The snail darter, a tiny Southeastern fish at the center of an epic battle over Endangered Species Act protection in the 1970s, is no longer considered imperiled, officials announced Tuesday.
The fish held up construction of the Tellico Dam in Tennessee for more than two years as biologists and others fought to protect its only known habitat, the free-flowing Little Tennessee River. The battle, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and beyond, is still sometimes cited as an example of environmental excess, although the reality is much more complicated.
