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Stop the Owl Extinction Plan: Political Interference Puts Birds, Forests, and Science At Risk

Picture of Northern Spotted OwlThe Bush administration has a long record of putting politics above science. Now they are at it again: the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a new “recovery plan” for the threatened northern spotted owl that would seriously weaken safeguards for the owl as well as for the old growth forests it needs to survive.

The flawed plan, which should have been based on the best available science, was instead derailed by a pattern of political interference all the way from Washington, DC. This is just one piece of an aggressive timber industry campaign to increase logging by weakening protections for salmon, clean water, and old-growth forest ecosystems.

This “extinction plan” cannot go forward! Please take action to tell the Fish and Wildlife Service by August 24 not to bow to the timber industry while our nation’s forests, rivers, and wildlife pay the price.

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Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Don't undermine needed protections for spotted owls

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am extremely concerned that the Draft Recovery Plan for the northern spotted owl released on April 26, 2007, would seriously weaken needed protections for this imperiled species.

I was shocked to learn that the plan options are the result of political interference and are not based on the best available science.

I understand that a high-level team of political appointees in Washington, DC -- including a former timber-industry lobbyist and Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald -- ordered the recovery team to recommend considerably weaker protections for the owl than are currently in place.

As a result of this political manipulation, both plan options would significantly reduce the amount of protected old growth habitat.

It appears that once again, political appointees have suppressed science and manipulated the process in order to ensure a result that would favor the timber industry over the needs of the owl.

Neither option of the draft recovery plan should be finalized, as both would undermine safeguards for the imperiled bird and fail to protect much of the old growth forest that is essential for the survival and recovery of the owl as well as the wellbeing of countless other species.

Instead, the plan should be redone using the best available science in consultation with federal, state, and university owl scientists.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
August 13, 2007


Background Information

 Earthjustice At Work

Old Growth Forest Picture

Earthjustice has long been working to protect old growth forests and wildlife habitat in the Northwest.  Click below to learn more about our work:

- A court case brought by Earthjustice held that government authorization of timber sales on federal public lands was illegal because it failed to evaluate the impacts of that logging on old-growth forests. 

- The ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest were being felled at a rate that could have made them disappear altogether within decades, but our litigation to save the northern spotted owl from extinction slowed the rate of logging dramatically in the nick of time.

- Learn how the Northwest Forest Plan has protected 24 million acres of public forests from relentless clear-cut logging practices and how Earthjustice continues to fight the weakening of this management framework.

In April of 2007, the Fish and Wildlife Service published a misguided draft of a recovery plan for the threatened northern spotted owl. If finalized as is, this plan would weaken safeguards for the imperiled bird as well as protections for the old growth forests the owl (and countless other species) needs to survive.

The flawed plan was derailed by a pattern of political interference from the Bush administration instead of using the best available science. A high-level team of political appointees in Washington, DC, -- including a former timber-industry lobbyist [is this Mark Rey? Why not name whoever it is?] and the now infamous Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald -- ordered that substantial changes be made to an original draft that resulted in considerably weaker protections for the owl than are currently in place. MacDonald resigned on May 1 after internal investigations revealed that she rode roughshod over numerous decisions by agency scientists concerning protection of our nation’s endangered species.

The draft was put together with advice from a team consisting of representatives from federal and state agencies, the timber industry, and conservation groups It did not include any of the many well-recognized, independent scientists with expertise in owl biology. While review of agency documents by department officials in itself is not unusual, in this case the high level of political interference clearly allowed the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to have an inappropriate amount of influence, resulting in a recovery plan that is based on politics, not science.

To make matters worse, the Fish and Wildlife Service has already used this weak recovery plan to justify proposing the removal of protections from over 1.5 million acres of the owl's old growth forest habitat –- allowing more logging and development and harming the owl's chance of recovery.

Two members of the recovery plan team have come forward to make it known that Bush administration political appointees suppressed science in the draft recovery plan and manipulated the process in order to ensure a result that would favor the timber industry over the needs of the owl. The timber industry has long fought against habitat protections for spotted owls as part of an aggressive campaign to increase the amount of timber cut from Northwest federal public forests by weakening protections for salmon, clean water, and old-growth forest ecosystems. If they get their way, hundreds of thousands of acres of magnificent, old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest could be cut down.

  • Click here to read an electronic copy of the draft recovery plan.

Background

The Fish and Wildlife Service listed northern spotted owls as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1990. The owl relies on the last remaining old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, and is an indicator species of the health of the larger system. Today, less than 20 percent of the original old-growth forests remain throughout the region. Old growth forests are important sources of clean air and water and support native salmon runs while providing habitat for countless rare animals and plants, some found nowhere else on earth.

In 1994, the Northwest Forest Plan became the cornerstone for conserving the owl through a network of old growth forest reserves across 24.4 million acres of federal land in western Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. The Bush administration’s recent manipulation of the science behind the spotted owl recovery plan is part of a larger plan to dismantle the entire Northwest Forest Plan and significantly increase logging all across the region.

What You Can Do

Picture of Northern Spotted OwlIt is critical that this flawed “extinction plan” not move forward! A weak owl recovery plan could lift protections for hundreds of old growth associated species that depend on intact older forests.

Please, take action by August 24 to tell the Fish and Wildlife Service not to undermine protections for the northern spotted owl or the old growth forests it depends on! We cannot stand by and let the administration bow to the timber industry while our nation’s forests, rivers, and wildlife pay the price.

You can submit comments in writing to:

NSO Recovery Plan
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
911 NE 11th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97232