Environmental groups sue to expand
owl habitat

Scott Thomsen
Associated Press
Aug. 27, 2001 14:40:00

Three environmental groups have filed a lawsuit that seeks to expand the
amount of habitat that is protected on behalf of the threatened Mexican
spotted owl.

The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, the Navajo group Dine
Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, and the Colorado-based Center
for Native Ecosystems filed the suit today in U.S. District Court in Tucson.

"The ultimate survival and recovery of the Mexican spotted owl will require
protection of the owl's habitat on Arizona and New Mexico forests," said Brian
Segee, forest watch coordinator for the Center for Biological Diversity.
"Critical habitat provides permanent protection from shifting political winds
and the Forest Service's consistent attempts to log, graze and mine the owl's
habitat."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated 4.6 million acres of
federally owned land in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado as critical
habitat for the owl. But the environmental groups want to add 9 million more
acres of what they call the best owl territory. The land stretches from
Flagstaff, through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and into the Gila
National Forest in New Mexico.

"It's where the vast majority of known owls live," Segee said.

The Mexican spotted owl was listed as threatened under the Endangered
species act in 1993. At that time, the total estimated population was 2,160
owls.

The suit is just the latest legal battle over the owl for the Center for Biological
Diversity. The group first filed a petition to list the bird under the Endangered
Species Act in 1989 and has filed two other lawsuits seeking critical habitat
designations.

Tom Bauer, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in
Albuquerque, N.M., said he could not discuss the lawsuit. "We don't have
comment on lawsuits and I haven't seen the suit to comment on."