A decade of change in national forests

Forest policy then: President Clinton

U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer initially shut down logging in the Northwest during the waning days of the administration of the first President Bush. But when Bill Clinton took office, he oversaw one of the greatest periods of change regarding national forests since World War II.

During the 1990s, Clinton and Vice President Al Gore put together the Northwest Forest Plan, which curtailed logging on federal land in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Later, timber harvest on federal lands across the country also fell dramatically, as the U.S. Forest Service moved toward conservation in the wake of lawsuits filed by environmentalists, mostly over endangered species.

Early in his tenure, Clinton signed a bill authorizing a substantial increase in logging of dead and dying trees — a measure pushed by Republicans in Congress. But at the end of Clinton's second term, the administration permanently banned logging and development on 58 million acres of pristine roadless areas across the West.

Forest policy now: President Bush

Under President George W. Bush, the Forest Service has changed some Northwest Forest Plan rules to boost old-growth logging, although not to anywhere near the levels of the 1980s. The Bush administration also eliminated rules requiring environmental studies before loggers cut trees in dry forests across the West to prevent catastrophic wildfires, and limited environmentalists' ability to appeal.

Bush has called for increased "salvage" logging in forests hit by fires. Agencies under Bush have opened hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest in Alaska to more logging.

When the timber industry challenged Clinton's roadless rule, the Bush administration did not defend it. It took the same approach when the industry sued over the Northwest Forest Plan, instead settling the lawsuits by agreeing to change the rules and review the status of the spotted owl.

Endangered species

The Northwest Forest Plan aimed to protect endangered species such as the spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, while allowing some logging. Here's how those creatures have fared:

Northern spotted owl: Since it was listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1990, much has been learned about the timid 18-inch owl, which nests in the tops of old-growth trees. While habitat loss or disturbance from logging were long considered its primary threat, scientists now note that the more common barred owl, a larger, more aggressive cousin, may also be driving spotted owls from their turf.

In Northern California, spotted owls, once thought to use only old-growth forests, have been found in second-growth trees and in suburban settings. But in Washington, the owls are still struggling, with fewer than half as many pairs living on the Olympic Peninsula as there were a decade ago and declines of nearly 60 percent in portions of the central Cascades. Statewide, the population is thought to be declining between 5 and 8 percent a year.

Marbled murrelet: This small, secretive seabird nests in old-growth trees after foraging in marine waters. It was listed as threatened in Washington, Oregon and California under the Endangered Species Act in 1992. Scientists think about 18,000 birds remain in the three states. But they know so little about the mysterious murrelet they admit the population could be as low as 13,000 or as high as 23,000.

Scientists think the bird's numbers are dropping between 4 and 6 percent yearly but concede the decline could be twice that. The murrelet's status is under review, and the Bush administration is gauging whether the population is different enough from murrelets in Alaska, Canada and Asia that it still deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act.

— Craig Welch, Seattle Times staff