Environmental groups in Canada are taking legal action against the country’s environment minister, arguing his delay in protecting old growth forest is harming the critically endangered northern spotted owl.
加拿大环保组织正在对该国环境部长采取法律行动，理由是他拖延保护老生态森林，危害到了濒临灭绝的北方豹猫头鹰。

In February, Steven Guilbeault said he would recommend an emergency order after determining the species was facing “imminent threats” to its survival.
今年2月，史蒂文·吉尔博表示，在确定该物种的生存面临“迫在眉睫的威胁”后，他将建议发布紧急命令。

Emergency orders are a powerful tool under Canada’s endangered species legislation and have been used only three times in the country’s history, including once by Guilbeault. They grant the federal government jurisdiction over decisions typically reserved for a province, including the ability to dictate which forests are off limits to logging.
根据加拿大的濒危物种立法，紧急命令是一项强有力的工具，历史上仅使用过三次，其中一次是吉尔博。他们授予联邦政府对通常由一个省保留的决定的管辖权，包括规定禁止砍伐哪些森林的权利。

Decades of old growth clearcutting have wiped out much of the northern spotted owl’s habitat in British Columbia, leaving the wild population in Canada at just one female, down from about 40 breeding pairs in the 90s.
几十年的森林砍伐已经摧毁了不列颠哥伦比亚省北部斑点猫头鹰的大部分栖息地，使这种加拿大野生种群从90年代的40对左右减少到只有一只雌性。

The minister initially determined that old-growth logging must stop within an area of the Spô’zêm Nation territory, including the Spuzzum and Utzlius watersheds, as well as a further 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres) of forest habitat at risk. But in the four months since Guilbeault announced plans for an emergency order, environmental groups say he has failed to follow through.
最初，该部长确定，必须停止在Spô’zêm 领土范围内（包括Spuzzum和Utzlius流域）以及另外2,500公顷（6,200英亩）的濒危森林栖息地内进行老生态森林砍伐。但自从吉尔博宣布计划采取紧急措施以来的四个月中，环保组织表示他没有跟进。

“The minister is legally obligated to make an emergency order recommendation to cabinet to protect this iconic species – any further delay is unacceptable,” said Rachel Gutman, a lawyer with Ecojustice, which is representing the advocacy group Wilderness Committee. “With the logging season upon us and only one owl remaining in the wild, the failure to immediately protect the species’ remaining habitat risks the extirpation of the spotted owl from Canada.”
“部长在法律上有义务向内阁发布紧急命令建议，以保护这一标志性物种——任何进一步的拖延都是不可接受的，”代表倡导组织荒野委员会的生态正义律师雷切尔·古特曼(Rachel Gutman)说。“随着伐木季的到来，野外只剩下一只猫头鹰，如果不能立即保护该物种剩余的栖息地，加拿大斑点猫头鹰可能会灭绝。”

-Environmental groups : 环保组织

-legal action : 法律行动

-environment minister : 环境部长

-old growth forest : 原始森林、老生态森林

-critically endangered : 极度濒危的

-northern spotted owl : 北美猫头鹰

-emergency order : 紧急命令

-imminent threats : 迫在眉睫的威胁

-endangered species legislation : 濒危物种法

-federal government : 联邦政府

-clearcutting : 采伐

-habitat : 栖息地

-territory : 领土、领域

-advocacy group : 倡导组织

-extirpation : 根除、灭绝