| Trump Opens Habitat of a Threatened Owl to Timber Harvesting |
| Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=57935"><span class="small">Lisa Friedman and Catrin Einhorn, The New York Times</span></a> |
| Thursday, 14 January 2021 13:15 |
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Excerpt: "The Trump administration on Wednesday removed more than 3 million acres of Pacific Northwest land from the protected habitat of the northern spotted owl, 15 times the amount it had previously proposed opening to the timber industry."
Trump Opens Habitat of a Threatened Owl to Timber Harvesting14 January 21
The plan, issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, grew out of a legal settlement with a lumber association that had sued the government in 2013 over 9.5 million acres that the agency designated as essential to the survival of the northern spotted owl. The federal protections restricted much of the land from timber harvesting, which companies claimed would lead to calamitous economic losses. But rather than trim about 200,000 acres of critical habitat in Oregon, as the agency initially proposed in August, the new plan will eliminate protections from 3.4 million acres across Washington, California and Oregon. What is left will mostly be land that is protected for reasons beyond the spotted owl. |
he Trump administration on Wednesday removed more than 3 million acres of Pacific Northwest land from the protected habitat of the northern spotted owl, 15 times the amount it had previously proposed opening to the timber industry.