FWS has agreed to a 30-day extension putting the current deadline at November 16. It is not clear who exactly is organizing this congressional opposition to the proposed listing, but some of the state fish and wildlife agencies and the fur trapping community appear to be the most vocal opponents of the listing to date.
Trappers are small in number but appear to be surprisingly large in political clout.
It is now up to us in the conservation community to use this additional time to beat the lynx opponents at their own game. Please be sure to write a letter to FWS supporting the listing, and consider making the points listed below to help ensure that ESA protections are as strong as possible. An additional copy or telephone call to your governor in support of the listing would help a great deal as well. Even if you have already sent FWS a letter, please print out extra copies to your political delegates, or just call them in support of the listing. Now that we have finally got some attention for the lynx, we cannot let power politics get in the way of the listing and strong and immediate implementation of ESA protections.