Six years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service affirmed that 49 species unique to Hawaii are approaching extinction, listing the band-rumped storm petrel, Hawaiian yellow-faced bee and Hawaiian damselfly, among others, on the federal endangered species list. But the USFWS hasn’t moved to designate critical habitat, which would force diligence by other federal agencies to protect those threatened places.

As it warned it would, The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the USFWS for its lack of action. The agency pleads lack of resources — but these rare species, once lost, can never be replaced.