The cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, delisted as an endangered species since 2006, will stay that way, the federal government said Tuesday.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it concluded that the owl, while declining in numbers in Arizona and Sonora, was not imperiled enough over its entire range to warrant protection as endangered or threatened.
The decision came in response to a petition from the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. The group's legal work had caused the tiny bird - less than 7 inches long - to be listed for nearly a decade in Arizona. This time, the center wanted to get protection for the Sonoran Desert population in Arizona and Sonora.
Why it matters: The pygmy owl's listing from 1997 to 2006 caused significant delays and restrictions on development on Tucson's northwest side, where up to a dozen owls lived. A new listing could restore such restrictions, although their impact would be reduced because the real estate market is so slow.
How many owls are there? Fifty or fewer pygmy owls live in Arizona, in parts of Pima and Pinal counties. Far more live in Sonora but surveys have shown general declines; numbers rebounded in 2010 only to drop again in 2011. The owls are more common in Sinaloa and four other Mexican coastal states. The owls also live in Texas and two eastern Mexico states.
How threatened are they? The Fish and Wildlife service found severe impacts from urbanization, buffelgrass, invasive species and other factors in about 27 percent of the bird's range, mainly in the Sonoran Desert. But there's no evidence of a continuing, significant, rangewide population decline "that would lead us to believe the species is currently in danger of extinction or likely to become so," the service wrote.
"For the majority of the species' range, it still appears common and doesn't appear to be threatened," service spokesman Jeff Humphrey said.
What's next? The Center for Biological Diversity is likely to sue to overturn the decision, said Noah Greenwald, its endangered species program director. The Endangered Species Act defines an endangered species as one at risk of extinction "in all or a significant portion of its range," he said. The 27 percent is significant because it represents a unique Sonoran Desert habitat, Greenwald said.
Home builders' view: "Right now the challenge that we're focusing on is how to get home builders back to work; and building more houses. Obviously endangered species and environmental issues have an impact on that," said David Godlewski, governmental affairs director for the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association. "But I'm not sure the decision on the pygmy owl changes things dramatically."
On StarNet: Read more environment-related stories at azstarnet.com/news/science/environment
Contact reporter Tony Davis at tdavis@azstarnet.com or 806-7746.
