FILE - This undated photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a mountain-dwelling American pika. The American pika, a small mountain-dwelling mammal in the West that can't tolerate the heat could become the first animal in the continental United States to get federal protections primarily because of climate change. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to announce Friday Feb. 5, 2010 whether the American pika will be protected under the Endangered Species Act. (AP Photo/US Geological Survey, File)

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Feds deny protections for tiny mammal affected by climate change

• By ncs-import
• February 4, 2010