Salmon And Owls: It's about habitat

You might say this was a week during which fish won, owls lost and it's all about habitat. Simply defined, habitat is a safe community.

For salmon that means clear, clean, cold water that affords some protection from predators. A federal judge said the Bush administration erred in treating hatchery-raised salmon the same as wild salmon in order to determine enforcement rules for the Endangered Species Act. Farmers, water users and property rights advocates would like to limit what's considered protected salmon habitat. That proposition is a lot easier if you count hatchery fish.

But as Trout Unlimited's Kaitlin Lovell told The Associated Press: "You can't look to hatcheries to make up the difference for wild fish any more. This decision says you have to be looking at the health of the naturally spawning fish."

The administration has another habitat plan -- reducing protection for northern spotted owls in about 1.5 million acres of protected forests. A government spokeswoman said this is about better identifying "where forest areas are most important to the conservation and recovery of the spotted owl." She added that it's not about cutting more trees.

OK. Let's suppose it's not about valuing trees (and profits) as more important than a species of owl. Or the same logic for salmon and property rights. What's it about then? We think we know: The administration is running out of time. That's why it's urgent for them to strip what's left of our natural resource laws before leaving office.