Northern spotted owl faces non-logging threats
VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The northern spotted owl face a host of threats that have nothing to do with logging, but protecting the bird's forest land base appears to be as important as ever, according to draft recommendations of a federally funded scientific review released yesterday.
Threats include surging populations of the rival barred owl in prime spotted-owl territory, the potential spread of West Nile virus to the spotted owl and the prospect of intense wildfires in overgrown eastern Cascade forests.
Scientists also are concerned that a mysterious plant disease, sudden oak death, could eventually attack large areas of tanoak, a tree favored by the spotted owl in southern Oregon and Northern California.
The threats are detailed in a draft report intended to guide the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the agency decides whether to continue listing the spotted owl under the federal Endangered Species Act. With all the uncertainties the owl faces, it is essential to maintain large blocks of federal forests now set aside as areas where the bird might breed and recover, according to the draft recommendations of the seven-scientist research committee.
"There is no hope for the spotted owl without habitat," said Jerry Franklin, a University of Washington scientist who helped sum up the committee's findings at a meeting here yesterday.
Continue reading this story from the Seattle Times:
Northern spotted owl faces nonlogging threats
