The story of the northern spotted owl, its dwindling numbers and the fierce battle over its existence and its habitat, is one of greed, ideologies, politics, and lies—and one that I’ve witnessed for decades.
Thanks for this important update on the Spotted Owl! I was involved in forest defense in Oregon in the early 2000s. At action camps in the forest we would hear the Spotted Owls. We would mimic their calls and they would call back and come closer. I never saw one, but heard many. It was a very magical experience.
Just a couple notes about the Clinton administration:
The Northwest Forest Plan of 1994 restarted logging of old growth, which had been halted for three years due to successful lawsuits. The goal of "zero cut" had in fact been attained by hard work from environmentalists, but with the plan, Clinton retreated from that. The conference Clinton set up that hammered out the plan was dominated by logging interests so this is not surprising. It was seen as a terrible blow at the time by many forest defenders.
You didn't mention (so I am assuming you haven't heard of) the infamous "Salvage Rider" that Congress passed and Clinton signed the very next year, 1995, which was terrible for old growth throughout the West, including Spotted Owl habitat. Forest defenders at the time called it the “Logging without Laws” rider. Quote: "The Salvage Rider directed the Forest Service to cut old-growth timber in the Pacific Northwest that the agency had proposed for sale but subsequently withdrew due to environmental concerns, endangered species listings, and court rulings." This, in effect, crippled much of the NW Forest Plan. Though the rider was temporary, just three years long, the damage done during that time was horrific.
Fun fact: "Mark Rey, a former lobbyist for the timber industry and former head of the United States Forest Service under Bush, authored Bush’s forest plan [the so-called "Healthy Forests Initiative"] and Clinton’s salvage bill while working as an aide for Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho."
Some details are in this article by Joshua Frank (from which I pulled the above quotes):
If you'd like to know more about the betrayals of our forests by the Clinton administration, here's an interview I did with Tim Hermach, founder and director of the Native Forest Council (in Eugene, Oregon), whose forest defender days go back to the 1980s. He claims (and would know) that more old growth was cut during the 8 years of Clinton than under the 12 of Reagan/Bush I.
While I was brushing up on the Salvage Rider, I ran across the "Daines Amendment" which is essentially a reboot of the Salvage Rider, but with no expiration date. Sen. Daines [R-MT] first tried to attach it to the bipartisan infrastructure bill, then had it successfully added to the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. I had somehow missed this. It's really awful.
Quote:
"Like the 1995 Salvage Rider, the Daines amendment would exempt logging from the National Environmental Policy Act or “any other applicable law.” It also precludes the resulting timber sales from administrative review, and it curtails the courts from stopping damaging timber sales. The Daines amendment has no expiration date, would authorize logging of up to 10,000 acres—nearly 16 square miles—at a time, and makes any environmental analysis of those timber sales completely optional."
Great article and call to action. Thanks!
Thanks so much!
Thanks for this important update on the Spotted Owl! I was involved in forest defense in Oregon in the early 2000s. At action camps in the forest we would hear the Spotted Owls. We would mimic their calls and they would call back and come closer. I never saw one, but heard many. It was a very magical experience.
Just a couple notes about the Clinton administration:
The Northwest Forest Plan of 1994 restarted logging of old growth, which had been halted for three years due to successful lawsuits. The goal of "zero cut" had in fact been attained by hard work from environmentalists, but with the plan, Clinton retreated from that. The conference Clinton set up that hammered out the plan was dominated by logging interests so this is not surprising. It was seen as a terrible blow at the time by many forest defenders.
You didn't mention (so I am assuming you haven't heard of) the infamous "Salvage Rider" that Congress passed and Clinton signed the very next year, 1995, which was terrible for old growth throughout the West, including Spotted Owl habitat. Forest defenders at the time called it the “Logging without Laws” rider. Quote: "The Salvage Rider directed the Forest Service to cut old-growth timber in the Pacific Northwest that the agency had proposed for sale but subsequently withdrew due to environmental concerns, endangered species listings, and court rulings." This, in effect, crippled much of the NW Forest Plan. Though the rider was temporary, just three years long, the damage done during that time was horrific.
Fun fact: "Mark Rey, a former lobbyist for the timber industry and former head of the United States Forest Service under Bush, authored Bush’s forest plan [the so-called "Healthy Forests Initiative"] and Clinton’s salvage bill while working as an aide for Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho."
Some details are in this article by Joshua Frank (from which I pulled the above quotes):
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/08/04/the-inconvenient-truth-about-al-gore/
If you'd like to know more about the betrayals of our forests by the Clinton administration, here's an interview I did with Tim Hermach, founder and director of the Native Forest Council (in Eugene, Oregon), whose forest defender days go back to the 1980s. He claims (and would know) that more old growth was cut during the 8 years of Clinton than under the 12 of Reagan/Bush I.
https://radiofreesunroot.com/2021/01/19/ep-51-spark-of-fury-feat-tim-hermach/
While I was brushing up on the Salvage Rider, I ran across the "Daines Amendment" which is essentially a reboot of the Salvage Rider, but with no expiration date. Sen. Daines [R-MT] first tried to attach it to the bipartisan infrastructure bill, then had it successfully added to the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. I had somehow missed this. It's really awful.
Quote:
"Like the 1995 Salvage Rider, the Daines amendment would exempt logging from the National Environmental Policy Act or “any other applicable law.” It also precludes the resulting timber sales from administrative review, and it curtails the courts from stopping damaging timber sales. The Daines amendment has no expiration date, would authorize logging of up to 10,000 acres—nearly 16 square miles—at a time, and makes any environmental analysis of those timber sales completely optional."
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/07/23/the-return-of-logging-without-laws/