Feds axe acreage of spotted owl habitat

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Feds axe acreage of spotted owl habitat

 

The amount of old-growth forest designated as critical habitat for the northern

spotted owl was slashed 23 percent, or 1.6 million acres, by the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service on Tuesday. One might think that means that spotted owls are

doing well for themselves, but no: the spotted owl population is dropping by 4

percent each year. Despite widespread efforts to protect their Northwest

old-growth home, the birds continue to lose habitat to logging, wildfires, and

the aggressive barred owl. A federal study released last month warned that the

remaining spotted owls lack genetic diversity, which may send them even more

quickly toward extinction. " I have not lost hope for spotted owls, " says

wildlife geneticist Susan Haig, " but I think we're at a pretty serious

crossroads. " The federal axing of critical-habitat acreage resulted from a

settlement with the timber industry, which complained that the 5.3 million acres

left as critical habitat is still too much.

 

 

sources: The Seattle Times, Associated Press, The Oregonian

 

 

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