Conservationists sue to save spotted owl logging protections

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Environmental groups have sued to preserve protections for 3.4 million acres of northern spotted owl habitat from the US-Canada border to California.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the logging protections in the last days of the Trump administration amid praise from the timber industry, but President Joe Biden has delayed implementation of the new rules.

Democratic lawmakers called the reduction in logging protections “potential scientific meddling” and called for an investigation.

The dark-eyed owl prefers to nest in old-growth forests and received federal protections in 1990. The move dramatically redrew the landscape for Pacific Northwest loggers and launched a decades-long legal battle.

Timber groups have sued over Biden's delay in implementing the new rule.

Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-wildlife-lawsuits-forests-oregon-9924eefafc7cfb807b56b504a6ed0284