A red tree vole sits in a conifer tree.
Stephen DeStefano / U.S. Geological Survey
Four conservation groups including Cascadia Wildlands, the Bird Alliance of Oregon, Oregon Wild and the Center for Biological Diversity, released a notice of intent to sue the US Fish & Wildlife Service in June for failing to protect the red tree vole.
The red tree vole is a small, hamster-like species native to Oregon’s coastal old-growth forests. In 2011, the federal agency determined that the animal’s protection was warranted, but didn’t extend its endangered or threatened status due to higher priority species. That designation was reviewed and repeated yearly until 2019 when the vole’s protection status was abruptly changed to “not warranted.”
In 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity sued over this decision, which resulted in an agreement to reassess the species’ protection status. However, in February of 2024, the protection of the red tree vole was again designated as “not warranted.”
Noah Greenwald from the Center for Biological Diversity joins us to share more about this multi-party lawsuit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
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