federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday to stop Weyerhaeuser Co. from logging in spotted owl habitat on four parcels of private land in Washington.
U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman did not grant, however, an additional request by the Seattle Audubon Society to stop the state of Washington 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 land in southwestern Washington that are owned by Weyerhaeuser.
"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.
"We're confident that Washington state and Weyerhaeuser will prevail when the matter is decided" at trial sometime next year, Mendizabal said.
The owl was declared a threatened species in 1990 under the federal Endangered Species Act 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. The spotted owl also faces a new threat from a cousin, the barred owl, that has been invading its territory.Associated Press via Environmental News Network
