A coalition of B.C. environmental groups has launched legal action in a bid to get the federal government to step in to save the northern spotted owl from logging.

There were 100 breeding pairs in southwestern B.C. 10 years ago. Now there are just 23 owls left. The environmentalists warn that if the logging isn't stopped, the birds will be extinct by 2010.

Spotted owls now number less than 25 in B.C.
Spotted owls now number less than 25 in B.C.

Sierra Legal Defence lawyer Devon Page said the groups had to act to protect the birds. They have filed the first legal action under Canada's Species at Risk Act and its emergency provision, Page said.

"In our lawsuit, we are demanding the federal government intervene in British Columbia to save the endangered species, the spotted owl."

Page said the B.C. government has failed in its duty to protect the owls, and accuses the government of being the "largest loggers of its habitat and they are actively targeting the remaining owl areas."

Joe Foy of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee calls the owl an environmental indicator. " Our old-growth forest ecosystem in this region is really, really sick. And we are in danger of seeing the first logging-caused extinction in British Columbia."

B.C.'s environment minister has suggested that logging was good for the owls, a comment that drew howls of protest from the environmental community.

Pat Bell, B.C.'s minister of agriculture, describes the legal action as nothing more than grandstanding, saying the government has taken significant steps to preserve the spotted owl, including following federal legislation.

"One of the initiatives was the protection of about 363,000 hectares, and the implementation of a spotted-owl recovery area in the province in the Squamish-Lillooet area. We know that's a significant area for the spotted owl," Bell said.

"The Species at Risk recovery office that we have developing scientific plans for spotted-owl recovery, I think is also very important."

Bell said while it's true the province still allows logging in spotted- owl habitat, it's done to a very high standard.

The coalition includes the David Suzuki Foundation, ForestEthics and Environmental Defence. The coalition's could be in court within months, Page said.