The northern spotted owl has become to the timber industry what the tiny snail darter was to dam builders -- a symbol for environmentalists, only cuter. In the 1990s, the owl may curb logging in the Pacific Northwest just as the small fish temporarily halted construction of the Tellico Dam in Tennessee. Last week a panel of federal scientists called for a halt to logging on up to 40% of the national forest land in Oregon, Washington and California to keep the owl from becoming extinct. An estimated 1,700 pairs survive, a drop of more than half the population since 1800....
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