SEATTLE – A federal judge on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction to stop Weyerhaeuser Co. from logging in spotted owl habitat on four parcels of private land in Washington state.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman did not grant an additional request by the Seattle and Kittitas Audubon Societies to stop the state from granting permits to log in spotted owl habitat.
The injunction from logging covers spotted owl habitat within 2.7 miles of the center of four circles of private land in southwestern Washington, which Pechman called a good estimate of the size of an owl’s home range in that area. Each 2.7-mile radius circle includes more than 14,000 acres.
“It really shows the Endangered Species Act still has some teeth in it,” said Kenan Block, a spokesman for the Washington Forest Law Center.
Weyerhaeuser spokesman Frank Mendizabal said the company was disappointed in some aspects of Pechman’s ruling but did not think the injunction would affect its operations in the short term because Weyerhaeuser is not currently logging in the 50,000 acres in question.
He said Weyerhaeuser has been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study and protect spotted owls and will continue to manage the land in a way it feels is consistent with the judge’s order.
The owl was declared a threatened species in 1990 primarily because of heavy logging in the old-growth forests where it nests and feeds. While old-growth forests suitable for owl habitat have increased, owl numbers have continued to decline, recent research shows.
In her decision, Pechman cited several court cases that defined what the Endangered Species Act means when it says it is unlawful for any person to “take” an endangered or threatened species. The harm can be indirect and caused by habitat modification, if that modification kills or injures wildlife. She discussed both habitat loss and degradation in her ruling.
Pechman said in her order that since 2004, the state has approved logging well within 2.7 miles of the center of two of the habitat areas on Weyerhaeuser land.
In not granting an injunction against the state, Pechman said the court could not make a finding on whether owls likely inhabit other owl circles around the state because scientific data about owl habitat outside of southwest Washington was not current.
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