Timber groups sue feds over delay of habitat reopening

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Environmental groups have sued to preserve protections for 3.4 million acres of northern spotted owl habitat from the US-Canada border to California.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife removed the logging protections in the last days of the Trump administration amid praise from the timber industry, but President Biden has delayed implementation of the new rules.

Spotted owls prefer to nest in old-growth forests and received federal protections in 1990. The move completely redrew the landscape for Pacific Northwest loggers and launched a decades-long legal battle.

Now, timber groups have sued over Biden’s delay of the new rule.