Environmentalists sue over rare flower

DENVER, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Environmental groups have sued federal agencies seeking protection for a flower found only on oil shale on the Utah-Colorado border.

The plaintiffs, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Denver, say that Graham's penstemon, a member of the snapdragon family, qualifies for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The plant produces lavender flowers set off by a bright orange stamen and grows in a harsh environment few other plants can tolerate.

Tony Frates of the Utah Native Plant Society said that the group has evidence that former Interior Secretary Gale Norton was involved in a Bureau of Land Management effort to keep the penstemon from being listed as endangered. Their evidence includes an e-mail at the BLM that has "Penstemon 'No Listing' Team" in the subject line.

Frates said that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed in 2006 to list the penstemon as endangered but changed its mind 11 months later after getting pressure from the BLM. Laura Romin, a spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife, said that the change of heart was based on information from the BLM that exploitation of oil shale in northeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado was unlikely.