Oregon humans in peril but spotted owl safe (or not)

CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES, 7/17/2009 by Jeff Barnard (AP Env. writer) - Obama administration scraps Bush logging plan

The Illustrated Owl: Barn, Barred, & Great Horned by Denny Rogers, Lori Corbett
Page 84 - BARRED OWL FACTS/Diet and Habitat
[Excerpt] "The barred owl is abundant in the deep woods and swamp forests of the Southeast but is slowly expanding its range westward. Its counterpart in the West is the spotted owl, however, the more aggressive barred owl is gradually taking over the territory of the spotted owl, as well as interbreeding. The genetics of these two owls are so similar that many believe the spotted is merely a subspecies of the barred."

Related:
Posted 7/8/2009 - Judge overturns Bush administration logging rule
National Center for Conservation Science & Policy: The Spotted Owl's New Nemesis Read More......

Judge overturns Bush administration logging rule

SEATTLE TIMES, 7/1/2009 by Jeff Barnard, AP Environmental Writer: GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A federal judge has struck down the Bush administration's change to a rule designed to protect the northern spotted owl from logging in national forests. ∴ U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled from Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday that the U.S. Forest Service failed to take a hard look at the environmental impacts of changing the rule to make it easier to cut down forest habitat of species such as the spotted owl and salmon on 193 million acres of national forests. ∴ "I am hopeful that this is the last nail in the coffin to (President George W.) Bush's assault on our public forests," said Pete Frost, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, which represented plaintiffs in one of two cases challenging the rule. Read more at the Seattle Times... Read More......