Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Northwest’s threatened seabird, the marbled murrelet, will remain under the protective wing of the U.S. government a little longer.

A D.C. Appeals Court has tossed out a timber industry lawsuit.

The American Forest Resource Council had sued to force the murrelet off the endangered species list. The suit followed a Bush Administration decision to look at the murrelet as one big population, from Alaska to California, instead of isolated groups.

The timber industry's lawsuit targeted federal rules that  inhibit logging in the bird’s range. But last month, Fish and Wildlife officials reversed the Bush-era decision, and now they look at the murrelet in "distinct population segments." 

The Appeals Court says that change renders the industry lawsuit moot.

Forest Resource Council president, Tom Partin disagrees with that recent Fish and Wildlife decision.

Tom Partin: “Arbitrarily deciding that it is a distinct population segment, and not being to able drop the threatened position for this bird, is a disappointment. It just goes back to – seems like science basically can be looked at in different ways, and it can be used in different ways.”

Partin says he believes the science shows the marbled murrelet’s biggest problem is a lack of food in the ocean. Partin says  his group is now weighing its legal alternatives.