U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ordered to reconsider denial of delisting petition

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its denial of a petition to pull two species of suckers from the government's list of endangered species.
Oregon District Judge Robert E. Jones made his ruling last week in a lawsuit brought by seven people from the Klamath Basin who petitioned to have the Lost River and shortnose suckers delisted in fall 2001. Jones ruled their petition was wrongfully denied.
The Lost River and shortnose suckers were listed as endangered in 1988.
On Oct. 19, 2001, James Buchal, a Portland attorney, filed a petition on the behalf of the seven to have the coho salmon removed from threatened status and the two kinds of suckers removed from the endangered species list.
Buchal said the government is using "junk," or unsupported, science to keep the suckers listed...