WDFW Commission Takes Action on Listing Status of Four Wildlife Species

By Justin Stakes

Olympia, WA -(AmmoLand.com)- The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to keep greater sage-grouse and western gray squirrels on the state’s threatened species list and snowy plovers and northern spotted owls on the state’s endangered species list.

The commission, a citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), took action on the protective status of the four species during a public meeting Feb. 26-27 in Olympia. The department recommended keeping the four species at their current protective status.

Both greater sage-grouse and western gray squirrels have seen their ranges shrink over time and continue to face several threats including the loss of habitat. The current populations of sage-grouse and squirrels are not at levels that would allow the department to reclassify either species.

The updated status review for greater sage-grouse can be found online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01757/, while the review for the western gray squirrel is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01758/.

The snowy plover is a small bird that lives mostly in coastal areas of Washington. Although the snowy plover population appears to be …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand