Petition To Extend ESA Protection To Mountain Quail Fails To Meet Biological Criteria For Distinct Population Segment

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that a petition requesting Endangered Species Act protection for mountain quail in the northern and western Great Basin and Interior Columbia Basin of Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho presented insufficient evidence that quail in these areas constitute a distinct population segment (DPS) for the species.

After a careful review of the petition and its supporting documentation, as well as other available information, the Service concluded in a 90-day finding that current available data do not show the mountain quail in the petitioned geographic area to be isolated from other populations of the species. Therefore, mountain quail in this area do not meet the Service