Spotted owl is on a dangerous decline
State to review areas of protection put in place 10 years ago
In Washington, the plan to save the spotted owl is not working.
The little-seen bird that launched the gut-wrenching timber wars of the early 1990s is declining in this state at nearly twice the rate predicted by federal scientists. And the pace at which the bird is spiraling toward extinction is quickening, researchers say. Some of the steepest declines are in the Cascades just east of Seattle.
Two-thirds of the owl nesting sites known in Washington a dec-ade ago have been abandoned, according to state researchers. Some of those forests on private land already have been cut, meaning it will be many decades before those lands shelter spotted owls again — if ever.
Today and Wednesday, the nearly decade-old rules that allowed such logging on private land are being scrutinized by the state board that originally adopted them, the Washington Forest Practices Board.
Spotted owls don’t usually build nests, instead laying their eggs in the broken tops or “chimneys” of extremely large, old trees. But the forests that surround such a nest, loaded with massive trees, are worth a lot to timber companies.
Going into what could be a nasty clash with the logging industry, environmentalists have on their side two recently completed state studies documenting the owls’ plight.
“The spotted owl population in Washington is experiencing a prolonged and accelerating decline,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife researchers Joseph Buchanan and Paula Swedeen wrote in a report released last week. “This decline has been well documented.”
But, stung by the public-relations shellacking conservationists took in the ’90s by residents who neither knew nor cared much about the owls, green groups are going easy on the anti-timber rhetoric.
“The spotted owl is maybe an unfortunate icon, but this is not just about an owl. It’s about how do we make sure we have the spotted owl and the (other) wildlife in our state and how do we make sure our industries are still in business,” said Nina Carter, executive director of Audubon Washington. “We have an open mind and we’re trying to work with and learn how the industries work.”
Continue reading this story from the Seattle P-I:
Spotted owl is on a dangerous decline