Marbled Murrelet Still Needs Threatened Species Status

The marbled murrelet, Brachyramphus marmoratus, is a small seabird that nests in old-growth forests along the Pacific Coast of North America. In 1992, the Fish and Wildlife Service listed the marbled murrelet population in Washington, Oregon, and California as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act due to logging of its old-growth habitat.

"After a thorough review of the best available scientific and commercial information, the status of marbled murrelets in Washington, Oregon and California has not changed and the recovery criteria for removing the species from the federal list of threatened and endangered species have not been met," said Ken Berg, supervisor of the Service's Washington State Office.

"Our review concludes that the tri-state population of marbled murrelets is a valid Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act, in accordance with Service policy, and should remain protected as a threatened species," said Berg.

Marbled murrelet on its nest in a coastal old-growth forest (Photo courtesy HOPE)

The report, released June 17, replaces a 2004 review in which Bush administration appointees reversed scientific and legal conclusions to try to eliminate protections for murrelets.

The report concludes that, "The species decline has been largely caused by extensive removal of late-successional and old-growth coastal forest which serve as nesting habitat for murrelets."

"Science has won the day," said Noah Greenwald, biodiversity program director for the Center for Biological Diversity. "The marbled murrelet is severely imperiled and needs the protections of the Endangered Species Act to survive."

It comes as Obama administration officials reconsider a Bush administration decision to increase logging of murrelet habitat in old-growth forests in western Oregon. Protection for the murrelets, as well as for salmon and northern spotted owls, stands in the way of this decision.

"Today's report affirms the need to protect old-growth coastal forests used by this seabird to nest and raise their young – yet another in a growing list of reasons that the Obama administration should withdraw the Western Oregon Plan Revisions," said Kristen Boyles, an Earthjustice attorney.

"Protecting murrelet forests also helps recover salmon and spotted owl populations, clean our air from excess carbon, and prevent pollution from entering drinking water sources for communities all up and down the coast," said Boyles, who has litigated to protect and defend the birds.

The report finds a 26 percent decline in the Washington, Oregon, and California marbled murrelet population since 2002. It also admits that the genetically distinct central California population has declined by 75 percent since 2003.

For the first time, direct data are available to evaluate population trends for the marbled murrelet in the three-state area.

For the area from the mouth of the San Francisco Bay to the Canadian border, 2001 to 2008 data show an estimated annual decline of 4.3 percent and a total drop of 34 percent. South of the San Francisco Bay, the decline is steeper - 75 percent from 2003 to 2008.

The total population estimate is about 18,000 birds.

"Our review shows this remarkable bird remains in trouble," Berg said. "The Service is committed to working with our partners to stop this downward population trend and get this species on the road to recovery."

"Because we've failed to protect it, this unique California murrelet is sliding into an extinction vortex," said Scott Greacen, executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Protection Information Center.

The timber industry has filed multiple lawsuits to remove protections from the murrelet. To date, those lawsuits have been unsuccessful.

Represented by Earthjustice, the Audubon Society of Portland, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Environmental Protection Information Center, Gifford Pinchot Task Force, Oregon Wild, Seattle Audubon Society, Sierra Club, and The Wilderness Society intervened in the timber industry lawsuit to defend the murrelet.

With the new report confirming that the murrelets are in decline, the Fish and Wildlife Service has moved to dismiss the last of the pending timber industry cases.

Copyright Environment News Service, ENS, 2009. All rights reserved.