A national conservation organization is suing the federal government for failing to respond to their public records request on the American burying beetle, Rhode Island’s official state insect protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is assessing the status of the beetle, including population trends and threats impacting the species, after the Independent Petroleum Association of America, among others, petitioned for the review in 2015. An updated status could weaken protections for the insect.
“We’ve gotten wind that Fish and Wildlife Service is looking to down-list the beetle to threatened and pass what’s called a ‘special rule’ to exempt oil and gas activities from regulation under the Endangered Species Act,” Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said.
The center received a letter from a scientist who said he was once involved in the review process. The letter, originally addressed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, states “100 percent of American burying beetle experts that were involved voiced their opposition to the methods and conclusions, and USFWS ignored those concerns.”
“They’re essentially trying to pervert the science to get that result to say it should be down-listed,” Greenwald said.
The center is suing U.S. Fish and Wildlife because they haven’t received public documents about the review process requested back in February.
According to the U.S. Interior Department’s Freedom of Information Act request tracking page, U.S. Fish and Wildlife categorized the center’s request as “exceptional/voluminous” and estimated it would be completed “after 05/23/2018.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife declined to comment since the litigation is pending and referred a request for comment to the U.S. Justice Department.
The American burying beetle buries dead birds for its larvae to feed on, which Greenwald said helps recycle nutrients for the soil.
Since the early 20th century, the beetle has lost more than 90 percent of its range in North America. It can only be found on Block Island and Nantucket along the entire East Coast and has some range in Western states, including Oklahoma and Nebraska.
