U.S. Fish and Wildlife sued for not protecting habitat of rare WV crayfish

Fish and Wildlife was required to designate critical habitat for the rare crayfish within one year of being listed for Endangered Species Act protection. But according to the suit, the federal agency has so far failed to identify habitat needed to be safeguarded to help prevent their extinction.

The endangered Guyandotte River crayfish has lost more than 90 percent of its range and is now found only in Wyoming County, according to the suit. The range of the threatened Big Sandy crayfish has shrunk by more than 60 percent and is now limited to populations scattered in the upper Big Sandy watershed in Southern West Virginia, southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky.