Feds to Red Knot--take a number

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have determined that the Red Knot, which has declined more than 50 percent in the last ten years "warrants protection", but since other species are even more rare (like the Gunnison Sage Grouse, which they refused to list as an endangered species after it had one good year out of five--see one possible reason for that decision here), the knots cannot be listed as endangered. What kind of crap is that? The Endangered Species Act would work if we could get real enforcement rather than this bureaucratic hokum. I'm usually a big fan of USFWS, but this is ridiculous. Why are they spending time trying to determine if penguins, which don't even live in the United States, warrant protection while doing nothing to help a U.S. species like the Red Knot which they know does "warrant protection"?