GEORGIA — The Center of Biological Diversity (CBD) announced it has told the U.S. government it would sue in a bid to protect a species of newt living in Georgia and parts of Florida.
According to CBD, the organization wants to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its denial of Endangered Species Act protections for the striped newt.
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The striped newt lives in “threatened fire-dependent long-leaf pine forests and wetlands in southeastern Georgia and north-central Florida,” according to CBD.
More than 10 years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had put striped newts on a wait list for protection, but recently reversed that decision and denied all protections for the species under federal law.
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“These neat little newts are particularly vulnerable because they’re exposed to threats at every life stage, so we really need to get protections in place,” Chelsea Stewart-Fusek, an attorney at the Center, said in a statement. “They’re declining quickly even on relatively protected lands, but we can save them with swift safeguards under the Endangered Species Act.”
Threats against the species’ habitats include logging, fire suppression, agriculture and urban development, in addition to recent “abnormally prolonged droughts” that CBD says are caused by climate change.
The organization said that the droughts have dried out the newts’ breeding ponds, adding to the species’ risk level.
“The threats facing the striped newt are only going to get worse as climate change continues,” Stewart-Fusek said. “Protecting newts would mean protecting and restoring the beautiful, rare habitats that both newts and people rely on.”
Channel 2 Action News has reached out to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who said they do not comment on litigation as a matter of policy.
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