WASHINGTON (CN) - The Queen Charlotte subspecies of the northern goshawk is threatened with extinction by loss of habitat due to logging according to a listing decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Queen Charlotte goshawk has been listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act throughout its Canadian range in British Columbia on Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands.
In 1994 the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the service to list the Queen Charlotte across all of its range in Canada and the United States. The service declined to do so and determined that the goshawk populations in British Columbia and Alaska constituted distinct population segments.
The Alaskan population became the center piece of a conservation plan for Tongass National Forest. The service found that the plan sufficiently protected the population so listing under the act was not warranted.
Because the range of the northern subspecies is outside the U.S. the service did not propose a critical habitat designation.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.