SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Earthjustice, sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for failing to finalize Endangered Species Act protections for California spotted owls. “The survival of the California spotted owl hangs by a thread and they desperately need protections,” said Noah Greenwald, at the Center for Biological Diversity. …In February 2023 the agency proposed protecting spotted owls in southern California as endangered and those in the Sierra Nevada as threatened, starting the clock on a one-year deadline to finalize protections. Those decisions are now more than two years overdue. The Center and partners first petitioned to protect the owls 25 years ago. …The U.S. Forest Service and the timber industry have instituted some protections for the spotted owl’s habitat, but damaging clearcutting and salvage logging persist. Combined with the increased risk of severe fire, these practices are resulting in continued loss of habitat.