"Grizzly bears and wolves aren't the only charismatic megafauna in biological trouble," says Tom Skeele of the Predator Project, who says that widespread clearcutting, increased road building and habitat loss also threatens such relatively obscure animals as fishers (small, brown cat-sized weasels prized by fur trappers), martens (a close fisher relative) and wolverines (the largest member of the weasel family).

Even more troubling is the fate of the North American lynx, a cousin of the bobcat. Resembling exotic snow leopards, and sporting stubby legs and tufted ears, the elusive lynx has been wiped out of much of its range, which includes rapidly vanishing old growth and boreal forests. With less than 1,000 remaining in the U.S., wildlife groups have joined forces to convince USFWS to do something about its protection. The agency recently overruled three of its regional offices and numerous biologists to deny the endangered listing of the lynx, contending that lynx populations are Canada's problem, where the majority of the species resides. In a 1995 letter, USFWS Regional Director Terry Terrell argued that the lynx was little more than a transient resident of the U.S., migrating south across the border "during periods of increased snowshoe hare populations [its favorite food]."

Still, the lynx was once found in 21 states, and now struggles to survive in four. A major victim of overtrapping in the 1980s, lynx populations have steadily declined. The lynx used to occupy forestlands from Alaska to New England. Today, its habitat includes a few roadless patches of mountainous terrain, scattered in Washington, Montana, Colorado and Maine. Colorado's population is threatened by the planned expansion of the Vail ski resort, which would obliterate 4,000 acres of prime lynx territory. Most predator experts oppose a resort-backed plan to offset the habitat loss with a largely unscientific lynx release in the state. They point to an early 1990s project run by the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry that attempted to reintroduce 88 lynx to the Adirondack Mountains. Because of inadequate preparation, the program ended in failure with at least a quarter of the animals killed in road accidents and few, if any, surviving today.