The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the pinyon jay may be eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, environmentalists say their decline is primarily due to the eradication of pinyon juniper forests and to climate change.
The nonprofit group Defenders of Wildlife petitioned for the jay’s listing last year.
Their petition says that the species has declined by an estimated 85 percent in the last half-century.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will now initiate a “status review” of the pinyon jay to determine whether listing under the Endangered Species Act is warranted. The agency invites anyone with relevant information to submit it via regulations dot gov.
Pinyon jays live primarily in the Southwestern U.S. in large, social flocks. They’re considered a keystone species in pinyon forests because they cache nuts that later sprout new trees. Pinyon nuts are a vital traditional food source for Indigenous peoples such as Hopi and Navajo.