The Obama administration is being criticized by environmental groups for not doing enough to save the growing accumulation of plants and animals that are need of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

A federal judge ruled that the US Fish and Wildlife Service must now reconsider the critical habitat placement of two fish species threatened by endangerment in New Mexico and Arizona after it was exposed that politics seemed to interfere with the scientists’ initial assessment.

In a report released on Monday, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney accused a high-ranking Interior Department official of exerting improper political interference on many more rulings than previously thought.

By Keith Rogers By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL With 70,000 to 80,000 sage grouse scampering through thickets of high desert shrubs in Nevada, a casual observer might think the chickenlike bird is hardly a candidate for listing as a threatened or endangered species.

By Julia Scott Land designated as critical habitat for the survival of the threatened red-legged frog in San Mateo County would increase tenfold under a new proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and could affect property owners.