Marbled Murrelet to Remain on Endangered Species List as Threatened

Marbled Murrelet - Dennis Paulson

This week the Obama Administration announced that it will keep the Marbled Murrelet on the Endangered Species list as threatened. The announcement came in response to a petition filed by the American Forest Resource Council to remove protections for the threatened bird.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service determined the Marbled Murrelet is still threatened, which means that limits on logging meant to save the bird's remaining habitat will likely stay in place.

Protections for the bird, along with those for Northern Spotted Owls and salmon, contributed to a drastic drop in federal lands logging in the 1990's, and timber interests have fought for years to have those protections removed or reduced.

Meanwhile, murrelets continue their decline. The number of birds between San Francisco Bay and the Canadian border dropped by a third between 2000 and 2008, according to the US Fish and Wildlife service.

Read the Oregonian article.