Advocate for more protection of marbled murrelet habitat

The Board of Natural Resources has the final say on which conservation strategy is adopted for the marbled murrelet, and they can and must do more to protect vital habitat. This is a critical decision point that will affect the survival of the species in Washington. More conservation of habitat must be included in the plan and the BNR and Commissioner Franz have the ability to make that call.

Now is the time to do what is necessary to recover this imperiled species in our state. The BNR needs to hear from you that you support additional protection for marbled murrelet habitat on state-managed forestlands. Email the board members now!

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Subject:

Please do more for marbled murrelets in the LTCS

Dear Board of Natural Resources members,

The Honorable Hilary Franz
Commissioner of Public Lands
Chair of the Board
 
The Honorable Bill Peach
Clallam County Commissioner
Vice-Chair of the Board
 
The Honorable Chris Reykdal
Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction

André-Denis G. Wright
Dean, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University
 
Jim Cahill
Senior Budget Assistant to the Governor for Natural Resources, Designee for Governor Jay Inslee
 
Dan Brown, Ph.D.
Director, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment,
University of Washington
 
I’m writing to express my concerns regarding your proposed incidental take permit amendment, based on Alternative H, for the Marbled Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy, because I support recovery efforts for endangered marbled murrelets in Washington. The Board of Natural Resources can and must ensure more murrelet conservation than Alternative H provides. Additionally, holding a vote on the strategy in the December board meeting does not allow enough time for thorough and informed decision-making on a plan that will affect wildlife, forest habitats, and ecosystem services for decades. You, as board members, should have more time to consider the full FEIS and the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion before deciding what strategy the Board will adopt.

The proposed permit amendment does not do enough to protect marbled murrelets in our state. A meaningful conservation plan must help meet the long-stated biological goals for the species: to stabilize and increase its population, to expand its geographic range, and to increase resilience of the marbled murrelet to natural and human-caused disturbance.

•	The proposed permit amendment conserves far less than what both a DNR-convened panel of expert scientists and two other agencies (the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and the US Environmental Protection Agency) recommended to prevent species loss, reflected in Alternatives F and G, respectively. Alternative G has more than double the amount of murrelet-specific conservation as the preferred alternative (Alternative H). Alternative F contains almost five times more. The conservation measures in Alternative H are clearly not enough.
•	The proposed amendment does not adequately mitigate the amount of take expected to result from DNR’s management actions. The agency established only an 809-acre difference between take and mitigation, which, in the face of the ever-worsening climate crisis, is not nearly enough to protect the species against 50 years of inevitable natural and human-caused disturbances.
•	This is a critical time for the continued existence of the species in Washington, and DNR’s lands are significant to the bird’s recovery. Now is the time to do what is necessary to protect this imperiled species in our state.
•	The DNR-managed forests where marbled murrelets nest are vital for many reasons beyond wildlife habitat, including providing clean air and water to communities, and sequestering carbon to mitigate climate change. Protecting marbled murrelet habitat also means ensuring these important ecological services and resources for future generations of Washingtonians.

The Board can and must do more for endangered species and for future generations of Washingtonians that will face greater threats to natural resources over the next decades than we’ve ever seen. Please do not adopt the proposed amendment and instead select a plan that does significantly more to protect the marbled murrelet and its invaluable habitat.

Regards, Your Name

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