Thirty miles southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona lies the dense Coconino National Forest-the outerlands of popular tourist peak Mormon Mountain and home to a wide array of native wildlife. But in spite of the beautiful peaks and well-visited ecotourism spots, life is not as still in the dense brush of the forest. Change is coming, and only few can speak out against it-forest rangers.
With recent discussions regarding the consideration of restorative thinning to protect the city's potable water supply, six permanent residents of the forest are now facing impending eviction. Weighing in at only 1.32 lbs each, the six residents are now an endangered species in the forests of Coconino known as Strix occidentalis lucida-Mexican Spotted Owls. Three breeding couples, the sextuplet act as the sole reproducers for the species in the area. And if discussions persist, they may find that their cozy homes and clutches of eggs will be wiped away by loggers and backhoes.
Conversations regarding the thinning of the forest that surrounds Mormon Mountain began in 2012, after voters approved a $10 million project aimed at protecting potable water supplies to the city. At risk of being contaminated in the event of forest fires, local officials have decided that a viable course of action is to thin regions of the overgrown forest to prevent wildfires, and many locals agree.
Speaking out against opposition from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), associate professor Stephen Dewhurst at Northern Arizona University's School of Forestry recently stated in an interview that "the Center [for Biological Diversity] seems to have not recognized, or accepted, the clear indications that the way to protect the owl over the long term is not merely through preventing or limiting logging wherever possible-which is their old playbook-but rather through the reduction of fire risk and the alteration of fire behavior across the landscape."
But local ecologists and ornithologists do not agree.
As a well-recognized and highly vulnerable population, the spotted owl has acted as a flagship species for most environmentalists and conservationists. Nesting primarily in coniferous forests, and only calling a few particular niche environments their home, the Mexican Spotted Owl is a species that thrives on peaceful coexistence with its home. Nesting in cliffs or high in trees, and hunting in open meadows, the species is hearty when conditions permit. Living almost two decades in a healthy habitat is not unheard of, but it is this species that is most affected by incremental changes in a forest.
Known to be devastated after wild fires, dynamics of a changing niché environment are the greatest threat to Mexican Spotted Owls. And the timing of the current threat of eviction could not be worse, as breeding season will take place through the end of the summer and into early autumn, when then birds will be nesting.
Strictly monogamous throughout the course of their lifetimes, and only laying average clutches of two at a time (every few years), the species has a difficult time replenishing itself and growing after devastation or disease dwindles numbers within the population. And as it has been well-documented by several independent researchers that spotted owl species rarely renest after failed attempts at breeding, thinning of the forest may potentially mean the end of the species in the Coconino National Forest.
As simulations conducted by the US Forest Service indicate that wildfire would leave devastating lasting effects on the water source of Lake Mary, costing taxpayers an additional $22 million for the creation of 11 water wells necessary to quench the people of Flagstaff, local officials must mitigate many factors before coming to a decision. Environmentalists like senior scientists with the CBD Jay Lininger say that they only hope that the final decision avoids unnecessary harm to these animals that are at a current, and real risk of extinction.
