NEWSFLASH

SAVING THE WEST VIRGINIA NORTHERN FLYING SQUIRREL

With built-in parachutes extending between their legs, West Virginia northern flying squirrels glide among the trees in the mountains of Appalachia. Flying squirrels are the oldest living line of modern squirrels on the planet, having first appeared 30 million years ago. At home in the forest canopy and on the ground, these dexterous, social, and strictly nocturnal critters have become a signature species of the West Virginia highlands. Today they’re caught up in a grisly political battle that will ultimately determine their future survival.

Despite dire projections from recent global warming models predicting the complete disappearance of the West Virginia northern flying squirrels’ habitat, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed all protections afforded to the species by the Endangered Species Act in 2008. Even Service biologists admit that the squirrels are found irregularly and at low densities, and scientific experts have questioned if the squirrel has really rebounded to the point of no longer needing protection. With little evidence supporting claims that the squirrel has recovered, and with backing from the timber industry, the agency ignored the best available science and took action anyway.

To save this poster critter of West Virginia’s mountaintop forests, in 2009 the Center and a coalition of allies filed suit over the squirrel’s removal from the endangered species list. We also sharply criticized the move in comments we submitted detailing the Service’s mischaracterization of threats to the West Virginia northern flying squirrel, especially climate change and logging, and the agency’s inaccurate representation of current population numbers.