For Immediate UseContact: Garrison Frost
December 2, 2008(510) 601-1866, Ext. 225

Representatives of three state Audubon programs are calling upon the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to not only reject a petition to remove federal protections for the threatened Marbled Murrelet in California, Oregon and Washington, but actually to upgrade protections for the coastal seabird instead.

In formal comments submitted to the Service, representatives of Audubon California, Audubon Washington and Audubon Alaska note that the Marbled Murrelets south of the Canadian border make up a distinct population segment that is invaluable to the long-term survival of the species across its range. Noting that continued declines of the Marbled Murrelet in these areas, they called on the service to upgrade the listing for the bird to “endangered.”

“Delisting the Marbled Murrelet in the Lower 48 would undercut the bird’s ability to persist across its entire range,” said Anna Weinstein, seabird conservation coordinator for Audubon California. “And given the declines we’re seeing in California, Oregon and Washington, now isn’t the time to roll back protections. We need to do just the opposite.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s review of the Marbled Murrelet comes in response to a petition to delist the species from a consortium of timber interests. The protection of the Marbled Murrelet, the only tree-nesting seabird, can involve the safeguarding of large stands of old-growth forest habitat up to 30 miles inland.

Petitioners have claimed that the Marbled Murrelets in California, Oregon and Washington do not merit protected status because large numbers of the species exist in Alaska and British Columbia. In order to make this case, they cite an earlier U.S. Fish and Wildlife Survey that indicated that the birds south of the Canadian border are no different from the ones above it.

“Those who want to remove protections for the Marbled Murrelet base their arguments on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review that the Service itself now admits was deeply flawed,” said Weinstein. “There is more than enough evidence to indicate that the Marbled Murrelets in California, Oregon and Washington meet all the Service’s criteria for a distinct population segment.”

The Audubon representatives called for a thorough review of Alaskan Marbled Murrelets to determine if the northern populations of the species need additional protections as well. Weinstein noted that the preservation of the southern population is essential to maintain the full scope of genetic diversity for the species, which solidifies its evolutionary viability.

Delisting the Lower 48 population of the species could have particularly dire consequences for the dwindling Marbled Murrelets in California. For example, in the Santa Cruz area, a once-vibrant colony of birds is now down to fewer than 200 due to habitat fragmentation and predation from other birds. Protecting the species at the California-Oregon border could provide the additional birds needed to reconstitute this highly-endangered southern end of the range.

About Audubon California 
Audubon California is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. With more than 50,000 members in California and an affiliated 48 local Audubon chapters, Audubon California is a field program of Audubon.

More information is available at www.ca.audubon.org.