WA: Judge halts logging in owl habitat

AP on Yahoo ^ | 8/1/07 | Donna Gordon Blankinship - ap

[NormsRevenge]

SEATTLE - A 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.

[NormsRevenge]

A California spotted owl is shown inside the Tahoe National Forest in California, in this July 12, 2004, file photo. A federal judge on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007, issued a preliminary injunction to stop Weyerhaeuser Co. from logging in spotted owl habitat on four parcels of private land in Washington. (AP Photo/Debra Reid)

[REDWOOD99]

Spotted Owls make great soup! (How they learned to cook is still a mystery.)

[crazyhorse691]

Spotted Owls make great soup! (How they learned to cook is still a mystery.)

---

They spent so much time in the kitchen that they neglected their procreation duties which is why they are going extinct. Really, if two teenagers can make love in the back of a VW Beetle, how come the Spotted Owl needs over 7000 acres???

[federal]

For Immediate Release March 24, 1999

PRESIDENT CLINTON NOMINATES J. RICH LEONARD, MARSHA J. PECHMAN, CARLOS MURGUIA, AND WILLIAM HASKELL ALSUP TO THE FEDERAL BENCH

Gee this is a surprise!!!!!

[OCCASparky]

Dear libtards,

Since we cannot process paper to make for you, please feel free in the future to wipe with a spotted owl. Mind the claws, though!

Sincerely,
Weyerhauser

[Foolsgold]

I guess that the harvesting of McDonalds neons is also off limits

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

A spotted owl built a nest in the local Kmart sign. They like us adapt to their environments.

[MaxMax]

If someone Hired some illegals and put a bounty on the Owl,
Would they convict the illegals?

[taxesareforever]

"It really shows the Endangered Species Act still has some teeth in it," said Kenan Block, a spokesman for the Washington Forest Law Center.

And it also shows that we have wussy activist judges.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Ha Ha...but the judge can’t halt me dropping logs in the woods!

[FlingWingFlyer]

Weyerhaeuser needs to bring a lawsuit against this ditzy Marsha broad for interfering in their business and causing this company and it’s shareholders monetary losses. These so-called “judges” are out of control. They definitely need to be brought down a peg.

[pissant]

Not this horsesh*t again.

[KoRn]

If I were the property owner, I would be tempted to go out and shoot every dammed one of them(in spite of their cuteness). Of course I would probably go to prison longer than any child molester or mass murderer who has ever lived.

[KoRn]

"Gee this is a surprise!!!!!"

Probably confirmed by the Republican senate by a vote of 97-0.....

[tubebender]

Here we go again...

[JennysCool]

While old growth forests suitable for owl habitat have increased, owl numbers have continued to decline.

Nature has a pretty well-developed sense of humor.

[paulweir]

In the past many cafes that catered to loggers had spotted owl burgers on the menu in rural Washington State

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Spotted Owl burger...sounds good...with or without beak?

[calex59]

"It really shows the Endangered Species Act still has some teeth in it," said Kenan Block, a spokesman for the Washington Forest Law Center.

What it really shows is that we still have judges who are stupid enough to believe that spotted owls are endangered, even after all the evidence to prove they are not. Even if they were, people tump animals. Houses cost more now than they should due to these idiotic rulings by liberal judges.