The environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Interior Department for delaying the listing of the rusty patched bumble bee as an endangered species. The listing was supposed to take effect on Feb. 10 but it has been delayed until March 21 under the regulatory freeze announced by the Trump administration.
“There is no legitimate reason to delay federal protections for this bee,” said NRDC lawyer Rebecca Riley. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in New York City, says the listing of the bee became final when it was published in the Federal Register. It also says the government failed to issue a public notice or request public comment before it announced the delay.
The rusty patched bumble bee has lost 90 percent of its range in the past two decades, says NRDC. It was the first bumble bee to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. “Once common and abundant across 28 states from Connecticut to South Dakota, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces, the rusty patched bumble bee has experienced a swift and dramatic decline since the late 1990s. Abundance of the rusty patched bumble bee has plummeted by 87 percent, leaving only a few small, scattered populations in 13 states and one province,” says the Interior Department.