Conservation Groups Challenge Drastic 93 Percent Cut in Protection of Mountain Caribou Habitat in Idaho and Washington

A coalition of six conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to cut more than 93 percent of protected critical habitat for the endangered mountain caribou — from a proposed 375,562 acres to a mere 30,010 acres.  The November decision was a major setback for the struggling animals, which in recent decades have only survived in the lower 48 states in a small area in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington. Caribou numbers have dwindled due to logging of old-growth forests, road construction and growing recreational use of snowmobiles...more