Feds say protection for rare seabird should stay

The marbled murrelet in Washington, Oregon and California should remain protected as a threatened species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday.

The agency finished its five-year status review of the small seabird that nests in old-growth timber. Federal biologists found that the birds in the three states are a distinct population that continues to decline and faces a broad range of threats.

"Our review shows this remarkable bird remains in trouble," said Ken Berg, supervisor of the agency's Washington State Fish and Wildlife Office.

It's the latest development in a long-running battle over whether the marbled murrelet deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act. The robin-sized seabird was listed as threatened in 1992.

The American Forest Resource Council, based in Portland, Ore., and others have tried to force the bird off the list. Habitat protection for the marbled murrelet, much like such protection for the spotted owl, has meant less logging in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.

Last year, the council petitioned the agency to remove protection for the tri-state bird population. A decision on that petition is expected in coming months.

The timber group has also sued to delist the birds after the agency's previous status review in 2004 found they were not distinct from birds in Canada and Alaska. The agency later concluded that finding was flawed.

On Wednesday, lawyers for the wildlife agency filed a motion in federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., where the case is pending, to dismiss the timber group's lawsuit.

Tom Partin, president of the American Forest Resource Council, disagreed with the agency's Wednesday finding and said the West Coast birds are not distinct and shouldn't be protected.

He noted that the agency's report found ocean conditions such as gillnetting and changes to the bird's marine prey are also to blame for their decline. "We feel we have the habitat on the ground for them to use," he said.

But Kristen Boyles, an attorney with Earthjustice, said the review affirms the need to protect old-growth coastal forest that the birds use to nest and raise their young.

It's also an indication that the agency under the Obama administration is following science in its review of the birds, she said.

The marbled murrelet population from Northern California to Canada dropped 34 percent between 2001 and 2008, the review found. There were about 18,000 birds in 2008.

Federal biologists say the birds face threats from loss of nesting habitat as well as new threats from harmful algae blooms and abandoned fishing gear at sea.

"The population is still seriously declining," said Joan Jewett, a fish and wildlife spokeswoman in Portland. "We're very concerned, and we'll be closely watching and monitoring them."