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The Trump administration has removed more than 3 million acres of protected habitat of the northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest, a figure 15 times the amount it had previously proposed opening in response to a 2013 lawsuit from the timber industry. Timber companies had claimed the logging restrictions in place led to disastrous economic consequences.
In August the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had proposed easing restrictions on 200,000 acres of critical habitat in Oregon. Instead, the agency went above and beyond with a plan announced yesterday to eliminate protections across more than 3 million acres in Oregon, Washington, and California. Sources familiar with the decision say it was done at the behest of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and other Interior political appointees.
Critics say the decision is not supported by the agency's own evidence and analysis which indicated as recently as December that the northern spotted owl should be reclassified as endangered instead of threatened. Susan Jane Brown, a staff attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center said, “I’ve gotten several calls from wildlife biologists who are in tears who said, ‘Did you know this is happening? The bird won’t survive this.’”
Kristen Boyles, a staff attorney at Earthjustice expressed bewilderment and determination following the announcement, saying, “How in the world have they gone from a couple hundred thousand acres to three million acres and it wasn’t announced? That will be a primary focus of any legal challenge, and it will be challenged. There is no question.”
Blog: David Bernhardt is aiding and abetting seditionists
In the days following the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Center for Western Priorities and others highlighted the straight line that exists from the anti-government extremists at the Bundy Ranch and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to the violence in Washington that was encouraged by President Trump and his administration. It’s now clear that the events at Malheur were a dress rehearsal for the deadly violence at the Capitol, and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is taking steps to help the insurrection on his way out of office.
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Today’s announcement [on Trump's plan to weaken conservation protections in the proposal for the California Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan] seeks to blow up a hard-fought compromise, all in the name of increased development. Removing critical protections from these public lands not only impacts renewable energy projects, it could allow more destructive mining activities as well. Thankfully, the Trump administration has run out the clock on their own destructive proposal, and they will not be able to finalize it. The Biden administration should celebrate the decades of work to protect one of the largest intact and most iconic landscapes in the United States.”
