Bird News Network - January 9, 2008.
Oregon Forest Plan: Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet Jeopardized 

Comments are due Jan. 11, concerning the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) that affect 2.5 million acres of federal forests in southern Oregon, and as drafted, will have significant negative impacts on both Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet habitat.  A recent editorial by the Eugene Register-Guard provides an excellent overview of the situation. Click here for summary of WOPR by the National Center for Conservation Science & Policy and you can read a copy of the WOPR plan at http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/wopr/index.php .

Many Bird Conservation Alliance member groups signed on to a comment letter concerning the Draft Spotted Owl Recovery Plan that was helpful in shifting the process in the right direction. Several committees have been established by FWS to review the science underlying the draft plan. And while this scientifically-flawed plan is still moving forward, it is now the subject of an Interior Department Inspector General investigation into political interference with the process that could require the agency to start over.

Concerns were successfully raised about the Spotted Owl Recovery Plan with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, by national environmental groups. Many thanks to our colleagues at American Lands Alliance, National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and The Wilderness Society for their work on this issue. While ABC and our partners were not successful in eliminating funding for the draft Owl Plan in the FY2008 omnibus appropriations bill or logging funds targeting their habitat, important groundwork was prepared for addressing these threats in the FY2009 Interior bill. Contact , ABC.

Photos: Spotted Owl: FWS. Old-growth forest in Olympia National Park, Washington: Steve Holmer.