The northern spotted owl, one of the most well-known endangered species, has sparked debates between environmentalists, businessmen, and lawmakers. Because the main threat to the spotted owl comes from habitat loss due to logging, the U.S. government declared the owl as threatened in 1990. This made it illegal for loggers to log in a forest populated (or thought to be populated) by spotted owls. This act has touched off a debate between the loggers, who claim to need to log the land to keep their jobs, and the government, who does not want to lose another species to habitat destruction.

Scientists have determined that the ideal habitats for the spotted owls are large tracts of old growth forests. Unfortunately, if the forest is destroyed due to logging, it will take 40-100 years to rebuild, and that is only if the loggers replant the trees in the forests where they log. For the logging industry, they would prefer to log in these forests as they can get $1 million per tree. Their main argument against the government declaring the spotted owl threatened and banning all logging in the area is that this act will put hundreds of Americans out of work and will destroy the economy. The environmentalists counter this argument by pointing out the dangers logging has on the spotted owl.

According to scientists, logging of the forest alters the structure and composition, and it isolates nesting pairs of owls, and makes the area unsuitable for owl habitat. Studies done in Oregon show that due to logging in these forests, the owl's population declined by a third between 1976 and 1987. When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the owl as threatened in 1990, they estimated that only 3,000 mating pairs remained. It is also estimated that the logging industry has already destroyed between 54% and 99% of the owl's habitat.

As the law states now, the federal government restricts logging within a 2,000 acre radius around known spotted owl nests and roosts, and also requires that at least 500 acres of the largest trees in that zone be left uncut. The problem lies in the fact that it is extremely difficult to determine where the spotted owls are living and breeding. The spotted owl is primarily a nocturnal animal and spends a good majority of the daytime hours perched in a protected roost in tree cavities where it is difficult to see them. Research has shown that the spotted owl hunts for food using parts of the old growth forests as well as the younger parts. Also, what type of habitat is available to the owl greatly affects their food supply, as they can find more northern flying squirrels (their favorite food), voles, mice, and woodrats in the older parts of the forest than the newer areas where the smaller animals have yet to settle into.

Another problem in trying to figure out where spotted owls are currently living is the expanding barred owl population. The barred owl's current range is the eastern U.S.; however, since the 1900's, its range has included western Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and northern California. The barred owls have started moving into spotted owl habitat, and in some cases the owls are cross breeding, making it difficult for scientists to determine which species they are dealing with.

Steps are been done to protect the owl in both the U.S. and Canada. In Canada, the owl is listed under section 34 of the British Columbia Wildlife Act which prohibits the taking of eggs or destruction of nestlings, nesting adults or active nests. Also, at the request of the Committee for Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife (RENEW), the British Columbian government established a Canadian Spotted Owl recovery team whose mandate was to determine the status of the population and develop a recovery plan.

Actions taken by the U.S. government were just to stop all logging in spotted owl territory despite the consequences to the loggers who live and work in those areas. The restriction against logging in the northwestern states has had a negative economic impact on those states, as many people started to move to other states where jobs were more plentiful, leaving the logging towns devoid of people and money. For a good majority of the 1990's, these towns were left with no money, few people, and little hope of recovery; however, now steps are being taken to retrain former loggers, and the communities are trying to find other methods of making money. Some ways the communities have found to make money is by investing their efforts in conservation, eco-tourism, and other industries that will not be harmful to the spotted owl.

Despite the steps taken to protect the spotted owl, research has shown that the owl population is still declining. The rate of decline has gone down from 4.5 percent a year to 3.9 percent a year and some populations, such as in the forests near Glendale, California are proving to be stable. Unfortunately, the owl population in Washington state's Olympic Peninsula is still plummeting and very little is being done to help the species aside from the logging restrictions. More research needs to be done to determine what else we can do to help save this species, and economic recovery plans need to be developed for the areas devastated by the logging industry collapse. Only then can we truly start to coexist peacefully with the northern spotted owl.