I would like to respond to the recent posting by Janet Millard of the USDA
Forest Service regarding calling of Spotted Owls. It has come to the
attention of Washington Ornithological Society that there is concern amongst
the Forest Service staff regarding unethical behavior of some birders,
especially in terms of calling of Spotted Owls. I assume that her post was
an attempt to address some of these concerns. We are working to address
these issues with a meeting between representatives of WOS and the Forest
Service. We do have concerns regarding these allegations, I hope that a
meeting would help to separate out fact from rumor. The WOS Board supports
many, but not all, of the points made in the post. We do agree that we share
many areas of common interest in the preservation and protection of
endangered species. I hope to be able to report back to you later.



Jack Stephens

President

Washington Ornithological Society

Edmonds, WA

Jstephens62 at comcast.net