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--> --> Suit filed over species listing Ashland Daily Tidings The Rogue Group Sierra Club is continuing its fight to have the Mt. Ashland lupine and Henderson's horkelia - plants found on Mount Ashland - listed as endangered or threatened species. Late last week, the group filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make a final determination about whether the plants warranted listing, according to members. The group has been working since 1999 to win listings for the plants. Previously, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service halted work nationwide on new listings because of a backlog of work and budgetary constraints. In August, the agency reached an agreement with environmental groups that allowed it to turn its attention to species in critical need. The agency will issue a final listing decision on 14 species, and propose eight more species for listing. However, Mt. Ashland lupine and Henderson's horkelia are not among those species, according to Joan Jewett, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Regional Office in Portland. She said agency staff will work to address additional species listings when possible, but listings require extensive scientific study. "We always want to get protection for any species that warrants it, but we have limited resources and staff... When we get so many of them in the works at the same time, we get overloaded," Jewett said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing