Notice of Intent to Sue filed to protect beavers to save salmon and Oregon spotted frogs
(Photo by Larry Palmer, USFWS)
Federal fish and wildlife experts agree on the importance of protecting beavers in order to save threatened and endangered species including salmon, steelhead, and the Oregon spotted frog. Yet the federal Wildlife Services, a department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, kills over 400 beavers each year in Oregon. Given this one federal agency’s perverse insistence in undermining the goals of federal laws and the work of other agencies, NWEA has joined with the Center for Biological Diversity and Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) in a lawsuit to be filed against Wildlife Services.
A year ago, federal federal fish experts wrote about the importance of protecting beavers in order to recovery the Oregon Coast coho salmon. Likewise, the federal wildlife experts say that removal of beavers, which create ponds that are essential habitat for many species, has seriously harmed the habitat of the Oregon spotted frog. The 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue explains that Wildlife Services has never complied with the Endangered Species Act.
The beaver is Oregon’s official state animal.
