1990 Under court order, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists the northern spotted owl as threatened.
1991 U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer halts Forest Service timber sales in spotted owl habitat across the Northwest.
1994 Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) enacted under Clinton. Timber harvest resumes, but at much-reduced levels; safety net of "spotted owl payments" issued to help timber counties.
1995 "Salvage Rider" passed by Congress exempts some old-growth logging from environmental laws for 18 months; environmental protests intensify, stopping most but not all of the logging.
2000 Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act replaces "spotted owl payments" and increases aid to rural counties.
2006 Court settlement allows agencies to thin forests younger than 80 years old without NWFP rare species protections, further encouraging thinning over clearcutting.
2008 Bush administration releases Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR), which attempts to remove NWFP protections and double timber harvest on Oregon BLM lands.
2009 Obama administration rescinds WOPR.
2012 Secure Rural Schools act renewed for one more year. Fish and Wildlife nearly doubles area of spotted owl critical habitat, while allowing limited logging for forest restoration as "active management."
2013 Obama administration withholds some county payments under the budget sequester, and requires Oregon counties to return $3.6 million, and a total of $17.9 million nationwide.
2014 BLM plans to release a new draft Resource Management Plan for its Oregon land.