Obama won't defend Bush spotted owl plan

The Obama administration is backing away from its predecessor's plan for the northern spotted owl. Government attorneys filed notice late Tuesday in federal district court in Washington D.C. asking to review its owl recovery plan finalized last year as well as the accompanying changes to critical owl habitat areas. That could end up reversing a decision from last year that trimmed by about a quarter the amount of federal forest in the Northwest designated as critical habitat for the owl, which is in long term decline. And it has other implications for how much federal land will be readily available for logging in the future...The Oregonian