Obama plan for spotted owl targets rival bird

[dogg57]

WASHINGTON — To save the imperiled spotted owl, the Obama administration is moving forward with a controversial plan to shoot barred owls, a rival bird that has shoved its smaller cousin aside.
The plan is the latest federal attempt to protect the northern spotted owl, the passive, one-pound bird that sparked an epic battle over logging in the Pacific Northwest two decades ago.
The government set aside millions of acres of forest to protect the owl, but the bird’s population continues to decline a 40 percent slide in 25 years.
A plan announced Tuesday would designate habitat considered critical for the bird’s survival, while allowing logging to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and to create jobs. Habitat loss and competition from barred owls are the biggest threats to the spotted owl.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the draft plan “a science-based approach to forestry that restores the health of our lands and wildlife and supports jobs and revenue for local communities.”
By removing selected barred owls and better managing forests, officials can give communities, foresters and land managers in three states important tools to promote healthier and more productive forests, Salazar said.

http://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/article_4b12b08d-e427-5709-a725-046345e37639.html

 

[46er]

WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the draft plan “a science-based approach to forestry that restores the health of our lands and wildlife and supports jobs and revenue for local communities.”

By removing selected barred owls and better managing forests, officials can give communities, foresters and land managers in three states important tools to promote healthier and more productive forests, Salazar said.

Would that be considered 'profiling'

Wait until Audubon members read about this

 

[Gibby]

There is a glimmer of hope in the article. Eric Forsman has studied Spotted Owls for over forty years. The Obama administration should listen to what he has to say.

 

[oji]

Why don't we try ending the habitat loss and see if that cures the problem!

 

[manumuskin]

I like Barred owls...much better then Obama.

 

[jburd641]

Seems like a better plan than the Bush administration's, which was to cut habitat.

http://kdrv.com/news/local/35578

Politics aside, it's a tough problem.

 

[dogg57]

Seems like a better plan than the Bush administration's, which was to cut habitat.

http://kdrv.com/news/local/35578

Politics aside, it's a tough problem.

Why dwell in the past?Barred owls are asking?

 

[DeepXplor]

I like Barred owls...much better then Obama.

I agree. I like most things better than obama

 

[whippoorbill]

Why don't we try ending the habitat loss and see if that cures the problem!

Yup.

This is an excellent book on the subject of habitat loss, Tom. I read it many years ago and it stuck with me.

"In a wonderful weave of science, metaphor, and prose, David Quammen applies the lessons of island biogeography - the study of the distribution of species on islands and islandlike patches of landscape - to modern ecosystem decay, offering us insight into the origin and extinction of species, our relationship to nature, and the future of our world."


For the record, I like spotted owls, barred owls, and Obama.

 

[manumuskin]

at least spotted owls and barred owls are both native.

 

[Dragonfly Whisperer]

The Spotted owl 20 years ago is what turned me into a Tree Hugger. No regrets there, I love studying our natural environment. At that time the problem was habitiat loss and still is. Sad that they should think to shoot a native bird just so they can continue with the habitat destruction with lesser impact on the Spotted Owl. The barred owls have the same right to exsist here. Why dont they ever go after these European Starlings and Sparrows that wreak havoc on our native bird populations?

 

[manumuskin]

for the same reasons the people who take invasive picture plants don't go after Phragmites and Dandelions.

 

[Dragonfly Whisperer]

Phragmites definately need to be erradicated, along with the purple loostrife, no question there. My solution to dandelions is rather simple; eat them.

 

[manumuskin]

have you ever had Dandelion/Chicory coffee brewed from the roots?I used to make it,I loved it and I don't even like coffee.Used to make sumac lemonade too,tastes like unsweetened lemonade but you have to strain the hairs out first.

 

[Old Crazy]

I like Barred owls...much better then Obama.

If Obama's Keynesian economic policy, energy policy and health care reform proceed through this decade unabated, this discussion will shift from "Which owl should we save?" to "Which owl tastes better?"

 

[46er]

Quick, somebody get a shotgun and shoot it!!!! Reported sighted in Haddonfield; the NW birds must have heard of Obama's plan and are fleeing the region, perhaps to mount an aerial assault on Washington DC. This one appears to have the combat laser eye upgrade.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martytdx/6951178157

 

[manumuskin]

I have started something nasty.

 

[whippoorbill]

If Obama's Keynesian economic policy, energy policy and health care reform proceed through this decade unabated, this discussion will shift from "Which owl should we save?" to "Which owl tastes better?"

Quick, somebody get a shotgun and shoot it!!!! Reported sighted in Haddonfield; the NW birds must have heard of Obama's plan and are fleeing the region, perhaps to mount an aerial assault on Washington DC. This one appears to have the combat laser eye upgrade.

Fox News and Comedy Central.

This thread isn't about economics, energy and health-care reform, though I would join many in arguing that our current administration is attempting to move us in a sensible direction in regard to each.

Encroachment on owl territory has gone on for decades. Maybe we should have listened to the environmentalists back then. I haven't seen any other suggestions here on how to save the spotted owl -- but instead we're using it as an opportunity to bash the current administration. My take on the deal is that there are seven billion of us on the planet now, and I see no effort in progress to curtail that number. I think I'll just cut on over to the gas thread, where I see a parallel to this issue. It seems the main concern these days is the price of gasoline, instead of a having responsible energy policy (it's our American right to have cheap gas and gas guzzling vehicles, of course). Shortsighted, in my opinion. It's like we think resources grow on trees. Well, in some cases they do. Too bad for the owls.

 

[dogg57]

Well at least the Owls know who voted for Hooo​

 

[manumuskin]

I spent 200 days in the desert so I could have cheap gas at almost 4 dollars a gallon.I say we tie the price of a bushel of wheat directly to the price of a gallon of gas and we'll see how fast Ahab drops his price on crude.
This is almost as bad as you used to bash the Bush administration.