TUCSON, Ariz.— Conservation groups filed new legal challenges against the Federal Highway Administration today for failing to consider harms to threatened and endangered species, including the newly listed cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, from the proposed Interstate 11 in Arizona.“Interstate 11 would decimate habitat for cactus ferruginous pygmy owls, who play a vital role in maintaining the health of the Sonoran Desert,” said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These small but fierce birds nest and raise their young in saguaro cacti and other desert trees that would be bulldozed for the highway’s construction. We’re fully committed to protecting these rare owls and their habitat from destruction.”In 2022 the groups sued the Federal Highway Administration saying it sidestepped required environmental review before approving routes for the 280-mile-long highway between Nogales and Wickenburg. Today’s amended complaint says the agency also failed to analyze the highway’s threats to endangered species, as required under the Endangered Species Act.In July the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protected the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl as threatened. The agency identified highway development, and Interstate 11 specifically, as a significant threat to the owl’s survival.Conservation groups say the owl’s new protections require federal officials to go back to the drawing board before moving to the next phase of choosing the highway’s exact route through Pima County.“The agencies involved failed to consider the devastating harm from this project to already struggling plants and animals,” said Carolyn Campbell of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. “They’ve ignored the concerns of local communities, state and federal agencies, Tribal Nations, and cons …
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