1.   Along with the northern and the California varieties, there is also the Mexican spotted owl, which lives in Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.

2.   Another owl, the Mexican spotted owl, was placed on the list three years ago.

3.   But environmentalists say that, like its cousin the northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest, the Mexican owl signifies that a forest is in good ecological health.

4.   Environmentalists argued that the Forest Service has failed to protect the Mexican spotted owl by refusing to develop a regionwide plan to save the species.

5.   He was putting together a final operating plan when the area was found to be within the habitat of the threatened Mexican spotted owl.

6.   Many of the prime aspen groves are in areas where the federally protected Mexican spotted owl needs the thick conifer canopy.

7.   Protecting the Mexican spotted owl has meant the near demise of the logging industry.

8.   Stands of old-growth forests are needed for nesting Mexican spotted owls.

9.   The company has since closed the timber mill, blaming reductions in logging caused by efforts to protect the Mexican spotted owl.

10.   The order halted timber harvests pending further study into whether the cutting threatens the survival of the Mexican spotted owl.