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Killing of Spotted Owls Declared Illegal
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For Immediate release: Friday, August 6, 2004
Contact: George Sexton: (541) 488-5789
In a ruling with very large implications for contentious old-growth logging in federal forests, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today determined that kill permits for timber sales within "critical habitat" for the Northern Spotted Owl have been issued without the proper safeguards. The court held that government timber sale planners had ignored the importance of critical habitat for recovery of the owls.
"[T]he ESA 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," Judge Gould wrote in the unanimous opinion for the three judge panel. "If FWS follows its own regulation, then it is obligated to be indifferent to, if not to ignore, the recovery goal of critical habitat," the court's opinion continued. "This cannot be right," Gould concluded.
"For years the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been handing out Spotted Owl kill permits in critical old-growth habitat like candy, " said George Sexton, Conservation Director for the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "The open season on Spotted Owls has finally ended."
Stephanie Parent of the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, lead attorney for the appellants in the case, said that the case will likely lead to increased protections for the critical habitat of endangered species throughout the vast region encompassed by the Ninth Circuit. "This opinion will force the federal government to take a close look at how its actions affect species' recovery before approving activities that could harm critical habitat. The agencies have illegally tried to avoid this responsibility for many years, and we're happy that the court has put an end to it."
For additional information, contact:
Stephanie Parent (503) 768-6736 Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center
George Sexton (541) 488-5789 Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center
The full text of the opinion is available at: http://www.lclark.edu/org/peac/
Contact: George Sexton: (541) 488-5789
In a ruling with very large implications for contentious old-growth logging in federal forests, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today determined that kill permits for timber sales within "critical habitat" for the Northern Spotted Owl have been issued without the proper safeguards. The court held that government timber sale planners had ignored the importance of critical habitat for recovery of the owls.
"[T]he ESA 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," Judge Gould wrote in the unanimous opinion for the three judge panel. "If FWS follows its own regulation, then it is obligated to be indifferent to, if not to ignore, the recovery goal of critical habitat," the court's opinion continued. "This cannot be right," Gould concluded.
"For years the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been handing out Spotted Owl kill permits in critical old-growth habitat like candy, " said George Sexton, Conservation Director for the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "The open season on Spotted Owls has finally ended."
Stephanie Parent of the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, lead attorney for the appellants in the case, said that the case will likely lead to increased protections for the critical habitat of endangered species throughout the vast region encompassed by the Ninth Circuit. "This opinion will force the federal government to take a close look at how its actions affect species' recovery before approving activities that could harm critical habitat. The agencies have illegally tried to avoid this responsibility for many years, and we're happy that the court has put an end to it."
For additional information, contact:
Stephanie Parent (503) 768-6736 Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center
George Sexton (541) 488-5789 Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center
The full text of the opinion is available at: http://www.lclark.edu/org/peac/