Marbled Murrelet Will Keep Territory
By Michael Milstein, Oregonian
March 06, 2008

Federal wildlife officials have dropped controversial plans to sharply reduce the area of critical habitat reserved for the marbled murrelet, a seabird known for standing in the way of Northwest logging.

The decision reverses earlier efforts, supported by the timber industry, to scale back protections for the bird, which is classified as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

It could also complicate a proposal by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to accelerate logging in Oregon's Coast Range. The agency wants to produce more timber revenue in financially strapped coastal counties.

In 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed canceling about 95 percent of the designated critical habitat for the marbled murrelet, saying the area was already protected. But environmental groups complained that the move would pave the way for more intensive logging.

Critical habitat comes into play mainly on federal land. Public land agencies must consult with wildlife biologists before proposing timber sales and other projects in critical habitat.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday that it would be inappropriate to reduce the habitat for the bird while the BLM is considering changes in managing the coastal lands.

Now that the marbled murrelet critical habitat will remain in place along the Northwest coast, the BLM must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service on whether its new logging plans will adversely affect the habitat.

Alan Hoffmeister of the BLM said that wouldn't be an obstacle for the agency.

Murrelet protections and those for the northern spotted owl and salmon contributed to a collapse of logging on public lands in the Northwest more than a decade ago. The protections also have given environmental groups legal leverage to challenge new logging projects.

The Fish and Wildlife Service had proposed reducing murrelet critical habitat as part of a legal deal with the American Forest Resources Council, a Portland-based timber industry group. Chris West, vice president of the group, said the council agreed with the decision not to scale back the habitat area, given the BLM's possible changes.

But West said the group still thinks there should be no critical habitat designated for the bird because habitat is not a limiting factor for the murrelet.

The bird spends most of its life at sea and flies inland only to nest on moss-covered branches of old trees.

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