The God Squad and The Northern Spotted Owl
The God Squad was once again called into session in the case of the Northern Spotted Owl. It started in 1991, when a federal judge ordered the halting of logging in Pacific Northwest national forests due to the threat it caused to the Northern Spotted Owl. Following this action, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) filed for exemption from Section 7. The Northern Spotted Owl is a medium sized bird that is dependent on old growth forest and large territories for survival. The BLM came up with a solution that allowed logging to continue in the area, which included the sale of 44 timber tracks to the logging industry. The 44 tracks totaled 4400 acres (18 km²) of land. The God Squad convened and discussed the issue. In a 5:2 vote, the God Squad voted for approval of the exemption in thirteen of the sales where there was no reasonable alternative to the sale. The environmentalists and the BLM agreed on a compromise that allowed the timber sale to continue. The BLM would develop a Long Range Forest Management Plan that would need to be approved by the FWS before any future timber sales. When the Clinton administration came into office, they withdrew the exemption request and convened a conference where they developed the Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team (FEMAT). The FEMAT was created to protect the owl while managing the forest. FEMAT and the Clinton administration agreed to protect 10 million acres (40,000 km²) of old growth forest for the owl, while limiting logging to 1 billion board feet (2 million m³) per year.
Read more about this topic: Endangered Species Act Amendments Of 1978
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