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Logging Industry Fails Again to Strip Threatened Seabird of Protections
WASHINGTON— The DC Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday rejected yet another attempt by the timber industry to remove federal endangered species protections from the marbled murrelet, a unique coastal bird found in the Pacific Northwest. The appeal was the timber industry’s fifth attempt in the past decade to eliminate protections for the old-growth forests that marbled murrelets call home, despite undisputed scientific evidence that has shown murrelets are continuing to disappear from the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California.
“The DC Circuit soundly disposed of industry’s arguments, most of which it called ‘frivolous,’ ” said Kristen Boyles, a staff attorney with Earthjustice. “Five strikes and you’re out — there is no support in science, law or public opinion for the industry’s continued demand to log the public old-growth murrelet forests.”
The marbled murrelet is a shy, robin-sized seabird that feeds at sea but nests only in old-growth forests along the Pacific Coast. Murrelets don’t build nests, instead laying their single egg on large, moss-covered branches in old-growth Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, western hemlock and redwood trees. In 1992 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protected marbled murrelets in Washington, Oregon and California as a threatened species due to logging of coastal old-growth forests. The timber industry has waged a 15-year legal campaign to eliminate protections for the small seabird in order to increase logging of some of the region’s last remaining mature and old-growth forests.
“It’s time to move forward with recovering these unique seabirds,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We know what we need to do to save the marbled murrelet, and that’s protecting the last coastal old-growth forests in Washington, Oregon and California.”
“Murrelets down here in the southern end of their range need more, not less, protection and recovery,” said Tom Wheeler, program and legal coordinator with the Environmental Protection Information Center in Arcata, Calif.
“The marbled murrelet’s coastal old-growth habitat is known the world around for its biological treasures,” said Dave Werntz, science and conservation director at Conservation Northwest. “This court ruling ensures the murrelet and its old forest habitat have a shot at recovery.”
Represented by Earthjustice, Audubon Society of Portland, Seattle Audubon Society, the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Environmental Protection Information Center, Oregon Wild and Sierra Club intervened in the lawsuit to defend the murrelet listing and critical habitat.
Decision: http://earthjustice.org/documents/legal-document/decision-logging-industry-fails-again-to-strip-threatened-seabird-of-protections
Online: http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2015/news-logging-industry-fails-again-to-strip-threatened-seabird-of-protections
More information about the murrelet and its habitat, including audio recordings, can be found at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marbled_Murrelet/sounds.
Earthjustice, the nation’s premier nonprofit environmental law organization, wields the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.
Because the earth needs a good lawyer.
Photo: "WO 2087 Marbled Murrelet" by Vliet, Gus Van - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Press Release: March 2, 2015
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/marbled-murrelet-03-02-2015.html
Center for Biological Diversity
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
The marbled murrelet is a shy, robin-sized seabird that feeds at sea but nests only in old-growth forests along the Pacific Coast. Murrelets don’t build nests, instead laying their single egg on large, moss-covered branches in old-growth Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, western hemlock and redwood trees. In 1992 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protected marbled murrelets in Washington, Oregon and California as a threatened species due to logging of coastal old-growth forests. The timber industry has waged a 15-year legal campaign to eliminate protections for the small seabird in order to increase logging of some of the region’s last remaining mature and old-growth forests.
“It’s time to move forward with recovering these unique seabirds,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We know what we need to do to save the marbled murrelet, and that’s protecting the last coastal old-growth forests in Washington, Oregon and California.”
“Murrelets down here in the southern end of their range need more, not less, protection and recovery,” said Tom Wheeler, program and legal coordinator with the Environmental Protection Information Center in Arcata, Calif.
“The marbled murrelet’s coastal old-growth habitat is known the world around for its biological treasures,” said Dave Werntz, science and conservation director at Conservation Northwest. “This court ruling ensures the murrelet and its old forest habitat have a shot at recovery.”
Represented by Earthjustice, Audubon Society of Portland, Seattle Audubon Society, the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Environmental Protection Information Center, Oregon Wild and Sierra Club intervened in the lawsuit to defend the murrelet listing and critical habitat.
Decision: http://earthjustice.org/documents/legal-document/decision-logging-industry-fails-again-to-strip-threatened-seabird-of-protections
Online: http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2015/news-logging-industry-fails-again-to-strip-threatened-seabird-of-protections
More information about the murrelet and its habitat, including audio recordings, can be found at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marbled_Murrelet/sounds.
Earthjustice, the nation’s premier nonprofit environmental law organization, wields the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.
Because the earth needs a good lawyer.
Photo: "WO 2087 Marbled Murrelet" by Vliet, Gus Van - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Press Release: March 2, 2015
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/marbled-murrelet-03-02-2015.html
Center for Biological Diversity
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
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