For Immediate Release,
July 9, 2021
Contact:
Katie Arberg, Defenders of Wildlife, (202) 772-0259, karberg@defenders.org
Joe Liebezeit, Portland Audubon, (503) 329-6026, jliebezeit@audubonportland.org
John Mellgren, Western Environmental Law Center, (541) 359-0990, mellgren@westernlaw.org
Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, (503) 327-4923, bethany@cascwild.org
Oregon Approves Petition to Increase Marbled Murrelet Endangered Species Protection
Coastal Seabird at Risk of Extinction From Climate Change
SALEM,
Ore.— The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission today approved a petition filed by five conservation groups to give marbled murrelets more protection by reclassifying them from threatened to endangered under the state’s Endangered Species Act. The 4-3 decision comes two years after an Oregon judge ruled that the commission had violated state law by denying the petition without explanation in 2018.