Subject: Re: spotted owl population ecology...
Date: Apr 25 07:32:53 1995
From: "Roger Peffer" - rpeffer at ctc.ctc.edu


In message <9504250018.AA15499 at picard.vwo.verdix.com> writes:
> Timber industry claimed today that spotted owls live fine in managed,
> 2nd growth (presumably even-aged) Doug Fir stands.

Living on the East-side our forests are a little different. Someone more versed
than I can relate specifics but...
Over here- (Wenatchee Natl Forest) when they originally harvested timber, they
usually did not take "all" the trees. Some were left behind. What has followed
is a second growth forest intermixed with old-growth. This has made a forest
with old-growth "character". Multi-layered canopy, snags, etc- the components
spotted owls are supposed to like. Of course the local timber industry now
promulgates thru the media that spottys live in second growth just fine. They
fail to point out the specific requirements of the owl and how our forests
happen to have those components. We need to have a different term for these
types of forests other than second growth. Politicians, the timber industry,
etc. are just trying to simplify terms for a complex ecosystem to push their
resource extraction agenda.

********************************************************************************
Roger Peffer- rpeffer at ctc.edu 509-662-1651 X2017
Wenatchee Valley College
Biology/Chemistry Departments
1300 Fifth Street
Wenatchee, WA 98801