The US Fish & Wildlife Service was sued by environmental group for its Canadian Lynx
Lynx canadensis) recovery plan for being anemic in scope. It excluded suitable 40,000 square miles of potential habitat in the Northern Rockies as being "not essential" to the species recovery. A federal court judge ruled in favor of conservationists. requring the agency to reconisder its plans for the wild feline. She pointed out a breeding population in Colorado as one reason the agency's plan wrongly excluded so much territory in its 2014 designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. On Monday the Montana judge, Dana Christensen, issued an order approving a settlement between the parties. USFWS has until 2024 to come up with a revised recovery plan for the illusive, forest dwelling animal. [a lynx released in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in 2019; photo credit: Michigan Department of Natural Resources]
Several hundred endangered lynx are believe to roam the Rockies. Colorado reintroduced them in the late 1990's and are also found in Minnesota, Maine, Washington and occassionally in Michigan. They were listed as endangered in 2000, but the Trump regime wanted to de-list the wildcat to prevent more forests being designated critical habitat and thus more difficult to exploit commercially. Federal biologists have predicted that global warming will impact the species with some populations disappearing by 2100. Higher temperatures melt their snowy habitat and reduce the amount of prey. They shortened the time span for considering climate impacts from 2100 to 2050. IN the shorter time frame, computer models showed Colorado and Maine populations increasing. The Biden administration has reversed the previous pro-exploitation policy.
