Glacier National Park

Federal endangered species list could see 29 additions

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August 21, 2009, 2:26 pm
The news was mixed this week as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would move forward on a review of 29 plant and animal species and assess their inclusion on the federal endangered species list. 

The fact that the agency is considering listing any species represents a change from the last eight years. But the service also rejected petitions for nine species, including the ashy storm-petrel, a California seabird.

For those who submitted petitions that were denied, the situation appeared dire.

"Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is continuing a Bush-era approach of denying protections to species based on an incomplete and selective interpretation of the science," said Shaye Wolf, a seabird biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The decision reads like a laundry list of excuses to avoid acting to protect the ashy storm-petrel rather than a solid evaluation of the science."

The ashy storm-petrel lives almost exclusively on California's offshore islands, busy areas where pollution, development and increased predation have driven down the small gray bird's populations.