I am not a biologist, but a sawmillologist. I can prove that the spotted owl population did have an impact on the local people population, through loss of jobs, homes, schools, tax money, entire towns, railroads, divorces, and many other things. While there were excesses and greed among the big timber companies, for sure, the rights of the bird outweighed the lives of the common working person. The effects are being felt 35 years later here. Enforced regulations already on the books, and balanced harvest could have prevented a lot of problems. As usual, fanatics on both sides caught the cameras eye and the uninformed told their versions of the truth.