Oregon officials denied a petition, submitted by environmental advocates this summer, to grant protection to the Humboldt marten under the state's Endangered Species Act.

The tiny mammals, small carnivores in the weasel family of which there are thought to be fewer than 200 in the state, once roamed the coastal mountains from the Columbia River south to Sonoma County in Northern California, but their population has been decimated by over-trapping and logging of old growth forests, according to the petition, which was submitted in June.

In Oregon, only two populations of the marten exist, one in the Siskiyou National Forest and the other in the Siuslaw National Forest, both isolated from one another. A recent study found that even the incidental death of one or two martens per year could lead to extinction of the Oregon populations in coming decades.

At a fish and wildlife commission meeting in Bandon on Friday, state officials said the petition lacked the scientific evidence necessary to grant the animal special protection.

"Humboldt martens have been nearly wiped out in Oregon, but state wildlife officials are obstinately refusing to protect them," said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that filed the petition. "Oregon's decision to ignore the available science could lead to the extirpation of the state's cutest creature."

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048