The editors of the Tucson Citizen penned the following editorial on 4-29-98 as the pygmy owl-Amphi high school trial began:
Owls vs. Kids: Find a Way for Both to Win
Developers hate it. Environmentalists love it. But both agree: When it comes to protecting wildlife, the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity is a legal powerhouse.
Over the past five years, the center has filed 84 lawsuits, winning 77 percent of the cases that have been resolved.
One of its most controversial battles- to protect the endangered pygmy owl- is being waged in a courtroom this week.
At stake is the fate of new high school that Amphitheater Public Schools wants to build in owl habitat on the Northwest Side. It's unfortunate the battle has turned into such an ugly contest between two highly polarized
groups.
The dispute has been dubbed "kids vs. owls," when both sides should be seeking a solution that harms neither. The kids' need for a new high school is obvious and important. The need to protect endangered animals from extinction is less obvious, but no less important.
The extinction of a species often reflects a wealth of damage to the environment that the public should take seriously.
The school district's stubborn refusal to explore other options, once it became clear it had purchased a problematic sit for a new school, has not been helpful. The Southwest Center's apparent belief that nothing short of a complete halt in development on the Northwest Side could save the owl has not been helpful.
Only a judge can decide the complicated legal issues fueling the controversy.
Regardless of which side prevails in court, the public should insist on an eventual outcome that protects the owls while giving students the school they need...It isn't too much for the public to expect a solution that serves the interests of both owls and students.