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October 6, 2003

Owl lawsuit may halt forest thinning

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- An environmental group's lawsuit to protect Mexican spotted owl habitat could block scores of tree-cutting projects designed to reduce the risk of wildfire, federal officials said.

The Center for Biological Diversity, which has repeatedly clashed with federal officials over the owls and other species, filed a lawsuit last month, asking that Interior Secretary Gale Norton be held in contempt of court because of the agency's failure to complete accurate habitat maps for the owl. The owl was listed as a threatened species by the government in 1993.

Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency under Norton, say the lawsuit could hold up efforts to thin forests ripe for wildfire.

The Center for Biological Diversity says it is the agency's continued foot-dragging that's the problem and that federal officials are exaggerating the wildfire risk to discredit environmentalists.




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