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--> --> Associated Press A spotted owl perches in the old-growth forest of Quines Creek in Southern Oregon in 2000. State forestry agrees to more owl protection GRANTS PASS (AP) - The Oregon Department of Forestry said Friday it will do more to protect forest habitat after critics warned that logging in the Clatsop State Forest intended to improve spotted owl habitat may have actually harmed the threatened birds. The department did not acknowledge that the 1996 thinning project would qualify as "take" under the Endangered Species Act. "Take" is defined as harming, harassing or killing the birds or destroying their habitat. But the department agreed to consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists before offering new timber sales on the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. It also agreed to adopt guidelines that go much further than the Oregon Forest Practices Act to protect the best available owl habitat. The agreement comes on top of a new Department of Forestry plan for managing the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests, which is designed to speed up the process of creating good habitat for owls and salmon on forest growing back after devastating fires of the 1930s known as the Tillamook Burn. The deal will remain in force for 10 years, or until the Department of Forestry adopts a formal plan for protecting owls and their habitat known as a habitat conservation plan. Sybil Ackerman, conservation director for the Portland Audubon Society praised the agreement, called it a "huge step" toward incorporating the latest science in protecting owl habitat in northwestern Oregon. Ray Wilkeson, legislative director of the Oregon Forest Industry Council, said he had no objection to state foresters consulting Fish and Wildlife biologists on timber sales. But he said he did not see why it was necessary to take concerns for one pair of spotted owls and apply the standard to all new timber sales. The agreement grew out of the Walker Ridge Stand Improvement timber sale, located 20 miles southwest of Astoria on the Clatsop State Forest. Logged in 1997, the sale was intended as an experiment to improve owl habitat by speeding up the growth of young trees, Department of Forestry spokesman Jeff Foreman said. Spotted owls have been declining in Northwestern Oregon, because the old growth forests the birds favor have been heavily logged or burned in a series of fires during the 1930s known as the Tillamook Burn. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing