Another version of the spotted owl print that was part of the “Refuge” installation Justseeds created September 2011 for the exhibition of the Grand Prize Winner of the 28th Biennial of Graphic Arts in Slovenia, and that graces the cover of the 2013 Justseeds Organizer!
check out pictures of the show here
A little info on the spotted owl;
The Northern Spotted Owl and Mexican Spotted Owl subspecies are listed as threatened in the United States under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Northern spotted owls are very territorial and intolerant of habitat disturbance. They prefer old-growth forests with tree canopies that are high and open enough for the owls to fly between and underneath the trees.The biggest threat to the northern spotted owl is loss of old growth forest habitat as a result of logging and forest fragmentation. In June 1990, after years of heated negotiation and litigation between the government, environmentalists, and the timber industry, the northern spotted owl was declared a threatened species. Under this provision, timber companies are required to leave at least 40% of the old-growth forests intact within a 1.3 mile radius of any spotted owl nest or activity site, a provision that is vehemently opposed by the timber industry. The controversy pitted individual loggers and small sawmill owners against environmentalists. Bumper stickers reading Kill a Spotted Owl—Save a Logger and I Like Spotted Owls—Fried appeared to support the loggers. Plastic spotted owls were hung in effigy in Oregon sawmills. The logging industry, in response to continued bad publicity, started the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. While timber interests and conservatives have cited the Northern Spotted Owl as an example of excessive or misguided environmental protection, many environmentalists view the owl as an “indicator species,” or “canary in a coal mine” whose preservation has created protection for an entire threatened ecosystem.
In the southwest the Mexican spotted owl was first listed as a threatened species in 1993. Most of the owls are found on national forest lands, from steep wooded canyons to dense forests. Federal biologists have said one of the biggest threats to the bird is destruction and modification of its nesting habitat. As recently as March of 2011 in New Mexico U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce introduced legislation that aims to create jobs by revitalizing the timber industry in the Southwest, this plan would ease logging regulations and set aside land for the threatened Mexican spotted owl. Obviously environmentalists are concerned Pearce’s proposal would exempt timber operations from all environmental laws and would force Mexican spotted owls into “internment camps.”
Legal battles continue on between “Job creators” looking to open up areas to logging and environmental activists trying to save the spotted owl and some of the last areas of old growth forest.
signed