CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : 8,000 Jobs May Be Lost to Save Owl

Reconsidering the extent of its decision earlier this week, the state Department of Forestry said as many as 8,000 jobs may be lost when it expands protection of spotted-owl habitat to private lands. The rules, similar to those regulating national forests, originally were expected to cost no more than 1,900 jobs. The rules forbid logging that damages owl nests or reduces owl habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently declared the northern spotted owl, which lives in valuable old-growth forests, to be threatened with extinction because of heavy logging. This forced the state to take measures to protect the bird.