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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Since You Asked: Wimer Dam fish salvage yields nada natives ... Possible links between dead Oregon man, missing women investigated ... Cemetery tour highlights drifters, saloon keepers ... Since You Asked: Wimer Dam fish salvage yields nada natives ... Possible links between dead Oregon man, missing women investigated ... Cemetery tour highlights drifters, saloon keepers ... ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT Appeals court upholds protection for threatened seabird after timber industry challenge Logging interests had argued U.S. population shouldn't be distinct Comment By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press MailTribune.com By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press Posted Mar. 2, 2015 at 6:41 PM By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press Posted Mar. 2, 2015 at 6:41 PM » Social News A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit by the timber industry seeking to strip Endangered Species Act protection from a threatened seabird that nests in old-growth forests. Environmentalists say the ruling Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., should mark the end of a 15-year legal battle over logging trees used by marbled murrelets along the coasts of Oregon, Washington and northern California. The American Forest Resources Council had argued that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously in designating the U.S. population of marbled murrelets distinct from birds in Canada, despite a line in the law saying political boundaries are a valid reason. The appeals court found the decision did not depart from standard practice, and it let stand a district court ruling. "The big picture is that we are disappointed in our continued inability to get the judicial branch of our government to exert some control over the administrative branches' overzealous interpretation in favor of the marbled murrelet," said Ann Forest Burns, vice president of the American Forest Resource Council in Portland. "It's not about the bird. It's about logging. It's the bird du jour." Kristen Boyles, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, said she felt the reason the timber industry has been willing to fight so hard to remove protections for the marbled murrelet is that it is not as charismatic as the northern spotted owl, which was the prime focus of lawsuits that cut logging by 90 percent on national forests in the Northwest. The marbled murrelet is a robin-sized bird that feeds and lives on the ocean, but it flies as much as 50 miles inland to lay a single egg in a mossy depression on a large tree branch. While much of the battle over logging in the Northwest has gone on over habitat for spotted owls and salmon on national forests, the marbled murrelet was the reason the Oregon Department of Forestry withdrew two dozen timber sales on the Elliott State Forest outside Coos Bay last year. Under a federal court order, the marbled murrelet was listed as a threatened species in 1992 in Oregon, Washington and California because of the loss of nesting habitat to commercial logging, the loss of fish to eat to gillnetting and oil spills. By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press MailTribune.com By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press Posted Mar. 2, 2015 at 6:41 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501