European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Lumber firms give a about spotted owls numbers by Tom Kenworthy the Washington Post Hen Kevin Roberts a wildlife biologist employed by lumber giant Georgia Pacific corp., goes Quot mousing Quot for Northern spotted owls in the coastal Redwood forests of Northern California it s not precisely like feeding pigeons in the Park. But it has its similarities. A from a Small Clearing in a company Forest in Mendocino county 120 Miles North of san Francisco Roberts and his colleague John Ambrose plunge into a stand of second growth Redwood and begin mimicking the spotted owl s Call. It s a four note Hoot that sounds like the Distant Raspy bark of a Small dog a Quarter note two eighth notes and a half note rising in pitch at the end. Moments later from across a Steep Ravine comes a response from the real thing. Roberts and Ambrose race Down the Hillside and scramble up the other Bank hooting As they Bush whack through the undergrowth a mature male spotted owl flutters onto a Perch 20 feet overhead. Roberts plucks a while Laboratory mouse from a Small cylindrical Cage and sets it squirming on the end of a. Broken Branch which he holds aloft. After eyeing the mouse for less than a minute the owl swoops off its Perch and in one smooth stroke grabs it in us talons and returns aloft for a mid Day snack. For Georgia Pacific and other Wood products companies operating in California this is not an academic exercise. Surveys like this one Over the past few years have convinced the Industry that the threatened Northern spotted owl is far More prevalent in California than had been believed a and in fact is flourishing in Forest types that were once thought relatively inhospitable to the. Species. At least in California the Industry argues the owl should be taken off the Federal list of threatened species. The exercise has important Bottom line considerations for Georgia Pacific and other lumber companies. The spotted owl s designation As a threatened species in 1990 ignited one of the most bitter controversies Ever under the endangered species act and has had a severe Impact on the Forest products Industry in the Pacific Northwest. For the past three years new Timber sales on Federal Forest land in owl habitat in Washington Oregon and Northern California have been halted by court injunctions and Timber harvests on private lands have been subject to Tough restrictions. Many Mills have closed and thousands of workers in the Forest products Industry have lost their. Jobs a. A a y a. A a the environmental Community has used the owl a widely thought to be particularly dependent on largely Virgin Forest tracts untouched by modern Industrial Timber production a As the Centrepiece of its Campaign to preserve the dwindling old growth forests of the Northwest. There is considerable scientific agreement that the Fate of spotted owls is As a 1990 government report put it Quot inextricably tied to mature and old growth  younger forests it has been argued do not provide enough of the kind of prey or roosting and nesting habitat needed by owls. Owls do Best the scientific literature. Reports in mature forests with targe Trees and moderate to High Quot canopy closure Quot that creates a relatively Clear understory in which owls can easily Fly and Man Euver. A but after several years of surveying their Industrial Forest. Lands Timber companies believe they now have enough. Evidence to counter some of the conventional Wisdom a at least in California. A a Industry biologists assert that Northern spotted owls Are relatively plentiful in Northern California Are far less dependent on stands of old growth Trees than had earlier. Been assumed and Are thriving in areas of second growth that have been harvested at least once and Are actively managed for Timber production Quot we be got a whole lot of own. They Are using a much larger Range of habitat than was thought and Given state Forest practices Law there is no Way we can reduce the extent of that habitat said Robert Taylor a wildlife biologist who works for the California forestry association a Trade group for the Industry. As a result the Timber Industry has petitioned the . Fish and wildlife service to take the Northern spotted owl off the list of endangered and threatened species in Northern California. Its petition does not apply to Owis in Oregon and Washington where the forests and prey base for Owis Are fundamentally different and where the a wildlife biologist with the Simpson lumber co. Of California lures a Northern spotted owl out of hiding with a mouse attached to a stick so the Bird can be counted. Industry has not been As stringently regulated As it has in California which has perhaps the toughest Forest practices Law in the nation. 1 the petition is not being dismissed out of hand by fish and wildlife officials who must first make a determination if the owls in California constitute a Quot distinct population segment Quot that could be taken off the list. Quot my professional opinion is that the Industry s. Argument deserves to be evaluated Quot said Phil Detrich a. Supervisory biologist for the service s Sacramento Field. Office Quot i be been in the Field with most of their biologists and there s lots of owls Over there Quot but Detrich cautions that the spotted owl appears to be doing relatively Well in Only a Small part of its Range in the Low Elevation coastal forests of California and Southwest Oregon where there is an ample Supply of Dusky footed Wood rats on which the owls prey. At higher elevations. And farther North Wood rats no longer thrive and owls must depend on flying squirrels which Are themselves dependent on fungi that Are associated with old growth forests. Quot there is a sort of implication spread around that if the owl can do this in Northwest California it can  everywhere throughout its Range. I Don t think that s True said Detrich. Other owl biologists say the Timber Industry position is misleading because it overlooks what they claim is the mos important fact about the Bird the Overall population Tren is negative. A a Quot every biologist who Ever worked on owls knew. A a that Given time we d find More if we actually searched for them Quot said Rocky Gutierrez a biologist at California s Humboldt state University who has studied Northern spotted owls for 14 years and served on the government s owl recovery plan. Quot the Issue of the number of owls is irrelevant in terms of the listing procedure. They were listed not because of the number of owls they were listed because the rate of change in the population was negative. The Bottom line is the populations Are still . Gutierrez s View is bolstered by a government sponsored analysis during the Winter that found the owl s survival rate and populations Are declining. Bunk says the California Timber Industry. Four years ago when the fish and wildlife service  status review of the Northern spotted owl it estimated there were 850 pairs of owls in what is known As the Klamath province of Northern California and Southwest Oregon. The total ., population at that time was. Between 3,000 and 4,000 pairs according to an inter Agency scientific team headed by Jack Ward Thomas  Heads the . Forest service. Now based on surveys of Between 50 percent and 60 percent of Large private Forest holdings in the state the California forestry association projects the state s spotted owl population at Between 4,450 and 8,500 Birds. Quot scientists Quot concludes Taylor of the Cha Quot Are going to find it harder and harder to prove old growth  a. A a helium filled balloon lifts a Cut tree from a . Forest preventing it from toppling smaller Trees As it is removed. National geographic balloon logging gives ecology a lift by Joy Aschenbach National geographic Ike a giant hand reaching Down into a tropical rain Forest on the Island of Borneo a helium filled balloon hovering above the treetops can raise tall timbers up up and away. When balloons or helicopters Harvest the biggest and Best hardwoods tons of tree trunks that traditionally come crashing Down can go up instead. Quot you can have your logs and save the rain Forest too Quot said Lullar Muul president of .-based. Integrated conservation research which advocates balloon logging for the malaysian forests of Borneo. Aerial logging usually using helicopter has been used in some timbering operations in the Western United states and Canada for More than two decades a from the Pacific Northwest to Southeast Asia.  Call for ecologically Correct logging methods a not Clear cutting a that will help sustain and rejuvenate forests. Some have even demanded that Wood carry a certificate guaranteeing that it was harvested without harming the environment. In Southeast Asia where most of the. Export of tropical Wood now originates selective Aerial logging can be practice Muul says because Only about five or six Trees per acre Are mature enough to Harvest at any Given time. Typically in malaysian forests about 30 to 50 species of mostly Tea like hardwoods Are commercially valuable. Cutting Down desirable older Trees from the ground destroys surrounding Forest or at least diminishes its ability to regenerate because of the construction of roads skid trails and loading Sites. When a Large tree Falls Muul says it kills 50 to 75 smaller Trees. Harvested Trees Are at least 145 feet tall and weigh 5 to 6 tons each. A / Aerial logging has other pluses. For one the health and commercial Worth of Trees can be better assessed from the a air. A / a. A a a. A a animals and ornamental plants such As orchids that thrive in the treetops can be rescued before the branches Are Cut off. A �,.&Quot a. A a �.��  from a balloon Trees can be topped with Chain saws by loggers who Are lowered by tether. Quot if a tree is topped like that it becomes like a Gigantic Telephone pole and if it is felled it does minimal damage Quot Muul says Quot but we plan to tie these trunks to the balloon and Cut them while they re secured and hoist them right out of the Forest the logs Are usually 30 feet Long. They Are delivered to a River or some other loading site for further transportation. A balloon built for tropical tree logging would not have to do As much heavy lifting As those now used in Canada where Trees Are larger and six trunks can be hoisted out at one time. A a Teardrop shaped balloons 100 feet in diameter Are Able to Harvest All kinds of conifers from terrain that is too Steep and rugged to be logged by conventional method says Younas Mirza a Timber manager for British Columbia s ministry of forests. Selective logging whether from the air or ground is generally More challenging and costly than the More extensively used and damaging Clear cutting. Aerial logging Muul says is not Only a Gooij conservation measure but an economic Benefit because it preserves the Forest for future Timber operations and other moneymaking activities such As nature tourism. Quot six Trees per acre would hardly be missed when there Are thousands of Trees Quot he says. 16 the stars and stripes tuesday 24, 1994 the stars and stripes 17 \