Print
Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 22 October 2019 22 October 2019

By Etta Pettijohn

An agreement has been reached between WildEarth Guardians and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in a lawsuit filed over the Mexican spotted owl, which would allow prescribed burns and commercial wood gathering to presume in New Mexico national forests.

The stipulated agreement still needs a judge’s approval. It would also allow the cutting of personal Christmas trees and the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree from the Carson National Forest.

A U.S. judge recently halted tree-cutting activities on 18,750 square miles in the Southwest national forests until federal agencies can get a better monitor the population of a threatened owl.

The order, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins in Tucson, Arizona, includes all of New Mexico’s national forests.

The litigation was filed by Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians, which claims the USFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had shirked their responsibility to count the Mexican spotted owl as part of a recovery plan and no longer can use budget concerns as an excuse.