Logging delay agreement for old-growth tree stand helps endangered owls

An agreement to delay logging of an oldgrowth stand of British Columbia forest has given a one-year reprieve to one of Canada’s most endangered species.

But governments now have to come up with a permanent way to protect the vanishing spotted owl and other endangered species in the province, said Kegan Pepper-Smith of Ecojustice, which has been pushing the federal government on the issue.

“We need to reimagine an approach that protects (species) and their habitat with legally enforceable measures.”

Just a tiny handful of spotted owls remain in the Canadian wild. Some estimates place the remaining population in the forests around Spuzzum in south-central B.C. as low as three.

On Thursday, B.C., the federal government and the Spuzzum First Nation announced a deal to hold off logging that watershed for a year while the governments continue working on a recovery plan for the owls.

It’s part of a larger deal the two governments are developing to help the province preserve biodiversity.

“These first pilot projects will strengthen habitat protection for the threatened species which depend on it, such as the Spotted Owl, and help build a systemic approach to protection of biodiversity,” B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said in a release.

B.C. has a captive breeding program that now has 28 spotted owls whose offspring will be released into protected habitats.

Pepper-Smith called the deal encouraging, but said both Ottawa and the province have a long way to go before the medium-sized, dark brown owl is fully protected.

“(Critical) habitat has never been identified,” he said. “How can they say they’ve protected habitat if they’ve never appropriately defined it?”

B.C. claims about 281,000 hectares of protected spotted owl habitat. Pepper-Smith disputes that, saying much of that land is subject to logging.

“The B.C. government’s definition of protection is by no means sufficient,” he said.

Pepper-Smith said the one-year harvesting deferral should result in a clear plan.