Murrelet Timeline

Step by step: Story of the murrelet

Murrelets endangered - 1992

Marbled murrelets in Oregon, Washington, and California were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Marbled murrelet fact sheet

Critical habitat designated - 1996

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 3,590,642 acres in this tri-state area as critical habitat for the marbled murrelet. Recovery plans, as part of the Endangered Species Act, require critical habitat designation.

Critical habitat is defined as "specific areas within the geographical area occupied by a species...on which are found those physical or biological features essential to the conservation of the species and that may require special management considerations or protection and specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by a species at the time it is listed, upon a determination that such areas are essential for the conservation of the species."

Timber industry files suit - 2002

The American Forest Resource Council filed a lawsuit to force the USFWS to conduct a status review of the marbled murrelet.  This was an attempt by the AFRC to cut critical habitat designation in order to open up protected old-growth forests to logging. The Service did not defend the lawsuit, but instead reached a settlement agreement with the AFRC that required the review to be submitted by April of 2004 and conducted by an independent consulting firm.

Scientific review published - 2003

EDAW, Inc. (a Seattle-based environmental planning and design firm) is awarded the contract to conduct the status review and releases it to the public in May.  Among many other things, the review found that the marbled murrelet population was still in decline and continued to warrant federal protection. Read the complete five-year scientific status review

Status review - 2004

Upon receipt of the scientific review, the FWS regional office in Portland, Oregon was required to submit a status review finding, which was sent to the Washington D.C. office in April 2004. It stated that murrelets in the tri-state area formed a distinct population from populations in Canada and Alaska and needed protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The Fish and Wildlife Service headquarters contradicted the regional office's finding by rewriting the status review to indicate that the tri-state marbled murrelet populations do not qualify as a distinct population. Find the status review here

Critical habitat proposal - 2006

The USFWS released a proposal in September 2006 to eliminate 94% of currently designated critical habitat for the marbled murrelet, from 3,590,642 acres to 221,692 acres. The proposal only designates areas that are known to be occupied by murrelets and known to be essential to its survival. No marine areas are designated. Read the proposed rule in full

Comments are due on November 13, 2006.