More protections for owls

WASHINGTON (CN) — A Washington federal judge dismisses a challenge brought by a trade association and some local governments who opposed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s two delays in implementing a January 2021 rule that would have excluded 3.4 million acres from the northern spotted owl’s designated critical habitat. A new rule, which limits the excluded habitat to only 200,000 acres, has superseded the original rule.