Tree-Spiking Found On Owl-Habitat Land

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says it is investigating tree-spiking on federal land already set aside from logging as proposed spotted-owl habitat.

This act is clearly outside the realm of what is reasonable, said Harold Belisle, manager of the BLM's Grants Pass Resource Area.

Acting on an anonymous letter, the BLM found more than 20 spikes earlier this week in trees in the Deer Creek drainage east of Selma in Josephine County, BLM Medford District spokesman Kurt Austermann said.

``This act is one of people who were desperately trying to move your agency towards responsible action in the forest,'' the letter said. ``We assume that you will be responsible to pass along this information to anyone who will be purchasing this timber.''

Unlike previous incidents where trees were spiked to stop imminent logging, the latest case was in an area where logging already is off-limits because the trees have been set aside as future habitat for northern spotted owls, Austermann said.

The spotted owl was named a threatened species this summer due to loss of its old-growth forest habitat to heavy logging.