US forest managers want judge to clarify tree-cutting ban

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is asking a federal judge to reconsider an earlier order that banned tree-cutting across thousands of square miles of Southwest forest.
The ruling stemmed from a 2013 case that alleged the agency failed to consider the effects of thinning and logging on the threatened Mexican spotted owl and its habitat.
The Forest Service says without clarification, efforts to mitigate wildfire threats will be compromised until at least 2023 when data on th