"The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Feb. 11 for failing to make a preliminary decision about whether to expand protection for the saltmarsh sparrow, a bird whose population is in sharp decline around the Chesapeake Bay and the marshes along the East Coast.
The secretive little brown and gray bird, with orange around its cheeks and a whitish belly, only nests in grassy tidal marshes along the northeastern Atlantic Coast. Those areas are increasingly flooded because of sea level rise.
The center petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service in April 2024 seeking to protect the bird under the Endangered Species Act, noting that its population has fallen 87%, from 212,000 individuals to about 28,200 in the last 30 years.
Under the law, the service is supposed to make an initial decision regarding the petition within 90 days, the group said in its lawsuit."
Karl Blankenship reports for the Bay Journal February 17, 2026.
