Washington: State Board to help accelerate Spotted owl extinction by ending habitat logging ban
Washington forest regulators are going to allow logging in certain
spotted owl habitat where it had been banned. The state Forest
Practices Board on Tuesday adopted an emergency rule for 2009 that
allows forest landowners to log in owl habitat under certain
conditions.
The rule replaces a statewide moratorium on logging in
certain owl sites that ends Dec. 31. It will allow landowners to log
if they show that spotted owls aren’t present. An advisory group must
also evaluate the site and conclude that it isn’t needed to protect
the owl while the board reviews logging rules next year. The spotted
owl was declared a threatened species in 1990, primarily because of
heavy logging in old growth forests. Over the years, the owls have
faced threats from logging, habitat lost to wildfire and competition
from barred owls.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_owl_logging.html
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