PHOENIX (AP) -- Federal officials are still trying to decide if Arizona's desert-nesting bald eagles should continue to be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The decision is expected by Dec. 5 and rests on a scientific review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

State wildlife officials say they've never been asked to weigh in on protecting Arizona's bald eagles as a distinct population.

Questions stem from the U.S. Interior Department decision in July to end Endangered Species Act protection for the estimated 11,000 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the contiguous 48 states.

Arizona currently has fewer than 50 breeding pairs of desert-nesting bald eagles.

In March, a federal judge ruled that Arizona's bald eagles may face greater risks of extinction and, at least temporarily, put them back on the Endangered Species List.

In 2004, conservation groups petitioned the government to consider listing the Arizona birds as a distinct population segment, because they are smaller and lighter than other bald eagles and because their numbers are relatively few across Arizona's arid landscape.

Two years later, the groups sued to get the federal Fish and Wildlife Service to address the petition, which led to U.S. District Court Judge Mary Murguia's decision.

The Arizona Game & Fish Department, the official monitor of the state's eagles, supported the national proposal to delist bald eagles.

Murguia criticized Fish and Wildlife for consulting with Game & Fish about the petition.

According to Murguia, Game & Fish did participate in the decision and their participation was illegal.

---

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.