Lawsuit protests owl-habitat designation

The designation of more than 8 million acres, including 2.2 million acres in Utah, as critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl was done illegally, according to a lawsuit filed in Arizona Thursday.

According to the lawsuit, the government acted "illegally" because it did not sufficiently justify the critical habitat or examine the economic impacts of the designation, which was made Aug. 31, 2004, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Arizona by the Arizona Cattle Growers Association, seeks to have that designation voided.

The critical habitat is intended to protect the Mexican spotted owl, which prefers the dry canyon and evergreen forest land common to the American Southwest and was listed in 1993 as a threatened species. The critical habitat, which is required for any threatened or endangered species, was originally designated in 1995 but was revoked by two different courts in 1998. A new plan was submitted in 2001, but after a lawsuit, the comment period was reopened before the 2004 designation.

Opponents of this most recent plan argue that the critical habitat will limit or prohibit other activities, especially cattle grazing.

"Shutting off these millions of acres will have substantial negative effects on many private citizens who make a living through cattle grazing and oil and gas appropriation," said Damien Schiff in a prepared statement. Schiff, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, based in Sacramento, Calif., is representing the ACGA. Since many of the cattle growers hold permits in the critical habitat, "this habitat designation will hurt them because it could mean an end, or a severe curtailment, to their grazing permits on public land."

The plan includes areas in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. All of the Utah areas are in the southern portion of the state.

With 1.7 million of the 2.2 million acres located within National Park Service boundaries for Zion, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks, as well as the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Staircase National Monument, it was unclear Thursday what impact the critical habitats, or the voiding of them, would have on cattle grazing or energy exploration, since most of those activities are already prohibited on national park land.

Officials within the Utah Department of Agriculture, Utah Department of Natural Resources and the National Park Service did not return phone calls Thursday.

Shaula Hedwell, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who is based in Albuquerque, N.M., said that the designation of critical habitat does not automatically preclude other activities. Instead, the decisions about the land use are made on a case-by-case basis.

She could not comment specifically on the lawsuit.

"Critical habitat does not restrict other land management activities," she said. "There are many areas in many states where there is grazing happening in critical habitats."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com