Environmental group threatens to sue federal agencies over northern spotted owl protection
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An environmental group is threatening to sue a pair of federal agencies, claiming they haven't protected northern spotted owls in the north state over the past 15 years.
The Conservation Congress, a nonprofit environmental group formed in 2004, sent letters to the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week to give notice of the potential lawsuit. The lawsuit would focus on projects in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, which covers 2.1 million acres around Redding.
"We hope that these agencies will be willing to work with us so we don't have to bring a full lawsuit," said Denise Boggs, executive director of Conservation Congress, who lives in Lewiston, Mont.
The group calls for the federal agencies to establish a new monitoring program and database for northern spotted owls in Shasta-Trinity National Forest before allowing any more logging or other work in owl habitat.
Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service representatives said they wouldn't comment on potential litigation.
"We are just looking into it," said Ray Mooney, spokesman for Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Boggs said Conservation Congress, which is incorporated in California, reviewed 175 projects - including timber sales, mining and road work - in Shasta-Trinity over the past 15 years and found a lack of monitoring for the northern spotted owl.
The northern spotted owl's status as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in June 1990 led to restrictions on the harvest of old-growth timber that crippled logging operations up and down the West Coast. While the California spotted owl, a cousin to the northern spotted owl, also is found in the north state, it's not listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Boggs said the numbers of northern spotted owls in Washington and Oregon have continued to drop in recent years, making the northern spotted owls in the north state even more important.
"Northern California is kind of the last stronghold," she said.
Reporter Dylan Darling can be reached at 225-8266 or at ddarling@redding.com.
