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Forests Grow, Owls Decline Under Plan
Yahoo (AP) ^ | Wed Apr 20, 8:55 AM ET | Jeff Barnard

Posted on 04/20/2005 12:08:42 PM PDT by The_Victor

PORTLAND, Ore. - A decade after the Clinton administration reduced logging in national forests in the Northwest, scientists have concluded the forests are growing, but the population of the threatened northern spotted owl has declined.

Scientists reported Tuesday that the Northwest Forest Plan, adopted by the Clinton administration in 1994, resulted in an 80 percent reduction in logging on 24 million acres of land in western Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

Since the plan was adopted, medium-aged to older forests have increased by 606,000 acres to 7.9 million acres, or to about 34 percent of all forest land in the region, said Melinda Moeur, program leader for old-growth monitoring for the U.S. Forest Service.

The plan also aimed to protect the threatened northern spotted owl, of which there are about 8,000 pairs in the region.

Officials expected an average annual decline in owl numbers of 3.1 percent until enough habitat grew to stabilize populations. But the actual decline has been steeper in some areas.

Four areas in Washington saw an average 7.1 percent annual decline for the dark brown owls that inhabit forests from central California to Canada. Two study areas in southwestern Oregon saw a slight increase.

Owl populations fared slightly better on lands covered by the Northwest Forest Plan than on state or private lands, said Joe Lint, a Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist.

Scientists are not sure what is causing the declines, but possible factors include invasion of the spotted owl's habitat by the barred owl, an aggressive cousin from Canada that often drives them off, Lint said. Habitat lost to past logging, as well as wildfires, climate changes and insect infestations are also factors, he said.

The plan also failed to provide the expected timber supply and replace lost timber jobs with jobs in small towns near federal forest lands as promised, said Thomas Quigley, director of the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station.

"Many of the impacts were different than predicted," he said.

The forest plan produced an average of 421 million board feet each year — just 54 percent of what was expected, said Susan Charnley, an environmental anthropologist with the forest service.

Charnley said only 400 of the 11,000 timber jobs that have been lost since 1994 can be blamed directly on the fact that less timber has been cut on federal lands in the region. The rest were caused by restructuring in the timber industry, she said.

Compounding the economic impact of lost timber jobs has been the loss of U.S. Forest Service jobs, Charnley said. In the past 10 years, the agency's budget has shrunk, resulting in 36 percent fewer positions.



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: environment; forestry; logging; spottedowl
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Could it be that the owl's decline had nothing to do with logging? Another worthless government intervention on the record.
1 posted on 04/20/2005 12:08:44 PM PDT by The_Victor
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To: The_Victor

it also annoys me that the original directive was to replace jobs lost in the lumber industry with government positions.


I mean, what brilliant individual decided to remove profitable, productive workers, contributing to the GDP, and make them public workers.


.... oh yeah, it's a Clinton thing. Forget I said anything.


2 posted on 04/20/2005 12:13:45 PM PDT by Kidan (www.krashpad.com)
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To: The_Victor

Maybe they died of old age?


3 posted on 04/20/2005 12:14:04 PM PDT by beltfed308
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To: The_Victor

Who gives a hoot?


4 posted on 04/20/2005 12:14:54 PM PDT by dfwgator (Minutemen: Just doing the jobs that American politicians won't do.)
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To: The_Victor

I love spotted owl gumbo.


5 posted on 04/20/2005 12:15:07 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Caution. Contents under pressure.)
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To: HairOfTheDog
It's just a bunch of tree-hugging hippie crap!
6 posted on 04/20/2005 12:18:28 PM PDT by ecurbh (All I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work.)
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Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: Conspiracy Guy

of course they're dying. the only reason they were spotted in the first place was because they were already sick.


8 posted on 04/20/2005 12:19:27 PM PDT by babble-on
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To: The_Victor

Oh, but you KNOW what they'll say:

"OH, My! **Snif** We were too late, the damage had already been done... boohoohoo..."


9 posted on 04/20/2005 12:20:41 PM PDT by Frank_Discussion (May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
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To: The_Victor

Or .. could it be that the owl's decline is due to the dense forest - which maybe the owl's don't like.

Wasn't part of the environmentalist whackos obstruction of thinning the forests - to protect the owls ..?? And .. now the owls don't like the dense forests ..?? Which should prove to people that these environmentalist whackos - DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.


10 posted on 04/20/2005 12:21:27 PM PDT by CyberAnt (President Bush: "America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth")
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To: The_Victor
"Charnley said only 400 of the 11,000 timber jobs that have been lost since 1994 can be blamed directly on the fact that less timber has been cut on federal lands in the region."

Well, duhhh!

The wood products industry in the Northwest supports a lot more jobs than just loggers, sawmill and papermill workers. Each job in the wood industry supports something like 5 other jobs in the area from hospitals to service stations to insurance salesmen.

Does the Forest Service really need to hire enironmental anthropologists to tell them that?

11 posted on 04/20/2005 12:23:13 PM PDT by nightdriver
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To: Frank_Discussion
"OH, My! **Snif** We were too late, the damage had already been done... boohoohoo..."

Followed by, "We need more taxpayer funds and increased restriction on property rights. Just a few $bil more and could turn this all around."

12 posted on 04/20/2005 12:23:23 PM PDT by The_Victor (Doh!... stupid tagline)
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To: The_Victor
Charnley, the environmental anthropologist, was a pathetic piece of work. She has a glib and pathetic rationalization for the civilian jobs lost, but 36 Forest Service jobs being cut strike her as a catastrophe. "Civil Servants" like her need to be hosed out of the Federal Workforce.
13 posted on 04/20/2005 12:23:50 PM PDT by .cnI redruM (Journalists are not very bright, and invariably subscribe to a litany of dubious theories!)
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To: CyberAnt

How do you know when a LibeRaT is lying?

It's lips are moving


14 posted on 04/20/2005 12:23:57 PM PDT by BookaT (Sorry I couldn't be here for the earlier part of the postings. I really don't feel comfortable...)
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To: The_Victor
The Forest Service surveyed spotted owl populations in old growth forest and in new growth forest. They found that there were more owls in old growth than in new. However, they did not survey medium growth forest. They concluded that owls need old growth forest, and Clinton ordered the logging stopped.

If you stop and think about it, spotted owls eat small rodents. Rodents eat seeds. In really old growth forest, the forest floor is almost bare of the plants that provide seeds for rodents. However, in new growth forest, there isn't much for the owls to nest in. As a result, the owls really prefer medium growth forest, where there is both nesting and lots of plants to feed their prey. Instead of following this logic, the Forest Service prohibited logging in medium growth forests as well as in old growth.

As medium growth forests age into old growth, they become less hospitable to spotted owls. However, since the old growth is no longer being logged off, there is no opportunity for new growth to start and age into medium growth. As you'd expect, then, spotted owl population is declining.

In reality, spotted owls also grow well in scrub desert in the Southwest, and in oak savannahs in the Cadcade Range. The whole argument over spotted owls was an attempt by the envirofascists to end logging, using the owls as an excuse.

I've explained this in much more detail in my chapter "Science and Public Policy," in Michael Gough's book POLITICIZING SCIENCE, published by Hoover Institution Press. (shameless plug)

15 posted on 04/20/2005 12:25:55 PM PDT by JoeFromSidney (My book is out. Read excerpts at http://www.thejusticecooperative.com)
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To: nightdriver

Friendly editing suggestion. Your ending question, while good, could be stated more succinctly...

"Does the Forest Service really need to hire enironmental anthropologists?"


16 posted on 04/20/2005 12:25:58 PM PDT by .cnI redruM (Journalists are not very bright, and invariably subscribe to a litany of dubious theories!)
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To: Irish Owl

As per usual, I didn't feel any compelling need to read the article.  However, the decline in Temple Football has nothing to do with logging and everything to do with bad decisions and ineptitude by the TU Administration.

Peter J. Liacouras put trust in Ron Dickerson to be able to recruit top athletes, and to some extent he was successful (Stacy Mack, Tre Johnson, etc.) but his replacement, Bobby Wallace, has been completely over his head for the last seven years.  It's not enough to recruit, you have to develop and coach at this level.  For this, I blame erstwhile homosexual, President David Adamany.  Adamany and his flunky AD Bill Bradshaw, have been either asleep at the wheel or slowly trying to kill the program despite what the board of directors say.

Dropping N.C. State for Wisconsin and Dropping MTSU for Western Michigan, puts us in line for the ultimate embarrassment, a no win season.


Owl_Eagle

(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,

 it was probably sarcasm)

17 posted on 04/20/2005 12:26:47 PM PDT by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
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To: BookaT

Correct!!


18 posted on 04/20/2005 12:26:52 PM PDT by CyberAnt (President Bush: "America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth")
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To: babble-on

I like vermilion snail darter stew as well.


19 posted on 04/20/2005 12:28:40 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Caution. Contents under pressure.)
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To: babble-on

I like vermilion snail darter stew as well.


20 posted on 04/20/2005 12:28:47 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Caution. Contents under pressure.)
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