In a lawsuit filed this week against the feds, the Center for Biological Diversity is pressing to have the California tiger salamander and nine other critters in the West protected under the Endangered Species Act. The group says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has delayed protecting the animals for years though they are on the brink of extinction. The group filed a separate suit this week aiming to force the listing of a rare plant that grows in Washington state, the Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow. The group, formerly known as the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, has brought 128 lawsuits against various government agencies since 1989; it recently dropped the word “Southwest” from its name, reflecting its intent to cause a stir beyond the Four Corner states
