Frates said the problem is that state agencies receive very little funding to protect endangered species, and some species slip through the cracks as priorities are made. However, he said Congress has an additional fund set aside for instances where a court forces state agencies to protect additional species.

"The sad thing is that these lawsuits are almost like grant applications," Frates said. "But over the long run, the actions we take now will save taxpayers money."

Erin Robertson is a staff biologist for the Center for Native Ecosystems, a Denver-based conservation group. She said one of the additional purposes of the lawsuit is to raise awareness concerning the Deseret milk-vetch.

"Just getting people to sit down and think about how to save this flower would be helpful," she said.

The Deseret milk-vetch was first collected and identified in 1893, then again in 1981. According to the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources, the flower grows on sandy-gravelly terrains, usually on west- or south-facing mountain slopes.

Robertson said not much else is known about the flower, including why it thrives in that limited area or if it could be transplanted to another habitat. She said if the lawsuit is successful, the recovery plan would provide more information about the flower and how to save it.

When the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1975, the Smithsonian Institution included the Deseret milk-vetch on its list of plants that should be protected, but it was left off the official list because it was believed to be extinct.

Botanists rediscovered the flower in 1981, and in 1999 it was added to the endangered list.

"We've almost lost it once before, and now that we have a good fight with public land involved, we need to do all we can to save it," Robertson said.

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com