By JEFF BARNARD AP Environmental Writer
GRANTS PASS, Ore. — The Obama administration has notified a federal court that it will not defend the Bush administration’s decision to cut protections for the northern spotted owl, a threatened bird whose need for old growth forests has been at the center of longstanding battles over logging in the Northwest.
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., lawyers for the Department of Interior said they based the decision on an inspector general’s report finding potential political interference in owl protections by a former deputy assistant Interior secretary, Julie MacDonald.
The motion is the latest in a series of actions in lawsuits over Bush administration plans to cut protections for threatened and endangered species.
