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Legal Victory Puts Streaked Horned Lark on Path to Greater Endangered Species Protections
PORTLAND, Ore.— In response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and Bird Alliance of Oregon, a federal judge found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2022 determination that the streaked horned lark is threatened and not endangered is unlawful. The court ordered the Service to reconsider within one year whether the lark warrants endangered species protections.
Once a common species in the prairies of Puget Sound and the Willamette Valley, the lark has been reduced to very small, scattered populations by urbanization and agricultural conversion of their habitat. The birds are at immediate risk of extinction.
“I’m thrilled the court recognized that the Fish and Wildlife Service shortchanged these stunning larks by dismissing how their small populations clearly increase extinction risk,” said Ryan Shannon, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I hope these striking little birds will get the protections they so desperately need.”
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