FWS Lists Pacific Marten, Eastern Black Rail as Threatened, Adds Import/Export Restrictions

The Fish and Wildlife Service on Oct. 7 released final rules listing a small mammal and a bird as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. One rule lists coastal populations of the Pacific marten (Martes caurina), a small mammal from coastal California and Oregon. The other rule adds the eastern black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis), a bird subspecies known from the eastern and central U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Brazil and several countries in the Caribbean and Central America as threatened. FWS includes in both notices a 4(d) rule that prohibits importation and exportation without a permit. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rules take effect Nov. 9.