U.S. Judge Lifts Ban on Logging Granted to Protect Rare Owl

PORTLAND, Ore. —  Environmentalists lost a major court battle over the rare northern spotted owl Thursday when a federal judge here lifted a ban on logging vast tracts of old-growth forests administered by the U.S. government.

U.S. District Judge Helen Frye granted a summary judgment Thursday in favor of the Bureau of Land Management and lifted a preliminary injunction that had prohibited the logging of old-growth forests within 2.1 miles of spotted owl habitats.

Pending further appeals by the environmentalists, the BLM said, the ruling clears the way for sale of 337 million board feet of old-growth timber in western Oregon that has been tied up in legal challenges since last summer.

The lawsuit was filed against the federal agency by the Portland Audubon Society and other environmental groups. They had contended the BLM’s timber management plans failed to protect old-growth forests, where the rare owl lives and hunts. The owl has been proposed for listing as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.