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U.S. NEWS Thursday 24 OcTOber 2019
Judge eases Christmas treecutting ban in fight over owl

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRY- plan. Environmentalists ar-
AN gued that the Forest Ser-
Associated Press vice's interpretation was
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) overly broad and asked
— The scope of a tree- the judge for clarification.
cutting ban across sev- They ended up reaching
eral national forests in the an agreement with federal
Southwest has been fur- officials, resulting in stipula-
ther narrowed to allow for tions Collins included in his
Christmas tree permits and latest order.
prescribed burns under a "None of these activities
new order issued by a U.S. that we agreed to re-
judge in an ongoing fight lease from the injunction,
over a threatened owl. whether cutting the Capi-
The order was filed late tol Christmas tree or con-
Tuesday, a day after envi- ducting trail maintenance,
ronmentalists and the U.S. were ever a serious threat
Forest Service reached an to the owl," said John Horn-
agreement on what types ing, executive director
of activities would be al- of WildEarth Guardians.
lowed to continue across "We hope the Forest Ser-
thousands of square miles vice reorients to the work
of forest in New Mexico of recovering the owl by In this July 11, 2002, file photo, Dr. Kathleen Ramsay gets the attention of "Manchado," a Mexican
and Arizona without harm- adequately monitoring its Spotted Owl at the Wildlife Center near Espanola, N.M.
ing the Mexican spotted population." Associated Press
owl or its habitat. Still pending is a request by ultimately make for a Wednesday it would be that have resulted from the
The activities permitted by the Forest Service for the healthier environment. The transparent in the steps it initial limits on timber man-
the latest court order in- judge to reconsider his ini- agency said in a statement takes to alleviate "stressors" agement activities.q
clude the cutting of a tree tial ruling that found feder-
in northern New Mexico al officials fell short of their
that will be put on display responsibility to monitor the
for Christmas outside the owl. Arguments are set for
U.S. Capitol. Nov. 7.
Legal wrangling had The case started in 2013,
threatened to stall the cut- when environmentalists al-
ting of the tree and a state- leged that the Forest Ser-
wide tour ahead of its trip vice failed to consider the
to Washington, D.C. effects of thinning and log-
The gathering of firewood ging on Mexican spotted
by rural residents also was owls.
at issue as the Forest Ser- First listed as threatened in
vice interpreted Judge the U.S. in 1993, the Mexi-
Raner Collins' initial order can spotted owl is found in
to mean all timber man- Arizona, New Mexico, Col-
agement activities across orado, Utah, parts of West
five New Mexico forests Texas and Mexico.
and one in Arizona would The Forest Service has ar-
be halted until forest and gued that moving ahead
wildlife managers came with prescribed burns and
up with a way to count the thinning projects will ad-
owls as part of a recovery dress wildfire threats and