SAN DIEGO – Visitors to beaches in the county might be surprised to learn that federal and state officials consider the ubiquitous brown pelican as an endangered species.

“You can go anywhere along the coast of California and these things are as common as dirt. Anybody who thinks about it at all has got to be going, 'Come on! These are endangered?'” said Bill Everett, a founding member of the La Jolla-based Endangered Species Recovery Council.

The nonprofit group, which works internationally to maintain biodiversity, petitioned the federal government in late 2005 to take the brown pelican off the Endangered Species Act list.

The council is about to get its wish. On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it was starting a process to remove government safeguards for the bird.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said what Everett, other biologists and beachgoers have sensed for years: Brown pelicans from Louisiana to Southern California no longer need federal protection because they have recovered from near extinction in the 1960s and '70s, when pesticides in their food chain caused massive die-offs.

Today, about 11,000 breeding pairs live in the Southern California region, which includes islands off the Baja peninsula. The global population of brown pelicans has surpassed 620,000, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Kempthorne's announcement, made during a news conference in Louisiana, nearly ends the odyssey that Everett and other members of the species council have traveled through the federal bureaucracy. Fish and Wildlife officials expect to complete the delisting process for the pelican in about a year.

“Our motivation from the very beginning is that we think the public desperately needs to know that it's possible for things to come off of the Endangered Species Act (list),” Everett said.

H. Dale Hall, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said he also wants to highlight the law's benefits and show the public that “you can get species out of the hospital.”

In the past year, the agency has removed three other high-profile species from the endangered list: Yellowstone grizzly bears, bald eagles and some populations of gray wolves.

Hall said the agency isn't targeting popular creatures for the public relations value. Instead, he said, the agency prioritizes species for delisting based on several factors, including the likelihood that they have recovered fully and the amount of staff time spent on species that no longer need federal protection.

“We do have species in the pipeline that are not quite the... charismatic species that we are talking about today,” he said.

SAN DIEGO – Visitors to beaches in the county might be surprised to learn that federal and state officials consider the ubiquitous brown pelican as an endangered species.

“You can go anywhere along the coast of California and these things are as common as dirt. Anybody who thinks about it at all has got to be going, 'Come on! These are endangered?'” said Bill Everett, a founding member of the La Jolla-based Endangered Species Recovery Council.

The nonprofit group, which works internationally to maintain biodiversity, petitioned the federal government in late 2005 to take the brown pelican off the Endangered Species Act list.

The council is about to get its wish. On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it was starting a process to remove government safeguards for the bird.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said what Everett, other biologists and beachgoers have sensed for years: Brown pelicans from Louisiana to Southern California no longer need federal protection because they have recovered from near extinction in the 1960s and '70s, when pesticides in their food chain caused massive die-offs.

Today, about 11,000 breeding pairs live in the Southern California region, which includes islands off the Baja peninsula. The global population of brown pelicans has surpassed 620,000, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Kempthorne's announcement, made during a news conference in Louisiana, nearly ends the odyssey that Everett and other members of the species council have traveled through the federal bureaucracy. Fish and Wildlife officials expect to complete the delisting process for the pelican in about a year.

“Our motivation from the very beginning is that we think the public desperately needs to know that it's possible for things to come off of the Endangered Species Act (list),” Everett said.

H. Dale Hall, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said he also wants to highlight the law's benefits and show the public that “you can get species out of the hospital.”

In the past year, the agency has removed three other high-profile species from the endangered list: Yellowstone grizzly bears, bald eagles and some populations of gray wolves.

Hall said the agency isn't targeting popular creatures for the public relations value. Instead, he said, the agency prioritizes species for delisting based on several factors, including the likelihood that they have recovered fully and the amount of staff time spent on species that no longer need federal protection.

“We do have species in the pipeline that are not quite the... charismatic species that we are talking about today,” he said.

Fish and Wildlife Service officials have acknowledged that a handful of California species may no longer warrant a place on the endangered species list.

“We (delist) them as quickly as we can, given the budget and people power limits that we have,” said Alexandra Pitts, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service in California.

When a plant or animal is removed from the list, federal agencies no longer have to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service about whether proposed projects could harm that species. Other federal laws, such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, still offer protections.

In 1918, the bird treaty helped curb illegal killing of the brown pelicans, which were prized for their feathers.

Much of the credit for the birds' recovery is given to a federal ban on the pesticide DDT in 1972. The chemical weakened the eggs of birds, such as pelicans and eagles, so much that they broke during incubation

Fish and Wildlife Service officials have acknowledged that a handful of California species may no longer warrant a place on the endangered species list.

“We (delist) them as quickly as we can, given the budget and people power limits that we have,” said Alexandra Pitts, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service in California.

When a plant or animal is removed from the list, federal agencies no longer have to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service about whether proposed projects could harm that species. Other federal laws, such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, still offer protections.

In 1918, the bird treaty helped curb illegal killing of the brown pelicans, which were prized for their feathers.

Much of the credit for the birds' recovery is given to a federal ban on the pesticide DDT in 1972. The chemical weakened the eggs of birds, such as pelicans and eagles, so much that they broke during incubation