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Owl War II
When the Clinton administration implemented its Northwest Forest Plan, the environmental community and the press, assuming the northern spotted owl had been saved, moved on to other issues. Now the owls are telling a different story. It’s not too late to save them from oblivion, but it will require a dramatic shift in strategy.
Audubon Jan./Feb. 2009
For now, the future of the spotted owl and the vast ecosystem that sustains it rests with the Obama administration. First, there are the difficult and lengthy tasks of restoring science to the recovery plan and redesignating critical habitat. Then the Justice Department will have to aggressively defend against timber-industry lawsuits such as the one filed in September 2008 by the American Forest Resources Council seeking an even bigger cut in critical habitat than the Bush administration gave it. There are alternatives. One is uplisting the spotted owl from threatened to endangered—a disaster for the industry and certain to foment new and prolonged conflict.
Another is a federal law that once and for all ends the spotted owl wars by permanently protecting large pieces of habitat. Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) are working on legislation that could do this.
Now that we’re down to our last 20 percent of old-growth owl woods, the only hope for all people and animals that depend on these healthy forests, even the timber industry, is to slow the cut and regrow the trees. We can’t lose the spotted owl without losing a whole lot more. It is just one of many indicator species, and it has done a superb job of showing us what we’ve done wrong. But we also need to save the spotted owl for itself—not because it is an indicator species, not even because it is beautiful and unique, not because it is anything, only because it is.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Tell your lawmakers to support federal legislation to protect old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. There are a number of groups that offer information on the spotted owl situation. Consult the Audubon WatchList, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Center for Conservation Science & Policy.
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