Agencies, group take ‘step forward’ with Mexican owl talks

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Negotiations among environmentalists and state and federal officials in Arizona and New Mexico have resulted in a set of recommendations and other provisions that environmentalists say will help protect the threatened Mexican spotted owl. The Center for Biological Diversity says it’s backing down from its threat to sue as a result. Forest officials called the understanding a “big step forward.” The group in April threatened legal action, saying th