Court dismisses challenge to seabird protection

A federal court dismissed a timber industry lawsuit challenging protection for the marbled murrelet, a seabird that nests exclusively in old growth trees.

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has dismissed the timber industry's lawsuit challenging threatened species protection for the marbled murrelet, a seabird that nests in old growth trees.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Wednesday that the issue was moot after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month found the bird still merits protection in Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

Tom Partin of the American Forest Resource Council says his organization expected the action, but is looking forward to another status review that takes into account murrelets in Canada and Alaska.

Partin adds the council continues to believe that food shortages in the ocean are a bigger problem for the birds than limited nesting habitat.