US. Fish and Wildlife Service Originally published on July 10, 2021 4:19 pm A seabird that depends on coastal old-growth forests has been designated for greater endangered-species protections in Oregon. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted Friday to reclassify the marbled murrelet’s status from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. The decision comes five years after a 2016 petition to “uplist” it from its 1995 classification as threatened. While it signals Oregon’s official position that the bird needs greater protections to avoid extinction, the commission’s 4-2 vote triggers only voluntary conservation measures on the part of private landowners.