Environmental groups are feeling more hopeful about the Northern Spotted Owl, thanks an announcement by the Interior Department.
A Northern Spotted Owl along the McKenzie River. Courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Interior says it won’t defend a Bush Administration plan to cut back Spotted Owl protections. The announcement came in a court filing. The feds are involved in a three way court fight with the timber industry and environmental groups over the spotted owl recovery plan.
The feds say they’re withdrawing it because Bush appointees meddled in the plan for political reasons. They’re asking the courts for another 30 days to work on a new recovery plan with the other groups involved in the lawsuit.
Earthjustice in Seattle says it applauds the decision. The group’s Todd True called it, “A victory for those who value sound government and scientific integrity.”
What’s not so clear is how this decision will affect logging in Western Oregon. If more old growth forests are protected to help the Spotted Owl, then that leaves less forest for logging. But Michael Campbell with the Portland BLM office says the impact of the announcement is unclear. BLM’s plan calls for major increases in timber harvests on about 2.6 million acres in Western Oregon. Until a new spotted owl recovery program is released, Campbell says it’s impossible to know if that logging plan needs to be changed.
This is great news. The Obama administration seems to be making an clean break form George W. Bush’s anti-science policies. Let’s hope Obama’s team gets it right when the plan is remanded to FWS. They need clear instructions to protect all remaining suitable habitat (i.e. mature & old-growth forests) in order to increase the chances that spotted owls can co-exist with the newly invading barred owls (and decrease competitive interactions).
Protecting old forests is more important than ever given the need for carbon storage to mitigate climate change. See
http://tinyurl.com/2n96m5 and
http://www.slideshare.net/dougoh/forest-carbon-climate-myths-presentation/