06/01/06 the NEW spotted owl plan

Name me a corporation that would remain in business after 16 years of failing to meet it's objectives. Only when it comes to our government and especially when it involves the 33 year old endangered species act, is extreme failure tolerated and in the case of the spotted owl, for over a decade. A recent email from The Idaho Council on Industry and the Environment reminded me of what we would all like to forget; the pure folly of the Spotted Owl Recovery Plan. In the sixteen years since the spotted owl was listed as threatened, the owl's numbers continue to decline. Despite the fact the Northwest Forest Plan (initiated in 1994) led to conserving over 24 million acres of federal land. Despite, (according to report on NPR) the loss of 30,000 timber jobs, Despite the 80 percent cutback on logging on both national forests and private holdings, wildlife officials recently determined the barred owl is to blame for the much of the spotted owl's demise? So here we go again 16 years latter and now the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced they have recently formed a 12 member task force to develop a spotted owl "recovery" plan they hope to have ready to release to the public by November 2007. Want to speculate on the latest spotted owl spectacle?