Today, two environmental groups filed a lawsuit against Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources for failing to protect endangered and threatened bats from chemical pesticides sprayed in the BLSG Insect Control District. The Vermont Natural Resources Council and the Center for Biological Diversity are appealing a decision made on July 19 by the Agency not to require that BLSG apply for an incidental takings permit. This permit would allow the Agency to evaluate and modify BLSG’s activities known to put bats at risk. A press release describing the lawsuit and the two environmental groups is here.
The lawsuit follows more than a year of research and discussion by the Vermont Endangered Species Committee. In March, 2021, the committee of independent biologists made a formal recommendation to the Agency that BLSG’s pesticide spraying put five state-listed species of bat at risk and that BLSG should be required to apply for an incidental takings permit. In July, the Agency announced its decision to ignore the scientists and take no action to reduce the risk to the endangered and threatened bats.
Today’s filing includes no details of the legal case to be made against the Agency of Natural Resources. Those details will be filed in the next month.
The groups bringing this lawsuit are convinced that the decision by the Agency of Natural Resources side-steps Vermont law. They are taking legal action to ensure that Vermont law is upheld and vulnerable wildlife is protected. If you would like to learn more about these groups or support them, follow these links to Vermont Natural Resources Council and Center for Biological Diversity.
To learn more about this issue browse the related posts at this site.