The much-litigated marbled murrelet still requires Endangered Species Act protection even after 32 years of federal guardianship, the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in a new assessment.
Citing threats that include shrinking old-growth forests as well as changes in the Pacific Northwest’s marine environment, the federal agency determined that the bird added to the ESA list in 1992 remains a threatened species.
“Although loss of nesting habitat due to timber harvest has slowed considerably since the time of listing, these losses continue,” the Fish and Wildlife Service’s five-year review noted, adding that “there is no indication that these patterns of forest removal will not continue for the foreseeable future.”
The assessment found that 20,847 acres of marbled murrelet nesting habitat was lost between 1993 and 2017, primarily due to timber harvesting on private land. The Fish and Wildlife Service found that while “regulatory protections have improved since the time of listing” the continued loss of nesting habitat as a result of timber harvest indicates that “regulatory mechanisms are not sufficient to fully protect” the species.
