A group of environmentalist and conservation organizations filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for not listing Montana’s Arctic grayling fish under the Endangered Species Act.
“It shouldn’t take nearly three decades to protect a fish like the grayling that’s so clearly on the brink of extinction,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s refusal to protect this beautiful fish is embarrassingly biased and thin on science.”
In 2014, USFWS denied protection for the species, which was challenged by conservation groups. The groups were able to get a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the agency did not consider the impacts of climate change on the species.
Yet, USFWS denied protections again in 2020. The groups also said the fish is threatened by livestock grazing, urbanization and nonnative trout.
