The Northern Spotted Owl versus Loggers The Northern Spotted owl controversy can be traced back as far as 1973 when the US department of the interior listed the northern spotted owl as a potentially endangered species. Since then, the spotted owl was officially listed as Threatened, and became a symbol of all things environmental during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The listing threatened to restrain logging in the remaining stands of old growth forests. This resulted in a confrontation as well as a dilemma, portrayed as ?Jobs versus owl.? The forests of the Pacific Northwest are among the last reaming old growth forests in North America. Northern spotted owls rely on these old growth forests because they provide cool, damp conditions, with plenty of holes and cavities to roost in. The forests structures and content is also valuable to the lumber companies. Lumbering in the old growth forest of the Pacific Northwest is now a federal issue. Ninety percent of old growth forests is on federal land, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Lumber companies that operate in these forests ate licensed by the federal government. The logging industry has made millions of dollars from the harvesting of old growth lumber over the past several decades. They have recently become more responsible about clear-cut logging. Harvested forests ate often replant...