Opinion ID: 3052211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Marbled Murrelet

Text: In 1988, the National Audubon Society petitioned FWS to list the California, Oregon, and Washington population of the marbled murrelet as a threatened species. See Proposed Threatened Status for the Marbled Murrelet in Washington, Oregon and California, 56 Fed. Reg. 28,362, 28,364 (June 20, 1991) (“Proposed Rule”).2 A “threatened” species is one which “is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” 16 U.S.C. § 1532(20). The Audubon Society alleged that the marbled murrelet population in the three states was dangerously depleted. Murrelets — small, dove-sized birds — feed primarily on sea life and nest in coastal mature and old-growth forests. See Listing Rule, 57 Fed. Reg. at 45,328-29. “[T]he main cause of population decline has been the loss of older forest and associated nest sites,” in large part because of timber harvesting. Id. at 45,330. At the time the tri-state murrelets were listed for ESA protection, over 80% of their habitat had been lost in Washington and Oregon and as much as 96% had been lost in California. Id. at 45,333. Murrelet nests in the remaining fragments of old growth forest are more accessible to predators than they were before the forests were lost, further threatening the species. Id. at 45,334. Also, when murrelets leave the forest to feed at sea, they are threatened by gill-net fishing boats and by oil spills. Id. at 45,335. Because murrelets do not reproduce every year and generally lay only one egg when they do, the species recovers slowly from population losses. Id. at 45,336. 2 Technically, the Secretary of the Interior has authority over the tri-state murrelets, see 16 U.S.C. § 1532(15), but that authority has been delegated to FWS, see 50 C.F.R. § 402.01(b). Thus, references to the Secretary in this opinion refer interchangeably to FWS, unless otherwise noted. COOS COUNTY v. KEMPTHORNE 7475 As a result of these various forces, murrelet populations crashed. Historically, as many as 60,000 murrelets may have lived in California alone. Id. at 45,329. By 1992, when the tristate murrelets were listed as threatened, FWS believed that only 9,000 birds all together then remained in all three states. Id. at 45,329. Some years after listing, FWS estimated the annual rate of population decline in the three states as between four and six percent. See Final Designation of Critical Habitat for the Marbled Murrelet, 61 Fed. Reg. 26,256, 26,259 (May 24, 1996) (“Critical Habitat Rule”). These population losses are important, as the three states comprise roughly one-third of the murrelet’s range, which extends north to Alaska. See Proposed Rule, 56 Fed. Reg. at 28,364, 28,366. The Proposed Rule concluded that “California, Oregon, and Washington constitute a significant portion of the marbled murrelet’s range.” Id. at 28,366.