Feds: Protect Alabama Salamander, Louisiana Burrowing Snake
Source: Associated Press
Feds: Protect Alabama Salamander, Louisiana Burrowing Snake
By JANET MCCONNAUGHEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW ORLEANS — Oct 6, 2016, 6:15 PM ET
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has met the deadline for decisions about whether 757 species need or should be considered for federal protection, an official of a nonprofit that sued the agency said Thursday.
About 400 species will get more study, 176 won protection under the Endangered Species Act and decisions about four Florida plants should be announced within the next week or so, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director of the Center for Biological Diversity, created to save plants and animals from extinction.
In addition, the agency has until Sept. 30 to decide whether the Pacific walrus needs protection, he said.
"Now they have a whole bunch more work" on the hundreds of species that require further study, Greenwald said.
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