Group Files Suit to Protect Miss. Gopher Frog
Posted on: Monday, 26 November 2007, 21:00 CST
JACKSON, Miss. - A conservation group has filed a federal lawsuit against the Bush administration, arguing Mississippi's gopher frog and five other endangered species are the victims of political corruption.
The Center for Biological Diversity's lawsuit says President Bush's appointees in the Interior Department overruled the opinions of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists and failed to provide protection for the species.
A center employee said Bush has allowed "political interference" in scientific decisions.
"He's appointed people at the Interior Department that are downright hostile to wildlife and designating habitat to wildlife," said Will Hodges, a biodiversity advocate for the center.
The gopher frog was once plentiful across the Gulf Coast, but has dwindled to a few hundred specimens in three south Mississippi ponds.
The other five endangered species covered in the lawsuit are the Montana fluvial arctic grayling, the Mexican garter snake, the Santa Ana sucker in California and the Spikedace and loach minnows in Arizona and New Mexico.
Advocates said they've identified 55 species they believe have been affected by officials who overruled scientific opinions.
Originally published by Associated Press .
Source: Commercial Appeal, The
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