From Texas Public Radio:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) recently decided that the golden-cheeked warbler should no longer be considered “endangered.”
The decision came despite mounting threats to the warbler’s habitat from both land development and climate change.
The golden-cheeked warbler is a small songbird native to Central Texas. It is the only bird species that breeds exclusively in Texas.
The announcement to downlist the bird came after a five-year FWS assessment. On Tuesday, it published a review that found that the Texas bird no longer required an “endangered” listing under the Endangered Species Act.
The assessment proposed downlisting the warbler to “threatened,” which could reduce the protections the bird has in the state.
In 2019, a federal judge ruled that the golden-cheeked warbler should stay listed as endangered due to the continued loss of its habitat in the Texas Hill Country because of new subdivisions, businesses, roads, reservoirs, and other human activity.
In 2020, a judge from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the FWS to reconsider the status. The federal agency rejected the petition again in July that same year.
In early January 2022, the fight was revived when another lawsuit was filed to delist the bird as an endangered species.
After five years and the latest evaluation, the proposal to downlist the bird returned.
Austin-based groups Save Our Springs Alliance and Earth Justice expressed disappointment in any attempt to downlist the status of the warbler. They’ve urged the agency to reconsider its decision. In a statement on Tuesday, the groups said the decision was “out of step with the best available science.”
“We are dismayed at the service’s decision to downlist the warbler against a grim backdrop of threats from habitat destruction and climate change throughout the warbler’s range, but we are looking ahead to fighting for continued protections for Texas’ most iconic songbird,” said Victoria Rose, a staff attorney at Save Our Springs Alliance.
For the moment, the bird is still listed as endangered. A next step requires the U.S. secretary of the interior to approve the FWS recommendation.
If the new designation is approved, the downlisting is subject to review and comment from the public.