Controversial Seabird May Lose Protections

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that it would propose taking the marbled murrelet, a small seabird at the center of political battles over logging in the Northwest, off the threatened species list.

The proposal, to be formally made by the end of the year, would start a yearlong evaluation. The bird lives at sea but nests in trees near the coast.

The proposal is based on the idea that the 17,000 to 20,000 birds living off Washington, Oregon and California are not distinct from the nearly 1 million other birds living off British Columbia and Alaska, according to a Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman in Grants Pass.