Timber Industry Attacks Owl Proposal

SACRAMENTO —  Timber industry spokesmen Wednesday attacked a federal proposal to declare the northern spotted owl a threatened species in California and Oregon woodlands.

In testimony submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they asserted that owls live just as well in managed timber lands as they do in old forests.

The owl has become an issue in the ongoing battle between environmentalists and the timber industry over logging in Northern California and other parts of the Pacific Northwest.

Industry leaders charge that the environmental movement’s promotion of the owl for “threatened” or “endangered” status is really aimed at curbing logging of older trees on private land.