LICENSE TO KILL, PART 3

Scientists fault state habitat plan

The TV spots have been airing for years now, paid for by big timber companies in Washington. Their quest? A 50-year federal guarantee against prosecution under the Endangered Species Act. It would apply across 9.1 million acres -- one-fifth of the state, the bulk of private forestland in Washington. By next Thursday, federal officials want the public to weigh in: Does the industry's promise to keep waterways healthy justify granting nearly airtight legal refuge for logging that accidentally kills or harms salmon and 49 other kinds of fish, five kinds of salamanders and two types of frogs? If approved by federal officials, the Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan would be the largest in the West -- second nationally only to a Georgia deal that aims to protect red-cockaded woodpeckers. However, internal documents from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reveal conflicted agencies with serious internal disagreements about the plan, known as Forests and Fish. One government scientist even worried about "voodoo science" behind the plan....

Other articles in the series:

Best-laid plans can't foresee all

'Political realities' helped shape urban preserve

Lessons learned elsewhere put to good use in Arizona

Big thinking is required to overhaul habitat program

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