Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A recent U.S. District Court ruling over the Mexican spotted owl is halting all “timber management actions” in New Mexico’s five national forests.
That means no new permits will be issued for woodcutting for personal use firewood, vigas or latillas until further notice.
People with existing permits are urged to get their wood as soon as possible as the ruling may soon affect them as well, according to the Carson National Forest.
The judge says the Forest Service hasn’t done enough to ensure the owl’s habitat is protected and improved.
The owl should be protected.
But the timing of this order is terrible for people who rely on firewood to help heat their homes. It also impacts the efforts of the Forest Service and forest organizations to address the overgrowth in forests that fuels catastrophic wildfires.
Autumn is a time when a lot of thinning and prescribed burns can safely be carried out.
It puts the Forest Service once again in the difficult position of following an otherwise good order to ensure protection of a threatened species while hurting a traditional activity of people who live in and near these forests.
Back in the late 1990s, the Forest Service was caught between traditional Hispanic loggers, families who needed firewood and environmentalists committed to protecting old growth forests. It caused a painful rift between traditional communities and the Forest Service.
Surely, the judge can clarify his order and exempt personal use firewood and already approved Forest Service thinning projects until winter.
WildEarth Guardians, whose case against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service over the owl’s lack of protection led to the decision, should support such an amended decision.
There is a way to make this decision more just for those most affected while still ensuring protection of the owl.
— The Taos News