The northern spotted owl has once again
become of the subject of debate.
Posted on 04/22/2003 10:44:50 PM PDT by farmfriend
From the April 2002 issue of The Forestry Source
The northern spotted owl has once again
become of the subject of debate.
Representing a coalition of forest products companies, the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) recently sent Secretary of Interior Gail Norton a 60-day notice of intent to file suit if the US Fish and Wildlife Service does not review on the protected status of the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet.
The two birds, both listed as threatened by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), have been called the "driving force" behind the creation of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan-a Clinton-era forest compromise agreement aimed at balancing timber harvesting and wildlife protection. The plan set aside millions of acres of federal forestland so that it could become old-growth and provide habitat to the threatened birds.
As a result, these latest series of steps by the AFRC is part of the group's on-going strategy to make available some of the timber that was promised during the development of the Northwest Forest Plan, but never delivered.
According to the AFRC, the owl's federally required five-year status review is long overdue and that the economic analysis for the designation of critical habitat was inadequate. In addition, the group contends that new evidence shows that both the owl and the murrelet are not in as precarious a situation as was initially thought to be when they received protection.
In an AFRC issue paper titled, "Endangered Species Act: ESA Impact on the Pacific Northwest," the group asserts, "The northern spotted owl was listed because it was thought that the amount of old-growth forest on which they allegedly depend was declining. No research was done to verify the assumption of exclusive old-growth dependency, which is now known to be false."
"For those reasons and others, we feel that it is time to conduct a status review and reevaluate the reasons for which the owl may be at risk and thus the appropriate management land precautions," says Chris West, AFRC vice-president.
The ESA requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to review the status of protected species every five years. The agency has neither reviewed the status of the northern spotted owl since its listing in 1990 nor that of the marbled murrelet since its listing in 1992.
However, not everyone believes the owl and the murrelet are back from the brink.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service and biologists such as the USDA Forest Service's Eric Foresman and Alan Franklin at Colorado State University say that studies of the owl since it received protection have not provided a clear picture of the bird's status.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has noted that, despite studies conducted between 1985 and 1998 that show the northern spotted owl's population declining at a slower rate, the owl's survival rate remains "lower than necessary to support a stable population."
In addition, while Franklin has admitted that the northern spotted owl may benefit when old-growth is interspersed with tracts of younger forest, he has also acknowledged that clearcut areas are not ideal for the owl either. Moreover, he warns that forests in Northern California are different from those in Oregon and Washington, thus his research findings may not apply in those regions.
Nevertheless, despite the dueling interpretations of owl population studies and disputes over where marbled murrelets feel more at home, Norton must respond to both the AFRC's petitions within 60 days of receiving them. If she does not, or if the AFRC is not satisfied with her response, the group will have the right to file suit against the government.
"We will wait until early April to see if the Interior Department responds with positive actions to the issues raised in our notice," says West "If not, we will take the next appropriate step."
Spotted Owl Listing to be Reviewed
GRANTS PASS, Oregon (AP) 4/22/03 - Anticipating settlement of a timber industry lawsuit, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said monday it will review whether the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet should stay on the endangered species list, where they remain a roadblock to logging.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene has yet to sign off on the settlement reached by the American Forset Resource Council, the Western Council of Industrial Workers, and the Fish and Wildlife, but the agency needs to get started to finish the review by the end of the year, said agency spokeswoman Joan Jewett.
Environmentalists criticized the decision as another sweatheart settlement through which the Bush administration is overhauling federal environmental policy. The timber industry praised it as a long overdue look at whether the birds really need protection.
"So many species are listed every year and then just forgotten about," said Ross Mickey of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry group. "Scientific information available on the owl when it was listed was so scant compared to what it is today. That one really needs a hard look."
The review of scientific literature and public comments -- there will be no new field studies -- will cost $700,000, Jewett said. The settlement also includes a review of critical habitat for the two birds. That will not start until 2006 because of budgetary considerations, Jewett said.
The agency has said in recent weeks it is in danger of running out of money budgeted for species listings and critical habitat designations by the end of June if it is to meet all its court-ordered deadlines.
The northern spotted owl went on the threatened species list in 1990 and the marbled murrelet in 1992, both as a result of federal court orders from lawsuits brought by environmentalists.
I agree. That would be icing on the cake for today!
Not only would we reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but they would make great fertilizer.
Within the first three years of the listing I did a 100% survey of all the loggers here in the County. Before the listing we had 1,100 loggers three years later, we were down to 350. At that time we had 1,200 spotted owls that had been located -- but only a third of the County had been surveyed.
Now, ten years later, we have lost around 80% of our logging, trucking and sawmill jobs. School enrollment is down by a third, the County has actually lost 200 people during the last census. The auto parts store closed here in town, along with many small shops. Virtually all of the small sawmills are gone. The only thing left is regional monopolies -- they are the only firms that can survive this level of regulation. So now, over half the workforce in our County works for the Federal, State, County or City government ... no wonder California is on the edge of bankruptcy - the bureau-nazis have destroyed the manufacturing sector with their pagan based regulations!
My wife and I are amazed.
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