Breakthrough for the Conservation of Marbled Murrelets
Blink, and you’ll miss them. They fly lightning fast from the ocean to the forest and back. Even under the best of circumstances, they are difficult to observe and study. Meet the marbled murrelet. Marbled murrelets are a fascinating and elusive member of the alcid family, which also includes puffins and auklets. This robin-sized seabird spends most of its time foraging at sea for fish, and flies inland to nest in old growth coastal forests where it produces a single egg. This unique life cycle makes them vulnerable to threats on several fronts. Over the last several decades, the population of marbled murrelets has plummeted due to inadequately regulated logging throughout its nesting habitat — most dramatically on state lands — and increasingly poor ocean conditions.
The marbled murrelet was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1992 and threatened under the Oregon Endangered Species Act in 1995. Despite its supposed protected status, the state never developed a comprehensive plan to recover the species.
Late last Friday — after two very long years of advocacy work by conservation organizations and one very long day of testimony and debate — the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to uplist the marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered under the state Endangered Species Act. I confess to floating through the weekend on a wave of renewed hope — this is a big deal for a little-known bird that may now, finally, have a path to recovery in Oregon.
In the last several years, Washington and California recognized the need to bolster protections for the marbled murrelet and reclassified the species as endangered. It was high time for Oregon to step up. In 2016, conservation groups filed a petition to reclassify the species as endangered in Oregon. That petition kickstarted a process within the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to evaluate and report on the biological status of marbled murrelets, and to consider and incorporate comments from scientists and the public. The result of this evaluation was a draft report issued last fall by Department staff that forecast a chance of extinction in Oregon as high has 80% by 2060.
It was clear the status quo had failed this species. But it wasn’t at all clear that the state would act, especially given strong opposition from the timber industry. We worked with our conservation partners throughout 2017 to raise awareness of the threats to marbled murrelets. Defenders wrote detailed comments and traveled the state to meet individually with decision makers, emphasizing the critical role the state plays in the survival of this species.
Uplisting matters for several reasons. It acknowledges that this species is at risk of extinction. It sends a signal that the state is serious about its responsibility to preserve our wildlife legacy. But it also triggers a process to develop a comprehensive recovery plan on state lands. Under state listing, only species that are listed as “endangered” are required to have an actual recovery plan. “Threatened” doesn’t cut it. Without a roadmap for recovery on state lands, which contains a significant percentage of remaining high quality nesting habitat, efforts to bring this species back from the brink would continue to fail.
When I arrived at the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting last Friday, it was to find a packed house…and only six commissioners. Chair Mike Finley was absent, which meant vice-chair Bob Webber led the proceedings. Over the course of five intense hours, the Commission heard presentations and testimony from Department staff, university researchers, forest managers and biologists, timber industry lobbyists, small timber operators and landowners in the Coast Range, conservationists, birders, educators and other interested community members.
Timber industry representatives argued that economic impacts (which is not an allowable consideration for uplisting) should take precedence over protecting the species. They advised waiting for more results from ongoing research about this notoriously difficult to study seabird. Defenders and our partners argued that there’s no time to wait. Over the last twenty years, the current regulatory framework has failed to stop the marbled murrelet’s slide toward extinction.
As I awaited my turn to testify, I tried to watch the Commissioners’ faces for a tell — anything to indicate which way they might be leaning. I got nothing, which didn’t help to settle my nerves. In my allotted three minutes of testimony, I asked the Commission to provide the marbled murrelet with a much-needed strategy to recovery on state lands. I asked them to honor the intent of the state endangered species act and I asked them to consider that the Department is currently seeking more funding from taxpayers. I suggested that a vote to uplist would demonstrate the Commission’s commitment to science and to preserving our state’s wildlife legacy for all Oregonians.
Normally, if I’m on the edge of my seat during an Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting, it’s because my legs have fallen asleep. But as the Commissioners began deliberating, it became clear something unusual was going on. I was riveted. The Commissioners weighed the testimony and evidence they’d heard from Department staff. During an intense debate, the Commission voted on a motion not to uplist, but to direct Department staff to craft voluntary guidelines (essentially a non-decision). The Commission deadlocked in a 3–3 tie vote.
Over the next half an hour, I listened as Commissioners Greg Wolley, Laura Anderson, and Holly Akenson made eloquent arguments for action. In the end, Chair Webber said he’d rather vote to uplist than do nothing. Commissioner Wolley seized on that momentum and moved to uplist. The motion passed on a 4–2 vote. Marbled murrelets were officially reclassified in Oregon as an endangered species!
In the next few months, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will develop survival guidelines on state-owned, managed and leased lands for the Commission to consider at its June 8 meeting in Salem. These quantifiable and measurable survival guidelines will serve as interim protection for marbled murrelets while affected state agencies — ODFW in consultation with the Oregon Department of Forestry — develop a full endangered species management plan. Defenders will be involved every step of the way.
This is a big win for all the people who wrote, called and showed up to demand more protections for this elusive seabird. I was continually inspired by the hard work, camaraderie and determination among passionate wildlife advocates in Oregon and our partners at Cascadia Wildlands, Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon Wild, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and the Coast Range Association. There’s more work ahead, and I’m excited to get to it. Marbled murrelets are counting on us.
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