated the Endangered Species Act..
Plaintiffs seek judgment against Defendants, injunctive relief, continuing jurisdiction of the matter, cost of suit, attorney's fees and other expenses. Plaintiffs are represented by Jennifer Schwartz.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia case number 1:21-cv-02864-RDM