CHEYENNE - A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday over the federal government's decision to protect a mouse in Colorado but not in Wyoming.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver said it doesn't make sense to retain protections in one state but not in a bordering state.

The Preble's meadow jumping mouse had been listed as a threatened species since 1998.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the mouse could be delisted in Wyoming because new populations had been confirmed in habitat not at risk for development.

But federal officials said home construction and other types of development continued to threaten the mouse habitat in Colorado.

The Preble's mouse, which has a tail twice the length of its 3-inch body, lives in streamside habitats and adjacent foothills of southeastern Wyoming and along part of Colorado's Front Range. It can jump as far as three feet to escape predators.

At issue is a decision by the Bush administration that the Endangered Species Act allows the federal government to target protections for parts of a species' habitat rather than the entire habitat.

Duane Short, wild species program director for the Wyoming-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, said development of wind farms and power transmission lines could be threats to the mouse in Wyoming.

"I think at this point for anyone to say, 'Oh well, there's not going to be any development to hurt these species in Wyoming is a bit optimistic and shortsighted," Short said.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Sharon Rose in Denver said the agency had not yet seen the lawsuit and had no immediate comment.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal has opposed protecting the mouse in his state, saying restrictions would be unnecessary and costly for landowners and developers because the mouse population in the state is healthy.

Freudenthal spokeswoman Cara Eastwood said the governor's office had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.