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Wildlife advocates want a federal judge to order faster action on a recovery plan for imperiled Canada lynx. ... Officials also say that lynx face a relatively low degree of threat compared to other protected species. The Fish and Wildlife Service was forced to come up with a timeline on the recovery document when Molloy last month expressed frustration with the government's progress. The judge said the "stutter-step" approach by federal officials necessitated court intervention. The lawsuit pending before Molloy was brought by Friends of the Wild Swan, Rocky Mountain Wild, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and the San Juan Citizens Alliance....

CORVALLIS, Ore. – As wolf populations grow in parts of the West, most of the focus has been on their value in aiding broader ecosystem recovery – but a new study from Oregon State University also points out that they could play an important role in helping to save other threatened species. In research published today in Wildlife Society Bulletin, scientists suggest that a key factor in the Canada lynx being listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act is the major decline of snowshoe hares. The loss of hares, the primary food of the lynx, in turn may be...

Wildlife officials have dropped their appeal of a court ruling that forces the government to revise its flawed plan to protect critical habitat for Canada lynx. The move means the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will have to reconsider areas in Colorado, Montana and Idaho for critical habitat designation... A second plan in 2009 designated 39,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington as critical habitat. But U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy last year faulted wildlife officials for excluding Colorado, where lynx are making a strong comeback, and some national forests in Montana and Idaho. Some Colorado...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service erred little when it designated a vast area scattered over six states as critical habitat for the threatened Canada lynx...The designated habitat totals 39,000 square miles... The Fish and Wildlife Service designated the habitat last year, prompting a lawsuit from snowmobile enthusiast groups in Wyoming and Washington state. The groups worry the designation could close off areas to snowmobiling and harm snowmobile-related businesses. She is the wife of Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who nominated her for the bench. "We're really pleased she's upheld the designation almost entirely," said Sean Helle, an attorney with the...

Officials have confirmed the presence of a Canada lynx in Vermont for the first time in nearly 40 years. Wildlife biologists from Vermont and New Hampshire identified a set of lynx tracks in a state wildlife management area in Victory on Feb. 7. The Canada lynx is native to Vermont, but the population has always been small. The last time a lynx was spotted in Vermont was in 1968. "It is great to see this once-native species again in Vermont," said Paul Hamelin, a state wildlife biologist in St. Johnsbury. "There have been a few unconfirmed reports of lynx in...