Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse
DENVER (AP) -- Federal officials plan to propose changes to areas in Colorado designated as critical habitat for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to announce the proposal Wednesday. Agency spokeswoman Diane Katzenberger says the proposal is in response to a lawsuit by the city of Greeley and findings that a former Interior Department official improperly tried to influence which areas should be considered critical habitat.
The tiny mouse, found only in southeastern Wyoming and Colorado's Front Range, was listed as a threatened species in 1998.
Fish and Wildlife in 2007 maintained the mouse's protections in Colorado but removed them in Wyoming, saying new populations were found in areas unlikely to be developed.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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