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The owl: Minor role in big issue Saving an ecosystem is the real crusade By HARRY ESTEVE The Register-Guard BLUE RIVER — The northern spotted owl is only a tiny piece of the rich mosaic of plants and wildlife that make up an old growth forest, say researchers who are just beginning to understand the complexities of virgin timber stands. Nevertheless, protecting the owl under the U.S. Endan- gered Species Act represents a giant step toward preserv- ing what remains of a unique and scientifically important North American landscape, researchers and conserva- tionists say. "If youre trying to pick a species, I sup- A Noti mill pose the owl is as good owner sees his as any to serve that purpose," said Mark dream fading 4Harmop, an Oregon Sen. Hatfield State -University bota- nist whose studies of expects White rotting logs and biolog- House pre- ical decay in Oregons emption. ancient forests are gaining national atten- Chronology of tion. events leading up Most biologists and to Fridays historic ornithologists who StOX photo by Joe .110ns IN rMcKee at the Andrews Experithental Forest. This Is your garden variety old growth forest," McKee said of the site where 450-year-old trees tower 225 feet overhead. decision. have studied the spot- H.J. ted owl believe it re- Page 4A quires large tracts of Forest, a few miles east of Blue River. There, teams of and lichen add nutrients to the soil, as do the decaying old growth forest for OSU scientists and graduate students complete exhaustive logs. studies on everything from the role of lichen In adding survival. The huge "Contrast what we see here with forests we see under Spotted owl nitrogen to the forest floor to the growth rates of partially trees and dense leaf canopies provide protection from intensive management practices," McKee said, referring shaded Douglas firs. update predators, while the abundance of smaller animals that to forests that have been clear-cut, stripped clean of un- live in the undergrowth provides a reliable food source. "This is your garden variety old growth forest," Mark dergrowth, sprayed with herbicides and fertilizers and Yet to Harmon and other scientists, the owl is only a McKee, site manager of the 16,000-acre research reserve, replanted. Effective date listed as supporting character in a cast of thousands of birds, mam- said during a recent visit to a thickly wooded grove near threatened: July 23, 1990 mals, rodents, insects, plants, fungi, lichen and microorga- Blue River Reservoir. "There is nowhere near the diversity" of plants or nisms that interact in the old growth ecosystem. animals, he said. "Youve lost a very complex system. Interim protection plan The 400-year-old trees — Douglas fir, western red Youve simplified the system." due: Tuesday, June 26 Preservation of that ecosystem has been at the heart cedar and western hemlock — tower 225 feet overhead, of the attempts by environmentalists to gain federal pro- interspersed with standing dead snags with broken, jagged In nature, simple rarely is better. Simplified ecosys- Estimated number of Decline in population: Up tection for the spotted owl. tops. tems lack the biological diversity that is necessary for owls: 3,000 to 5,000 "It we protect enough old growth to ensure the surviv- Sword ferns, rhododendron bushes, salmon berry vigorous, productive growth and for animal habitat, to 15 percent per year al of the spotted owl, we will have accomplished a great brambles, moss and a tangle of other plants make up the McKee said. In some areas deal toward protecting the old growth ecosystem," said "understory." Decaying logs and bark add to the soft, Penalty for taking a David Wilcove, senior ecologist for The Wilderness Soci- spongy feel of the ground cover. From the onset of their attempts to gain federal pro- threatened species: Up to Total owl habitat ety, a national environmental watchdog organization. tection for the spotted ow/, conservationists have acknowl- $200,000 plus a year proposed for protection: Each plant has its role, McKee said. The tall trees edged that their underlying goal is to save as much of the Much of the research into the workings of old growth provide shade and shelter and trap moisture, the dead in jail 8.4 million acres ecosystems is centered at the H.J. Andrews Experimental snags provide homes for birds and mammals, the moss Turn to CRUSADE, Page IA Quake toll at least 40,000 INSIDE 2 provinces kill Auto Market 10 Business 15C Iran agrees to accept City/Region Section 8 Classified 2D-8E aid Comics 13C Canadas accord from United States Community Notes 6B 1,1v MARTIN MORRIS Crossword 100 Confederations unity in ienharriv Page 4A THE REGISTER-GUARD, Eugene, Oregon, Saturday, June 23, 1990 LISTING OF THE SPOTTED OWL CRUSADE Continued from Page One Pacific Northwest old growth ecosystem as possible. Log shortage I "We believe strongly that we should not cut another old growth tree in the West," said James Monteith, di- rector of the Oregon Natural Re- sources Council. "The partys over in terms of old growth." Some researchers, such as Fred Swanson, a U.S. Forest Service geolo- gist who works at the experimental forest, believe that the intense atten- tion given the spotted owl has ob- scured and oversimplified a much more complicated issue. "What were really witnessing is a land allocation battle," Swanson said. The owl debate has polarized factions into those who want to lock up all old growth forests forever and those who would like to clear-cut them for tim- ber, he said. "Wed be best off as a society if we could look at a whole system and to- gether sort out how to deal with it," he added. Now that the owl has been listed as a threatened species, the battle to save untouched timberlands may indeed shift away from preservation of indi- vidual animals, Wilcove said. The Pa- cific Northwest forests are being seen as a national, even global, treasure, he said. "We have lost virtually all of the ancient forests that once covered the United States by essentially cutting from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Pacific," he said. "Now were deal- ing with the remnants." The whole country, and many other nations as well, will be watching to see how the Northwest handles the old growth issue, Wilcove said. "If, with all of our tremendous in- tellectual and financial resources, we cant find a way to protect the last of these forests, then we cannot expect staff photo by Andy Nels any nation, whether its Brazil or Ma- Sam Konnie says his Noti mill is barely breaking even if not losing mone. dagascar, to protect their natural re- sources either," he said. J Continued from Page One ed that federal timber sales in the Northwest would be I think were going to see some real blood on the the iiCtinP slashed in half if previously recommended owl pro- finnr " from Page One ed that Owl chronology Northwest would be I think were going to see some real blood on the the listing. Summer 1969: Oregon state recommended owl pro- floor." Officials also raised the spectre of logging per- r already planned cut- University Medea Eric Foreman, "Were looking at tens of thousands of families haps being curtailed on private lands, saying they working a summer job near Blue not knowing whether they will be able to make their consider any harvest that significantly disturbs the mortgage payment," said Charlie Janz of the Yellow RIM' Mtn! Eugene, begins a view, owls will always owl as an illegal "taking" of a threatened species. 9 study of owl behavior 1, dangered Species Act is Ribbon Coalition in Springfield. Penalties for violating the law range up to $200,000 00004611 not exempteC by Con- Fridays announcement clearly pointed toward that leads him and other biologists and a year in jail. to conclude that over a 20-year i Environmental Law acceptance of recommendations in a scientific re- George Frampton Jr., president of The Wilder- ( , said in a phone inter- port prepared by a team led by Forest Service biolo- period, the spotted owl Is ness Society, praised Fridays owl listing as "an im- threatened or endangered by gist Jack Ward Thomas. In April, the team recom- portant first step toward protecting this nations irre- ) the Oregon Natural Re- mended that 8.4 million acres of old growth forest — placeable ancient forests." However, he said, "we continued togging of Its old ? said, "We dont really including about 3 million acres not previously pro- are alarmed that a political pressure campaign is growth habitat. take the listing serious- tected — be reserved for spotted owl habitat. now being waged by the White House . to subvert January 1987: A now-defunct Massachusetts environmental group, the forefront of the owl Turner said the service "intends to use the basics the Endangered Species Act." n said he expects politi- and principles of the Thomas report" in developing a GreenWorld, files the first petition with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Dennis Hayward, director of the North West Tim- t try to compromise the recovery plan, but he stopped short of accepting the have the spotted owl declared an endangered species Northwest ber Association in Eugene, said Friday there is no t .e Endangered Species designated large habitat areas, most of which are conservation groups follow with their own petitions. firm evidence that spotted owl populations are de- 50,000 acres or more in size. clining. "We have never seen a study that has looked Oct. 19, 1987: Eleven conservation groups file a lawsuit in federal court in ): the Associated Oregon Charles Meslow, an Oregon State University biol- at population levels over time," he said.

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