Nation IN BRIEF : OREGON : U.S. Blocks Timber Sales in Owl Habitat

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has for the first time blocked sales of timber from federal land considered vital to the survival of the endangered northern spotted owl, a federal spokesman said. The service blocked 52 timber sales by the Bureau of Land Management--nearly half the agency’s annual harvest volume in Oregon. Chris West, vice president of the Northwest Forestry Assn., said the action could be a death blow to many mills in western Oregon, where timber sales from U.S. Forest Service lands have already been blocked by a court injunction.