At 03:22 PM 11/20/98 EST, StahlfeldE at aol.com wrote:

>I am also troubled by the suggestion that the owl had to be moved because
>otherwise the public might not continue to associate Spotted Owls with old-
>growth forests, or that possibly this Spotted Owl might survive and cast
doubt
>on "established" scientific studies, facts and theories.

If you're referring to comments I made, I merely said that I wouldn't be
surprised if timber interests didn't try to make such claims.

I didn't say that this was probably motivation for moving the owl, nor
did I say that I thought such efforts to confuse things would be particularly
successful.

One poster verified that my speculation did conform to events in California,
i.e. that the timber industry DID make such statements when a young owl
spent the winter along the American River in a Sacramento suburb. So my
speculation isn't all that far-fetched.

>Ah, yes, echoes of peregrine falcons. Thirty years ago how many would have
>thought about peregrines nesting on the WaMu building in downtown Seattle?!

Makes sense with peregrines, though, city buildings are a fine analogue for
the cliffs they nest on in nature.

Downtown Everett doesn't seem to be much of an analogue for old-growth
forest, though.



- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net