Scientists: Owl recovery plan 'deeply flawed'

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Scientists: Owl recovery plan 'deeply flawed'
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Sunday, September 30, 2007


WASHINGTON — A group of independent scientists has concluded that a draft recovery plan for the northern spotted owl was “deeply flawed,” fueling allegations that the proposal was manipulated by political appointees in Washington who were determined to boost logging in Northwest forests.

The peer review by outside scientists, requested and paid for by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, found that the recovery plan disregarded 20 years of research about the owl, which lives in the region’s remaining stands of old-growth timber, and would result in reduced efforts to protect the bird and its habitat.

The review has attracted attention on Capitol Hill. Democratic lawmakers will ask Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in a letter this week to withdraw the recovery plan and appoint a committee to write a new one.

"We are especially concerned the peer review has produced unanimous findings that the draft recovery plan is not based on the best available science and will not ensure recovery of the species,” the letter says.

The letter suggests that the recovery plan may have been “tampered with by high-ranking officials within the administration,” including Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant interior secretary. MacDonald resigned in May amid allegations that she'd interfered with and overruled scientists working on recovery plans for various endangered species.

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