The new spotted owl recovery plan written by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is being rushed to completion without taking into account the best science for how the owl can be saved, a coalition of forestry groups said today.
Instead, the recovery plan would hurt forest owners and the rural economy by tying up private lands, and increase the risk of wildfire by reducing efforts to thin forests and improve forest health. The plan also offers few remedies for the central factor in the spotted owl’s decline: the invasion of a more dominant species, the barred owl.