Positive first step to the gnatcatcher's delisting

Today, the Fish & Wildlife Service announced a positive 90-day finding on our petition to delist the coastal California gnatcatcher.  The Service has determined that our petition presents substantial information indicating that the bird’s delisting may be warranted.  Our petition argues that a 2013 taxonomic study by Dr. Robert Zink of the University of Minnesota confirms that the gnatcatcher does not qualify as its own subspecies, and thus its threatened listing as a subspecies is invalid.  The Service has until June of next year to make a final decision on whether to delist the songbird.