The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is being taken to court by eight environmental groups for failing to protect the wolverine according to the Endangered Species Act.

On Monday, the groups filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In a week, another 12 environmental groups will join the suit.

The groups, including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Center for Biological Diversity, gave the U.S. FWS a 60-day notification prior to the lawsuit. The suit alleges that the U.S. FWS ignored critical scientific studies and evidence when it chose not to list the wolverine as a threatened species under the ESA.

According to Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso, “In its rule withdrawal, FWS unjustifiably reversed its position from the proposed rule … and did not articulate a rational connection between the facts found and the choice ultimately made by the agency.”

U.S. FWS Director Dan Ashe chose not to list the wolverine as a threatened species this past August on the advice of Regional Director Noreen Walsh. Walsh said that there was no evidence that climate change could affect the wolverine’s habitat or tradition of building snowpacks for dens.

Ashe stated that the U.S. FWS did not have sufficient evidence to correlate low snow amounts with wolverine populations. While the FWS has listed the polar bear as a threatened species due to climate change, they elected not to list the wolverine, citing that scientists did not provide enough evidence.

The lawsuit filed by the environmental groups alleges that there are distinct correlations between low snowfall amounts and the health of wolverine populations. It also claims that according to a 2013 FWS report, “wolverine habitat is projected to decrease in area and become more fragmented in the future as a result of climate changes.”

Wolverine populations have shrunk drastically, with only 300 remaining in the United States. Of that number, only 35 are expected to be of reproductive age. This small amount of fertile wolverines could cause serious inbreeding problems.

The wolverines’ plight began in 2000, when several of the suing groups petitioned to list the wolverine as a threatened species. However, the court challenges were overturned as the U.S. FWS claimed that climate change was indeed a threat to wolverines, but other species were given a higher priority.

“All of the science and the agency’s own scientists say the wolverine is severely endangered by loss of spring snowpack caused by climate change, yet the agency denied protection anyway,” said Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity.

The lawsuit will be joined on October 20 by another dozen groups.