Arizona’s cactus ferruginous
pygmy-owl may no longer be endangered, according to an August
ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The three-judge panel
concluded that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to
prove that 18 pygmy owls in Arizona are distinct from a much larger
population of owls in Sonora, Mexico.
In 1997, the
owl’s listing delayed development and road projects, and
prompted Pima County’s still-unfinished Sonoran Desert
Conservation Plan, which would set aside tens of thousands of acres
to protect the owl and 54 other “vulnerable” species
(HCN, 5/7/01: County unveils pioneering protection plan).
The Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association, which sued over the
owl’s listing, says that conservation efforts have choked off
land supplies and raised home prices. According to the group, the
ruling, by loosening development rules, will increase the supply of
affordable housing.
Jenny Neeley, Southwest associate for
Defenders of Wildlife, says that the owl’s fate isn’t
decided: “The 9th Circuit didn’t call into question the
underlying science that clearly shows that the pygmy-owl is
threatened with extinction in Arizona. All that the court did was
find that the Service failed to adequately explain its decision to
list pygmy-owls.”
This fall, the court will decide
to either remove the owls’ protection, or leave the
protection in place, while Fish and Wildlife has a chance to prove
that the Arizona owls are genetically different from those in
Mexico.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Pygmy-owl may lose protection.
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