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Show Monday. March 15. 1993 THE HERALD. Provo. Utah. — Page C7 Mexican spotted owl joins endangered species list By MATT MYGATT Associated Press Writer ALBUQUERQUE. NM. —Environmentalists heaped praise and loggers scorn on a US. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to list the Mexican spotted owl as a threatened species. a move that eventually could restrict timber cutting in the Southwest. The Mexican spotted owl lives primarily in forested areas from central Utah and Colorado. south through New Mexico and Arizona. the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas and into the mountains of northern and central Mexico. The listing could mean logging cutbacks in portions of southeastern Utah. “This is the most significant thing to happen to provide protection for environmental values that I‘ve come up against.” said Sam Hitt. director of the Santa Fe-based Forest Guardians. "The agency has sided with preservationist groups like Forest Guardians and The Wilderness So— ciety whose main interest is shutting down all commodity use of public lands.‘~ said Mike Hess. general manager of White Sands Forest Products Inc. of Alamogordo. "And it really has nothing to do with the owl. and it‘s criminal." he said. The owl. of which about 2.160 live in the United States. will be listed April 15 because of dwindling habitat. Fish and Wildlife officials said Thursday. The Fish and Wildlife Service was supposed to have decided the owl’s status Nov. 4. 1992 — a year after proposing the listing. Negotiations between the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service on managing the owl broke down late last year because the agencies disagreed over how much logging the bird could tolerate. “We were working with the Forest Service on a conservation strategy. but we ran out of time.“ said Jim Young. the Fish and' Wildlife Service’s assistant regional director for ecological services. The Forest Service did not believe the bird warranted listing. said Art Morrison. deputy director of public affairs for the agency's Southwest region. The Forest Service. since 1988. has found more and more owls on national forests in Arizona and New Mexico. he said. “We didn‘t feel that we had the data to demonstrate that there was a declining population.“ Morrison said. ”Even while gathering inventory data, we had put in interim guidelines for management for recreation development or timber sales or road building in areas we located spotted owls. " he said. Congressional delegation to talk to Babbitt SALT LAKE CITY (AP) —— Utah's congressional delegation plans to meet Wednesday with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to ask for an emergency revision of rules governing filming on federal lands. Utah‘s elected officials want to restore the Bureau of Land Management's practice of granting film permits in a matter of days. Last month. the agency began enforcing a 45-day waiting period. which the film industry says is too long for Hollywood's deadline shooting. The filming crackdown comes as Utah is setting records l‘or film business. Based on surveys of production companies. filmmakers spent more than $55 million in Utah during the first six months of this fiscal year. July through December. according to the Utah Film Commission. The film flap also may cause a backlash against environmental groups. many of which count entertainment industry people as financial supporters. Explains Bob Berkus of the California Film Commrssron: “The people being hurt by this are not the kind to go out and chop down trees and tear up desert tortoise habitat. Most of these people don't even use Styrofoam cups. " Lawson LeGate. regional representative for the Sierra Club in Salt Lake City. says environmentalists are being unfairly cast as the bad guys. Morrison and Young said the two agencies will cooperate on a recovery plan for the owl. A threatened species is defined as one needing protection but is not as immediately jeopardized as an endangered species. A threatened listing requires the Forest Service and other agencies to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service before taking actions that might threaten owl habitat. Hitt said the listing "will cause maintenance of the national forest ecosystems in the Southwest to become a top priority instead of providing subsidized logs to the industry." Jim Norton. Southwest regional director of The Wildemess Socie— ty. said the decision to protect the owl shows "people care more about non-commodity values like healthy wildlife populations than they do about logging. " But Hess said the listing is a travesty with national implications. "We have a resource in the United States that the public needs.“ he said. “If we choose not to harvest it in a responsible way. or at all. we end up eliminating jobs and the tax base. compounding the balance-of-payment prob— lem that already exists by shipping the dollars to import the material. and the cost to the consumer goes right off the map. “Where’s the sense in that?" The company has about 105 cmployees. down from about 150 in Otero County two years ago. said Hess. blaming owl-protection measures. “We cut production at the mill by 30 percent last year because we were unable to purchase raw material from the Lincoln National Forest. " he said. Another timber company. Kaibab Forest Products Inc. of Phoenix. has estimated that a conservation strategy proposed by the Fish and Wildlife Service in November 1992 and rejected by the Forest Service would eliminate 5.000 jobs in Arizona. Colorado. New Mexico and Utah. “Arizona's national forests would be locked up. managed for a single species of hundreds of other forest animals. which is completely contrary to our country‘s man— date for the multiple use of our national forests,” said a “back- ground paper" released previously by Kaibab Forest Products. "Depending on management strategy. you could see our industry going out of business here in an extreme case." Donald E. Olson. Kaibab Forest Products president. said Thursday evening. Olson said he was “really concerned about a lot of the small rural communities in the West. in terms of (what) unemployment and loss of jobs is going to do to these com- munities. In the ones we operate in. services such as hospitals. schools and small businesses are certainly at risk. ' ' Kaibab Forest Products operates sawmills in Payson and Fredonia in Arizona and Panguitch. Utah. Hess said Fish and Wildlife “flagrantly disregarded" Forest Service input on the owl and that the listing “could very easily shut down all logging on the Lincoln National Forest. “ Lincoln Forest Supervisor Lee Poague told the El Paso Times that ifthe listing goes through. “I don‘t know whether we'll have any timber salesatall.” But Hitt said the listing was “the wakeup call that we‘re asked to confront as a culture in terms of management of our public forests." Studies have shown that owl habitats would be hurt by further timber cutting, wildfires. dam‘ building. road building or building electric power lines. Fish and Wildlife officials said. ‘ In the forested areas, summer day roosts and nest sites “are characterized by a closed canopy. complex forest structure and large old trees,“ the Fish and Wildlife Service said in a news release. adding that “it is most abundant in mature and old-growth mixed coniferous forests.“ The owl — a relative of the threatened northern spotted owl —— is 16 to 18 inches tall, has dark eyes and brown plumage with pale streaks on its breast and white spots on its head. neck and back. It nests from March to May. occupying stick nests built by other birds in large conifer trees. in cavities or on cliff ledges. Most spotted owls breed in their third year. laying two to three eggs. In New Mexico and Arizona, about half the owl’s suitable habitat has been identified in Forest Service plans as being potentially available for timber harvest. the Fish and Wildlife Service said. Last year. the Forest Service sold about one-third the timber it sold three years ago in New Mexico and Arizona. he said. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.. said Interior Secretary Bruce Bab— bitt had said during his confirmation hearings that he would prefer cooperative agreements between agencies “without the need for formal listing under the Endangered Species Act. " “In this instance it appears that the secretary felt compelled to list the species to prevent costly and protracted litigation like that which has virtually shut down timber har— vesting in the Pacific Northwest." the senator said Thursday in a statement issued in Washington. AP Photo The northern spotted owl, a threatened species. is shown in this 1991 file photo. A congressional study determined the owl’s status is not increasing lumber prices. Study says economic recovery, not spotted owl boostinglumber prices By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — The eco’ nomic recovery is driving the de— mand for lumber and pushing prices up sharply. not federal restrictions on logging designed to protect the spotted owl. congressional researchers say. A study released Thursday also said that while the price increase has been substantial. “ex— isting evidence suggests that it will not significantly slow hous- ing starts or the economic recov— cry." The Congressional Research Service. an arm of the Library of Congress. concluded that timber and housing industry leaders have exaggerated the impact that protection of the threatened northern spotted ovrl has had on the lumber market. "Many factors have contrib— uted to the recent price rise. but the economic recovery is probably the most significant cause." the report said. It acknowledged that spotted owls. seasonal factors and an import duty on Canadian lumber have played roles in pushing the price of framing lumber to $474 per 1.000 board feet. But the report said the prices. when adjusted for inflation. are no higher than they were in the I970s. It also said mortgage interest rates have more to do with the cost of a house than does lumber. which accounts for about 5 percent of the cost of a home. American Indians seek protection for sacred sites By PHILIP BRASHER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — American Indian leaders identified 44 sacred sites that they say are endangered by tourism. development and vandalism. but they haven‘t agreed yet on the best way to protect them. The sites are spread across 10 states from Minnesota and California. and include the Medicine Wheel rock formation in Wyoming. which has been overrun by a List of 44 sacred American Indian sites By The Associated Press A list of 44 sites that are sacred to American Indians and en- dangered by tourism, developers or others. according to the Association on American Indian Affairs. The list includes the site. the tribes to which it is sacred. and the nature of the threat. Oregon “We are attempting to reclaim a basic fundamental right, which is the right to practice our religion.” Enola Hills, Warm Springs tribe, logging and proposed development Mount Hood Meadow. Warm Springs. tourism development Washington Snoqualmie Falls. Yakima and Snoqualmie tribes. hydroelectric dam — Jerry Flute California fourfold increase in tourism in recent years. Oil developers. New Age practitioners and loggers also have endangered sites. according to a list prepared by the Association on American Indian Affairs. Several major Indian organizations are pressing for legislation that it would make it more difficult for the government to develop or allow access to land Indians consider sacred. “We are attempting to reclaim a basic fundamental right. which is the right to practice our religion.“ Jerry Flute. a Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux from South Dakota, told the House Native American Affairs subcommittee Tuesday. In Wyoming. US. Forest Service officials last week announced a plan to bar vehicles this summer front going to the ancient stone Medicine Wheel atop the Bighorn Mountains. In a memo released Mount Shasta, Northern Wintu tribe. ski areas Cold Spring Mountain. Northern Wintu. New Age vandalism Chimney Rock. Tolowa. Karuk and Yurok tribes. logging road Dekkas Spirit Camp. Northern Wintu. vandalism Mount Diablo. Wintu. Me— wuk, communication towers Indian Spirit Rock. Wuk— chumni. communications. ac- cess Nevada Spirit Mountain. Hualapai tribe of Arizona. tourism Tosawihi quarry. West Shoshone. gold mine Wyoming Medicine Wheel. Arapaho. Shoshone. Sioux. Cheyenne and Blackfeet tribes. logging and recreation development Carter Mountain. Shoshone. oil and gas exploration South Fork Owl Creek. sing Chuskas Mountain. Navajo. Shoshone and Arapaho. road construction logging Mount Graham. Apache. teleNorth Fork Owl Creek. scope Shoshone and Arapaho. oil and Big Mountain. Navajo and gas exploration Hopi. relocation Steatite quarry. Shoshone and Winters Butte. Navajo and Arapaho. mining Hopi.mining Devils Tower. Sioux and Children's Shrine. Tohono Cheyenne. tourism and rock climbing O‘Odham. vandalism Rainbow Bridge. Navajo. Legend Rock petroglyph site. Shoshone and Arapaho. tourism dam San Francisco Peak. Navajo Castle Gardens petroglyph and Hopi. recreation site. Shoshone and Arapaho. Red Butte. Havasupai. ura- vandalism nium mining Whoopup Canyon petroglyph site. Shoshone and Arapaho. tourism Cedar Canyon petroglyph site. Shoshone and Arapaho. Montana Badger Two Medicine. Black- vandalism feet. oil and gas exploration South Dakota chctgrass Hills. Rocky Boy. Black Hills. Sioux and Chey— Blackfeet. oil and gas exploraenne. tourism. gold mining and tion Kootenai Falls. Salish and Ko- logging Bear Butte. Sioux. Cheyenne otenai. hydroelectric dam Tongue River. Northern and Arapaho. tourism and back— packers Cheyenne. mining and railroad Chief Mountain. Blackfeet. Minnesota tourism and recreation Pipestone quarry. Sioux. minMedicine Tree. Nez Perce. Kootenai. highway construction ing and crafts production Little Rocky Mountain. Gros NewMexico Ventre. gold mining Petroglyph park. Sandia Crazy Mountain. Crow. log- gins would restrict access to provide the site with immediate protection dians in New Mexico. That has from an increasing number of visi- mise on the proposed legislation. said Pat Locke. coordinator of the American Indian Religious Freedom Coalition. March 8. Bighorn National Forest tors. Many other sites, however. are Supervisor Larry Keown said he kept confidential by the Pueblo In- i Arizona Boynton Canyon. Camp Verde Apache. New Age vandalism Baboquiviri. Tohono O‘Odham. recreational development Star Mountain. Navajo. log- made it difficult to reach a compro- lation without revealing their location. said Cedric Chavez. governor of the Cochiti Pueblo. “We have been able to protect our way of life and religion only by going underground. We are not willing or able to give up that secrecy. " Chavez said. .Locke. a member of the Standing Rock Sioux in South Dakota. said Indian groups were trying to work out a compromise the Pueblos can accept. . Congress passed a law in 1978 that was supposed to guarantee lndians the right to practice their traditional religions. Since then. however. tribes have lost numerous court battles over sacred sites or their ceremonial use of the drug peyote. The Sioux. Cheyenne and Arapaho lost a legal battle in 1963 to protect Bear Butte in western South Dakota from tourists. The Black Hills. which the Siovx want returned to them. also is listed as an endangered sacred site because of the mining. logging and tourism there. In 1988. the high court ruled that the First Amendment did not prevent the government from developing land lndians considered sacred. Two years later. the justices denied constitutional protection to the Native American Church's use of the peyote cactus. -' ‘ Indian leaders almost immediately began work on legislation to reverse those decisions but it has yet to be introduced in Congress. Critics in the West worry that tribes could effectively wall off thousands of acres of public land from tourists or developers. “There will always be some tenPueblo. road construction sion as to access to these areas." said Rep. Tim Johnson. D-S.D. Even some liberals. such as Pueblo tribes. which consider themselves to be theocracies. Rep. Pat Williams. D-Mont.. see swear members to keep their rcli- potential conflicts over the Indigious practices secret. ans‘ desire to keep their religious They couldn't obtain legal pro- practices secret and the possible tection for the sites under the legis- use of endangered animals. |