On Mon, 24 Apr 1995, Don Baccus wrote:

> Timber industry claimed today that spotted owls live fine in managed,
> 2nd growth (presumably even-aged) Doug Fir stands.
>
> Any of you folks know anything about this?


Don,

I just received, free in my newspaper advertisements, a copy of "A Walk in
the Woods", a very nicely done public guide to private forests published by
the *Washington Forest Protection Association*.

Here's what they have to say about spotted owls, etc:

"What About Threatened and Endangered Species?

"Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the
northern spotted owl has gained tremendous public attention in recent
years. In 1988, it was estimated that only 1,500 pairs of these owls
existed in the Pacific Northwest. It was also believed that the owls
nested almost exclusively in undisturbed, old-growth forests. Biologists
feared that this diminished population was dropping rapidly, possibly
approaching extinction.

"As a result, federal, state, and private landowners are now
required to leave vast acreage of undisturbed forest around each nest
site - locking up millions of dollars of timber for each protected site.

"However, during the past few years, an increasing number of owls
has been discovered. In fact, today, after almost six years of extensive
landowner research and monitoring, the total owl population is now
estimated at more than 10,000 owls in Washington, Oregon, and northern
California. Many of these owls have been found living in small tracts of
scattered old-growth and second-growth forests, bringing into question
the belief that they exclusively require huge, unbroken tracts of
old-growth to survive.

"There are many ideas about the best way to protect the northern
spotted owl. One area of speculation is that the reason owls prefer
old-growth is not for habitat, but instead because that's where their
main food sources - flying squirrels and small rodents - live. If this
proves true, the solution to the spotted owl problem may not mean
extending preserved habitat, but instead creating and maintaining habitat
for the owl's prey..."

The story then goes on to speak to the northwest salmon issue and how
private forestry can help improve salmon habitats, food and water
quality!! "While forestry was not noted as a major cause in the decline
of our wild salmon.... etc., etc."

You can be certain that the authors of this stuff believe what they
write, and that their job is to get the public to believe it, too.

Thanks for braving the rednecks, Don.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, WA
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov