Pygmy owl is OK

October 06, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff

So said the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service yesterday in declining to list the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl under the Endangered Species Act.  This owl has had a long regulatory and litigation history, having been taken off the ESA list as the result of a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Home Builders, but then petitioned by environmental groups to be put back on the list.  The Service's decision not to list the bird again also rejected the environmental groups' contentions that portions of the bird's populations could be listed as a separate subspecies or as a distinct population segment.  The enviros have already promised to sue.