Environmentalists sue Canada to save spotted owl Tue Jan 31, 12:11 PM ET
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - In a last-ditch bid to save western Canada's spotted owls, the emblem of North America's environmental movement, nature lovers are suing the federal government in court to force action. A coalition of four environmental groups wants a judge to order Canada to draft an emergency plan to protect the rare birds under the untested Species At Risk Act and step on provincial toes to impose conservation measures. The move is highly controversial in Canada, where the 10 provinces and three territories aggressively protect their jurisdictions from federal interference. Experts say the bird could become extinct in Canada by the time Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics. In Canada's Pacific coast province of British Columbia, research shows that just six breeding pairs and 11 single owls are still alive. In the early 1990s, there were about 1,000 birds, or 500 breeding pairs. The owls were designated as "endangered" in both Canada and the United States in the late 1980s, and in Canada they are considered the species most at risk. The province, which has appointed a team to work on protection plans, argues that the owl issue is complex, and has protested the court case. But lawyer Devon Page said the four environmental groups, Environmental Defence Canada, Forest Ethics, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, took legal action after British Columbia approved further logging in the owl's territory late last year. The federal government has until late February to respond to information filed in a federal court this month by the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, which is acting for the four groups. Page, a staff lawyer with the fund, said the case will likely take at least one year to wind through the courts. The spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) is a brown bird with puffy, elaborately marked feathers and trademark wide-eyed scowl. It has become synonymous in North America with environmental battles. The owl is viewed as an indicator species, or the proverbial canary in a coal mine. Studies in the United States show declines in spotted owls are matched by declines in other fragile species such as salamanders, frogs, some plants and other predators. The effort to protect the bird is "not just about the spotted owl," said Page. "Its well-being demonstrates the well-being of other species." The birds are found only in the far west of North America, from a southern range in northern California to 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of this western Canadian city. Spotted owls are particularly vulnerable to logging of their habitat because of their nesting and hunting habits. The animals do not build nests, but lay their eggs in trees hollowed out by age or decay, which typically only happens to old trees. The birds are also passive hunters, unaccustomed to straying far for their food. "It's a sit and wait predator," said Page, that perches in a tree until it sees prey such as mice. When a forest is cleared and prey populations decline, the birds starve. Like other environmental causes in British Columbia, such as hunting of grizzly bears and logging of old-growth forests, the spotted owl is attracting international attention. Most recently, the court case was profiled in the science journal Nature. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com contact owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mail list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Delivered-To: mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] List-Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] no flaming arguing or denigration of others allowed contact owner with complaints regarding posting/list or anything else. Thank you. please share/comment/inform and mostly enjoy this list Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quick_vegetarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
