Judge orders review of salamander status - AP

[Eugene]

Saturday, January 20, 2007 · Last updated 6:03 p.m. PT

Judge orders review of salamander status

By TERENCE CHEA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge on Friday ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service illegally rejected a petition by environmentalists to give protected status
to two salamander species that live in old-growth forests in California and Oregon.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the agency to consider listing the
Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders as threatened or endangered
species.

The San Francisco-based judge said the service's decision last year to deny the
petition was "arbitrary and capricious." Alsup gave the agency until March 23 to
decide whether to conduct a more in-depth analysis of the salamanders' status.

If the two species are granted protected status, the U.S. Forest Service would be
required to make sure that logging operations do not harm the salamanders or their
habitat.

-snip-

Full article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Salamander_Protection.html

[Bonescrat]

1. Yay for the salamanders!!! nt.