The Northern Spotted Owl | American Forest Fires Clip | EarthX - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    With the threat of logging still looming, environmentalists took a different approach to protecting the old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest: saving the Northern Spotted Owl. But this victory came with an unexpected cost...    About American Forest Fires:  Are government policies and bureaucracy the REAL fire starters in America? Are answers to a major crisis staring us in the face? Learn what brought us to this point, and the innovative solutions which could keep disaster from setting nature ablaze.    This clip comes from Season 1, Episode 1: "Burning Down the House"    EarthX  Love Our Planet.  The Official Network of Earth Day.    About Us:      At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.     EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.      EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    Follow Us:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxtv/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxtv  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthxtv    How to watch:   United States:   - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV  - Plex  - Fire TV       #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #Eco-friendly #Conservation #EarthxTV #EarthX

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00:00The Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects plant and animal species that are threatened or endangered.

00:08It currently protects 1,600 plant and animal species and millions of acres.

00:13In 1990, environmentalists successfully lobbied to add the northern spotted owl to the list,

00:19a small bird that made its home exclusively in old-growth forests.

00:23If they couldn't force the government to protect the trees on their own,

00:27it was reasoned that by protecting the owl,

00:29the old-growth trees they lived in would also be saved.

00:34Well, my husband and I had a timber-falling business when they decided to list a northern spotted owl.

00:41And when that happened, the changes in the laws were coming really, really fast.

00:47I was like, how can this happen?

00:49You know, one day you're in business and the next day you're not.

00:54It wasn't about owls versus loggers. It was more than that.

00:58It was about communities struggling to survive.

01:03In the 80s, the amount of logs being sawn was in the order of about 6.6 billion board feet.

01:09By the time in 1998 rolled around, we were down to 2.2 billion feet.

01:15And largely because of the restrictions around the owl.

01:20The environmentalists had won.

01:22However, their victory would prove to come at a considerable cost.

01:28Unforeseen consequences often take time to reveal themselves.

01:33The problem with using the northern spotted owl is it didn't do the owl any favors.

01:39Because we equated the success in stabilizing and increasing owl populations

01:46with simply protecting old-growth forests.

01:50We ignored the other problems with the owl's survival.

01:54The encroachment into their range by the barred owl.

01:58That's more than happy to either eat with or mate spotted owls.

02:03So we kind of ignored that until it was obvious that that was a major factor.

02:08And now the Fish and Wildlife Service is relegated to going out and shooting barred owls.

02:13Which is not a very popular policy in some quarters.

02:18While restrictions slowed logging, it also slowed beneficial forest management.

02:23Without loggers, there was no one to clear overgrown forests.

02:27Or to treat areas that were increasingly beginning to look like fire dangers.

02:31And even if there had been foresters available,

02:34laws like the Endangered Species Act may have prevented the work.

02:39By 1990, they were saying, listen, we don't want to do any management.

02:44And so we could see even then that we were headed on a disastrous course

02:50that was going to have impacts for hundreds of years, if not thousands of years.

02:57There's so many ironies in this.

02:59I'm really concerned that the entire focus on spotted owl and research was misplaced.

03:05But again, these issues are completely out of the realm of public understanding today.

03:14For more UN videos visit www.un.org

The Northern Spotted Owl | American Forest Fires Clip | EarthX

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