FW: [NFPA] 9th Circuit ruling buttresses spotted owl protection

Thank goodness for the 9th Circuit in times like these.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Spencer Lennard
Sent: August 08, 2004 6:28 PM
To: Recipient List Suppressed:
Subject: [NFPA] 9th Circuit ruling buttresses spotted owl protection


http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127~2896~2320647,00.html

9th Circuit ruling buttresses spotted owl protection

The Times-Standard

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling that
could have broad implications on old forest logging in federal forests,
Friday overturned U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's interpretation of the
Endangered Species Act's protections of the northern spotted owl.

The case, Gifford Pinchot Task Force v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
questioned whether the Fish and Wildlife Service was adequately
protecting the designated "critical habitat" of northern spotted owls.

Gifford Pinchot Task Force, an Oregon nonprofit organization, was joined
by other Oregon nonprofits: Cascadia Wildlands Project, Northwest
Environmental Defense Center, Oregon Natural Resources Council Fund,
American Lands Alliance, Bark and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center; and
Washington nonprofits: Northwest Ecosystem Alliance and Pacific Crest
Biodiversity Project.

The case involved six representative areas in Northern California,
Oregon and Washington state.

Appellants had argued that the FWS' finding that timber harvest in the
spotted owls' habitat did not constitute "destruction or adverse
modification" of that habitat.

The 9th Circuit Court ruled that the Endangered Species Act "was written
not merely to forestall the extinction of species ... but to allow a
species to recover to the point where it may be delisted."

Appellants had argued that analysis of jeopardy to species "must look to
the actual species themselves instead of simply analyzing habitat ...
(or) must continually verify habitat models by on-the-ground population
verifications."

The 9th Circuit said, "Focus on actual species count is an overly narrow
interpretation of what is required under the jeopardy prong."

The court also determined that the Northwest Forest Plan "was developed
on sound scientific analysis as an effective method to conserve the
spotted owl."

George Sexton, conservation director for the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands
Center, said in a statement: "For years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has been handing out spotted owl kill permits in critical
old-growth habitat like candy. The open season on spotted owls has
finally ended."
-- 


Keep the KS Wild!
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center
POB 332 Williams OR 97544 
541-846-1352
cell-541-941-9242
http://www.kswild.org

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