Tell the ODFW Commission to Prevent the Extinction of Marbled Murrelets in Oregon

Last month, under pressure from the logging industry, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission made an unprecedented decision to reverse an earlier decision to uplist the Marbled Murrelet from threatened to endangered. This reversal demonstrated a blatant disregard for science, state wildlife law and the continued survival of this imperiled seabird. It leaves the murrelet on a path towards extinction in Oregon.

We need your help to urge ODFW to do better to protect this amazing seabird that nests in older forests and forages at sea.

Photo by R. Lowe USFWS

Urge ODFW to do better to protect this amazing seabird that nests in older forests and forages at sea.

Write to ODFW and Governor Kate Brown to hold the commission accountable to their mission to protect our state’s wildlife and prevent the extinction of Marbled Murrelets.

Take Action

Attend ODFW Commission Meeting To Testify

August 3, 2018 | ODFW Headquarters in Salem, Oregon

At this upcoming meeting, the ODFW Commission will be reviewing toothless voluntary survival guidelines for the Marbled Murrelet—a virtually meaningless substitute for the mandatory survival guidelines that they would have adopted if they had uplisted the species.

This is our opportunity to let the ODFW Commission know that their capitulation to logging interests in June was outrageous, to urge the Commission to  follow through on their February decision to uplist the Marbled Murrelet to Endangered and  to adopt mandatory survival guidelines for this species.

If you plan to attend the Commission meeting, please RSVP by contacting Steph Taylor (staylor@birdallianceoregon.org). The meeting will be held at ODFW Headquarters.

We will be in touch about meeting logistics and for potential carpool opportunities from Portland.  Please wear a green shirt to show your support for Marbled Murrelet protection. Whether or not you can attend the meeting, please click here to sign on to an editable form letter. We strongly encourage you to personalize your letter.

What We Are Advocating For

  • The Commission should follow through on their February commitment to uplist the Marbled Murrelet to Endangered. Express your deep concern that the Commission reversed their decision to uplist the Marbled Murrelet as endangered at the June meeting ignoring the science that had been compiled in the ODFW Staff’s Marbled Murrelet Status Review Report.  The Commission needs to uphold the mission of ODFW and they blatantly failed to do so in June.
  • Adopt survival guidelines that follow those originally provided by ODFW staff at the June 2018 meeting with the following amendments that: Require land-managing agencies to adopt the Pacific Seabird Group Protocol as the “Approved survey” for monitoring state forest lands for murrelet occupancy, presence, and potential absence & require protection of all high quality suitable Marbled Murrelet nesting habitat (both occupied and unoccupied).
  • Adopt mandatory (not voluntary) survival guidelines for the Marbled Murrelet. Because the Commission voted in June to reverse their February decision to uplist the murrelet, ODFW intends the murrelet survival guidelines to have no force of law.  Please urge the Commission to implement enforceable guidelines to ensure land-managing agencies provide protections for murrelets and their habitat that will help the species recover.