This week, a coalition of environmental organizations filed suit against the federal government in order to overturn a Bush Administration decision to remove the West Virginia northern flying squirrel from protection under the Endangered Species Act. The delisting of the flying squirrel was approved in spite of the fact that the legally required standards for recovery set when the animals were originally listed were not met.
Are these particular standards for recovery of the West Virginia northern flying squirrel really so important? Yes, actually, they are. They’re the objective standards for successful recovery that scientists determined were reasonable at the beginning of the process. They’re the legal rules of the process. If we believe that it’s important to have the government operate according to the law, and not just according to the desires of individuals who occupy particular positions of power, it’s very important to make sure that the rules are followed.
In the particular case of the West Virginia northern flying squirrel, there are powerful corporations interested in literally blowing up the mountains on which the animals live. There’s coal in those mountains, and big coal companies can make a great deal of money by placing explosives all over the peaks, and carting the rubble away until coal is uncovered. Given the degree of destruction planned in the flying squirrels’ habitat, it’s essential to make sure that no environmental protection in the area is removed without every single detail in the law being appropriately met.
Ah, the flying squirrel.
Don’t know much about the West Virginia version but it is quite an elusive and fascinating beast.
I had the Ohio version in a silver maple tree beside my house in rural Ohio.
Fast little suckers. Really fast. I actually never caught more than a glimpse until the cat got one.
In answer to your question, no, of course not. The government has dropped the ball on climate change, wildlife, preserving ecosystems and wetlands, national park preservation, and on and on – but loaded up the military budget, the homeland abuse budget (where they spy on us using our tax dollars), and caved in to all kinds of big business interests – so “there’s a severe lack of funds” (except of course the Fed printing press is running ’round the clock making trillions of fictitious dollars tied to nothing to prop up our insolvent banks).