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1986 Newspaper
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1986: Newspaper
Articles and Events
During the 90-day comment period for
the SEIS' preferred alternative, the spotted owl controversy generated
a large amount of media coverage. Newspapers from around the United States
published articles discussing the management plans of the spotted owl. There were lengthy arguments for and against
measures to set aside old growth forests for owl habitat, and usually
the debates pitched conservationists on one side, the timber industry
on the other, and centered around preservation of spotted owl habitat
versus forest timber resource use.
The
scoping meetings and hearings leading up to the SEIS identified six national
and regional public issues and management concerns.
These were:
1.
The effects of timber harvesting on spotted owl viability;
2.
The fact that decisions had been based on incomplete biological
information and
3.
The consideration of a worst-case situation;
4.
The economic and social effects of protecting spotted owl habitat;
5.
The effects on other resources of protecting spotted owl habitat;
and
6.
Disagreement about the habitat requirements of the spotted owl.”
Most
of the issues debated during the last half of 1986 fell into one of the
above concerns. For example, the
logging industry argued that studies of the owl weren’t adequate,
and questioned whether one spotted owl pair really needed 2,200 acres
of old growth forest to survive. They
claimed that there wasn’t enough research conducted on this issue
and that the owls could, in fact, live in younger growth forests.
The loggers also stated that there really was “no crisis”
for the spotted owls; there were really many more owls than had been reported
(pointing out that the spotted owl was not listed as endangered or threatened),
and that the owls could survive for many years with current logging practices
and prices. The timber industry
argued that because of these reasons, the environmental impact statement
and Alternative F were seriously flawed. They suggested that good research be done first,
and that the forest uses should not be severely restricted at the cost
of thousands of jobs.
Conservationists,
meanwhile, claimed that preservation of old growth forest was not only
important for the spotted owl, but for hundreds of other species
also dependent upon old growth.
They said that the spotted owl was an important “indicator
species” – by looking at the success of these animals, one could
infer the quality of the habitat and the health of the ecosystem in which
they lived. Conservationists also
argued against the level of the timber harvests, claiming too much was
being extracted too fast, and that the old growth forests set aside in
the management plan to support owls would only supply another 10 years
of logging, after which these jobs would be lost anyway.
Machines were quickly replacing people in the timber industry,
so loss of jobs was far more than just a spotted owl problem.
Some economists also said that the Forest Service severely overestimated
the loss of jobs expected with Alternative F.
During this time many people staged protests against the Forest
Service, claiming the agency was not doing enough to protect the owls.
The
Forest History Society has several thousand summaries of news items, full
text articles, and photocopies of newspaper clippings concerning the spotted
owl and the U.S. Forest Service. We
have highlighted a few articles, below, to reflect the issues evident
in the media during the last half of 1986.
Date:
7/31/86 “Forest Service
has Suggested Preserving 1.2 million Acres...”
From: NEWS, OR
Date:
9/11/86 “I like Owls,
But...” From: International Woodworker, OR.
Date:
11/12/86 “Conservationists
Attack Timber Industry Stand”
From: Daily Courier, OR.
Date:
11/12/86 “Spotted Owl
Decision Will Affect Our Future”
From: Lebanon Express, OR
Date:
11/17/86 “Owls Not State’s
Main Timber Issue” From:
The Oregonian, OR
Date: 11/30/86 “Old-growth Forest Decline Clouds Spotted
Owl’s Future”
Date: 12/4/86 “LETTERS: Add It All Up” From: Mail
Tribune, OR.
*Please contact the Forest
History Society collections staff if you would like copies of these
or other articles*
Sources
USDA Forest Service. “Draft Supplement to the Environmental Impact Statement for an Amendment to the Pacific Northwest Regional Guide: Volume 1, Spotted Owl Guidelines." USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, 1986.
Northwest Regional Guide:
Volume 1, Spotted Owl Guidelines.”
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, 1986.
Northern Spotted Owl Newsclippings 1986 – 1989
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