Group Threatens Lawsuit Over 144 Species
By The Associated Press

Grants Pass, Ore. -- A conservation group is threatening to go to court if the Obama administration doesn't start making progress on a backlog of endangered species listings.

The Center for Biological Diversity on Monday filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its failure to decide whether to protect 144 species on hold for lack of funding.

The group's endangered species director, Noah Greenwald, says the Obama administration has says the Obama administratin has added to the Bush administration's backlog of 249 species.

Valerie Fellows of Fish and Wildlife says the listing process was beset by lack of funding for a decade, but they have turned a corner and next year have money to decide listings for 50 species.

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