Murphy submits new notice of intent to sue Forest Service for violations of the Endangered Species Act at Upper Echo Lake

Dr. Dennis Murphy has submitted to the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a 60-day notice of intent to sue the Forest Service for proceeding with the Upper Echo Lake Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project in spite of the recent Fish and Wildlife Service determination to list the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog.  The final rule provides that the Project site falls within the distribution of the species.  The proposed rule designating critical habitat for the species confirms this fact.  Although Forest Service personnel claimed, during the approval process for the Project, that no amphibians were present at the Project site, the facts belie this claim.  Further, a 2011 report by the Forest Service indicates that individual yellow-legged frogs were detected within less than a mile of Upper Echo Lake.

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