On June 6, 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally opened a comment period on whether the yellow-billed loon should be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The announcement comes in response to a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity seeking protection for the species.
The yellow-billed loon is one of the rarest of all North American birds, with a global population of approximately 16,000 individuals, of which about 4,000 breed in Alaska. The primary threat to the species in the United States is disruption of its habitat by oil and gas development in Alaska's Western Arctic. The species is also threatened by global warming and drowning in fishing gear.
About 75 percent of yellow-billed loons breeding in the United States nest in the Western Arctic, in areas recently opened up to oil and gas development near Teshekpuk Lake and along the Colville River. Smaller numbers make their nests on the Seward Peninsula and on Saint Lawrence Island. Loons that breed in Alaska overwinter along the Russian and Japanese coasts, where they are also threatened by oil development and pollution; those who breed in the Canadian Arctic overwinter in the Gulf of Alaska, south to the West Coast of the United States.
In 2004 the Center and a coalition of U.S. and Russian scientific and conservation organizations petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the loon under the Endangered Species Act. The Wildlife Service recently responded by declaring that protection of the species "may be warranted," prompting the current status review and comment period. The Wildlife Service's finding is almost three years overdue.
It is not too late to protect the yellow-billed loon and its threatened habitat. The Endangered Species Act is our country's most effective wildlife law. Prompt listing under the Act, followed by protection of the loon's critical habitat, is the species' best chance of survival. Please write today to support the listing of the yellow-billed loon and urge the government to take quick action to protect the species and its habitat.
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