| In an unprecedented victory for property owners, a Yakima jury awarded $2.25 million to a logging company that was barred by the State from logging land it owned to protect two endangered spotted owls.
The jury ordered the state Department of Natural Resources to compensate SDS Co. of Bingen for the value of the land and timber it lost when required by federal law to set it aside for the owls.
According to Kitsap County Homebuilders Association Government Affairs Director Alan Martin, if the decision stands, when the government requires land to be set aside for endangered species habitat, the landowner must be compensated. He also said the ruling could have far reaching impacts regarding other endangered species — such as salmon.
However, Martin cautions local property owners not be overly optimistic as this is not the final word on the subject and to expect appeals. | 
