A Clear-Cut Victory for the Owl : Wisely, U.S. Forest Service acts to curb logging in California’s national forests

The U.S. Forest Service’s recent decision to restrict logging in California’s national forests is a recognition that, certainly in the case of wildlife, it’s possible to study a question to death.

The California spotted owl is not yet listed as endangered, but the Forest Service has classified it as a “sensitive species.” The question was whether the agency should take additional steps to protect the California spotted owl, a close relative of the northern spotted owl, by protecting its habitat--the old-growth forests in the Sierra Nevada. The answer plainly was “yes,” but the cost of that protection, estimated in thousands of timber industry jobs likely to be lost, made the call a tough one.

By acting now, the Forest Service likely has mitigated future job losses.

Timber companies will now be barred from clear-cutting in old-growth forests: Trees with diameters of more than 30 inches must be spared. This change will reduce by about 25% the annual volume of lumber taken from 5.3 million acres within the 10 national forests in the Sierra. To the timber industry, that means the elimination of as many as 11,400 jobs. The restrictions will remain in effect for at least two years, starting March 1.

The Forest Service’s shift in policy follows recommendations first made last year by a team of wildlife biologists. The agency could have waited until another federal commission produced a protection plan for the owls, but that process could take up to five years. By that point, the California spotted owl would likely have ended up on the endangered species list, leaving the Forest Service with no choice but to ban logging in owl habitat. That would have meant even more job losses and greater uncertainty in the industry.

The agency wanted to come up with a plan that would prevent the estimated 2,000 remaining pairs of California spotted owls from continuing their slow drift toward extinction and at the same time ensure a steady, dependable supply of timber that the industry could count on. The new policy accomplishes both goals and may also avoid the courtroom showdowns that have stopped logging altogether on millions of federal acres in Washington, Oregon and northern California.

The Forest Service--which is being pressured to back down by the timber industry and even a member of the state Board of Forestry--is to be commended for taking early steps to save a species rather than stepping in only when it is too late.

The agency’s approach should also give new impetus to discouraged legislators and forestry officials to enact long-overdue protection of old-growth forests--and the wildlife within them--on private lands within the state.