High -Tech Part Of Owl Plan Drawing Fire

Henson says the goal was to chart with a computer model how the owl is doing. "We asked the modelers to collect as much data as they can, to use state-of-the-art technology, whether it’s computer modeling technology, or it's Google-earth," he said. Henson says this technology wasn’t around when the spotted owl first appeared on the Endangered Species list. He says the technology - the modeling tool – can help his own agency, as well as the Forest Service and other land managers, forecast how activities could affect the owl. "We do not read the models as doing those things," Ann Forest-Burns said. Forest-Burns is with the industry group, American Forest Resource Council. Her group filed a lawsuit late last year over the modeling – or more specifically, the team the feds put together, to build the model. The modeling team’s work was not being done in the open light of day, as required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act," she said. Forest-Burns has reservations about the information the model produces, as well. The model has three main components. The foundation is a database of habitat information. On top of that is a program intended to test how habitat would respond to different things – like logging or conservation measures. And last is a population model, to predict the behavior of the owls themselves...more