Mouse Frustrates Endangered Species Policy

[Eugene]

Mouse Frustrates Endangered Species Policy

Wednesday January 25, 2006 8:03 PM

By JOHN HEILPRIN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - An acrobatic mouse is threatening Bush administration efforts to give Western
developers an upper hand over endangered species.

The Preble's meadow jumping mouse is in fact a distinct creature, according to a U.S. Geological
Survey study presented Wednesday to senior Interior Department officials.

That finding contradicts research touted by Interior Secretary Gale Norton last February when she
proposed removing the mouse from the government's endangered species list. Critics say it also
undercuts the administration's claim that it uses the best science available in promoting fewer
protections for imperiled wildlife.

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Listed by the government as a threatened species since 1998, the Preble's meadow mouse stands
in the way of any project that could damage its habitat, a broad swath of Colorado and Wyoming,
from Colorado Springs north through Denver and Fort Collins and reaching to Laramie.

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Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5570279,00.html