WE SAID WE WOULD!

Last Stand Made for Endangered West Virginia Northern FlyingSquirrel
Coalition Files Suit to Restore Protections Stripped Away from “Ginny” by Bush

A coalition of conservation groups, including the Friends of Blackwater, Center for Biological Diversity, Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, The Wilderness Society, and Wild South, filed suit on November 12, 2009 in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to overturn a Bush-administration decision stripping the West Virginia northern flying squirrel of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Click here to read the Press Release.

Click here to read the Associated Press Coverage.

Click here to read the Complaint Filed in Federal Court.

Click here to read the Press Release regarding the 60 Day Notice

Click here to read the 60-day Notice.

Click here for attachments.

Click here for videos of Flying Squirrels

Click here to watch Judy Rodd's Congressional Testimony.

On Tuesday August 26, 2008 the US Fish and Wildlife Service issued its final decision regarding the removal of Endangered Species Act Protections from the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel. The final decision appeared in the federal register on that day though the media and some groups were notified on Monday August 25, 2008. Click here to read the Rule as it appeared in the Federal Register.

Friends of Blackwater is a non-profit conservation organization working to protect biodiversity in the Mid-Atlantic Appalachian Highlands -- in particular, the boreal forests and wetlands of the Blackwater region of the West Virginia Highlands.  Since 1997, Friends of Blackwater has moved 650 acres of critical endangered species habitat in Blackwater Canyon into public ownership; blocked timbering and road building and funded research and advocacy for the endangered West Virginia northern flying squirrel, Indiana bat, Virginia big-eared bat, and two-spotted skipper butterfly – all with critical habitat in Blackwater Canyon.  Friends of Blackwater has organized seminars, published articles, and written a children’s curriculum on West Virginia endangered species.  Friends of Blackwater is spearheading the “SOS – Save Our Squirrel” campaign to enforce the Endangered Species Act and defeat Fish and Wildlife Service’s rule “delisting” the endangered West Virginia northern flying squirrel.