2 Rulings Hailed as Aiding Spotted Owl

In rulings hailed as victories by the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld one judge’s decision and overturned another’s in lawsuits over the protection of the northern spotted owl.

The three-judge appellate panel agreed with U.S. District Judge William Dwyer’s finding last May that blocked new timber sales in the owl’s three-state habitat until the U.S. Forest Service writes a new owl management plan and environmental impact statement, due March 5. Northwest timber industry groups and the Forest Service had appealed Dwyer’s ruling on the lawsuit, filed by the Seattle Audubon Society.

In another action Monday, the appellate court reinstated the Portland Audubon Society’s suit against the Bureau of Land Management over logging decisions affecting the owl’s habitat. The decision reversed a lower court, finding that the BLM is not protected by an expired appropriations bill amendment limiting judicial review of the BLM’s logging decisions.