Owl Conservation Strategy Flawed

The Interagency Scientific Committee (ISC), established by FWS, USBLM, USFS, and NPS, formulated a conservation strategy for the northern spotted owl in 1990. ISC documented compelling evidence that the fate of the species is highly dependent on future changes in the Pacific Northwest forest landscape and proposed a strategy to meet the ecological requirements necessary to maintain a viable population of the owls throughout their geographic range. The plan, which calls for setting aside large tracts of forestland as habitat conservation areas, is critiqued. The scheme assumes that goals for owl protection and commodity resources are mutually exclusive and represent a poor multiple-use management framework.