desert tortoise relocation lawsuit

Yesterday the Center for Biological Diversity and Desert Survivors jointly filed a lawsuit against the Army and U.S. Bureau of Land Management. According to the Press-Enterprise, the lawsuit alleges that the Army "moved more than 700 desert tortoises to habitat that is lower quality and with pockets of disease-ridden tortoises that already live there." The desert tortoise is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and CBD and Desert Survivors claim that the federal agencies did not do enough to ensure protection of tortoises that had to be transferred due to the expansion of Fort Irwin. CBD's press release is available here.