Molloy rules lynx plan arbitrarily excluded possible ‘critical habitat’
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
Endangered lynx soon may have more room to roam, thanks to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, who concluded that large swaths of Western habitat were wrongly excluded from protection.
In particular, the court ruled that tens of thousands of acres in southwest Montana, north and central Idaho and throughout Colorado should have been considered for protection.
…The second recommendation – issued in 2009 – suggested that 39,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington be designated as critical habitat.