Feds Lift Preble’s Mouse Protections in Wyoming

By Matthew Frank, 7-09-08

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the removal of Endangered Species Act protection for the Preble’s meadow jumping in Wyoming. It amended the listing to indicate that Colorado’s population remains threatened.

From the press release:

“This action will allow us to more precisely focus the protections of the Act specifically where these protections are needed,” said Steve Guertin, the Service’s Regional Director for the Mountain-Prairie Region. “The Service will continue to work with all of our partners to implement conservation actions that will benefit the mouse and help us achieve healthy populations across its entire range.”

In Wyoming, land use across Preble’s habitat in Wyoming is dominated by agriculture, mostly haying and grazing, long-standing activities that do not appear to pose a threat to existing Preble’s populations. But in Colorado, development activities have severely altered or destroyed its habitat, and given current and projected increases in urban and rural development, the ongoing loss and modification of riparian habitat is expected to continue, the agency concluded.

As New West has reported, the mouse has been a poster child for politicians trying to reform the ESA.

For more on the mouse from USFWS, click here.