Group Petitions For Murrelet Protections Under State's Endangered Species Law

摘要

The Center for Biological Diversity March 5 petitioned the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to grant protection under the state's endangered species law for the Kittlitz's murrelet, a seabird that dwells in habitat near tidewater glaciers and glacier outflows.rnThe center's petition for state protection comes eight years after it petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Endangered Species Act listing.rnWith Kittlitz's murrelet populations in Alaska falling 80 percent to 90 percent in the past two decades, the bird is "deeply distressed and it's imperiled," said Shaye Wolf, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. The center puts most of the blame on accelerated glacial retreat and reduced ice cover linked to climate change.