PERDIDO KEY, Fla. (AP) – Dec. 19, 2007 – Property owners on this small barrier island filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking to invalidate the designation of 6,200 acres as protected beach mouse habitat.

Perdido Key Property Rights, Inc. and homeowners Paul and Gayle Fisher claim the Interior Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were overzealous in restricting development of the land to protect the endangered Perdido Key Beach Mouse.

The lawsuit asks the court to consider the economic damage done to property owners who have been unable to rebuild after Hurricane Ivan struck the area in 2004. The federal agencies failed to consider the economic impact of designating the region, which includes a stretch of coastal Alabama, as critical habitat, the lawsuit states.

“Since the mouse was listed in 1985, state and local governments have taken extraordinary steps to protect the mouse. As part of the recovery plan, mice from Gulf State Park were used to re-establish mice at Gulf Islands national Seashore... Dune walkovers, predator trapping and killing, and habitat renourishment have been successful conservation efforts,” the lawsuit states.

Tom MacKenzie, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said his agency had not seen the lawsuit late Tuesday.

MacKenzie said the special permitting processes for building in a protected species area was required in Perdido Key long before the critical habitat designation was made this year.

“Numerous landowners proceeded with construction (after Hurricane Ivan),” he said.

And MacKenzie said the set backs, dunes and other barriers necessary for the mice to thrive are also key to protecting coastal properties in hurricanes.

“We have seen examples where set backs required to preserve beach mouse habitat prevented further damage to properties during Hurricane Ivan,” he said.

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