The US Fish and Wildlife Service has reviewed the protection status of the Northern Spotted Owl and has agreed to consider the need to change Endangered Species Act protections for the owl from threatened to endangered.

In 1990, the owl was first listed as threatened. Since 'Timber Wars' in the Northwest were at the peak, the listing became a key moment in the region's cultural and economic history.

This caused a temporary ban on logging in federal old growth forests and eventually to the Northwest Forest Plan. The plan cut logging on national forests and other federal land by more than 80%.

According to the California-based conservation group EPIC (Environmental Protection Information Center), regardless of protection for about 25 years, the population of spotted owls has continued to decline.

The decline has found to be the highest in Washington and northern Oregon and the reasons behind it are habitat loss and the incursion of the barred owl.

The petition to upgrade the Endangered Species Act status of the spotted owl from threatened to endangered was filed by EPIC more than two years ago.

The petition was supposed to be reviewed by federal officials within 90 days to decide whether further consideration was necessary. However, that process took close to 2.5 years due to a 'backlog of listing actions'.

However, the wildlife officials have now agreed to review the status the spotted owl. Paul Henson, Oregon Supervisor at the US FWS said, "First you had a century or so of habitat loss through old growth timber harvest and just as we began to turn the tide and turn that around on federal land with the Northwest Forest Plan, the barred owl comes along and kind of kicks the spotted owl while its down".