A federal judge in Oregon has sided with two environmental organizations and ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to take another look at boosting Endangered Species Act protections for the streaked horned lark, a Pacific Northwest bird currently designated as threatened.
Citing several flaws in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s prior work, U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson on Monday gave the federal agency one year to reconsider whether this particular subspecies of the horned lark merits listing as endangered.
“By failing to consider the impact that small population size presently has on the lark population, the Service failed to consider an important aspect of the problem and offered explanations that are contrary to the evidence that was before it,” wrote Nelson, who was nominated by President Joe Biden.
The decision was a victory for the Center for Biological Diversity and the former Audubon Society of Portland, recently renamed the Bird Alliance of Oregon. The two groups sued the Fish and Wildlife Service in January 2023.
