Wildlife advocates are pushing hard to include the California spotted owl on the list of endangered species.

Advocates said that without federal protection, the California spotted owl could become extinct because of logging operations in the owl's habitat.

On Tuesday, the Wild Life Institute and the John Muir Project filed papers looking for protection for the owl under the federal Endangered Species Act. They urge the federal government to stop logging in areas where spotted owls hunt and nest.

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This isn't the first time advocates want the California spotted owl on the list of endangered species. An attempt in 2006 wasn't successful.

The population of spotted owls has fallen throughout California by about 40 percent in the past three decades, said Chad Hanson, a forest ecologist at the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute and one of the petitioners.

There are an estimated 1,200 pairs nesting in the state in an area stretching from Lassen National Forest in the north to San Bernardino National Forest in the south, he said.

U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Heil, however, said officials don't believe the California spotted owl is in danger of extinction. The agency maintains that massive wildfires are the greatest threat to the owls and said its working to ensure the owl's habitat is maintained or improved, he said.

Logger Mike Albrecht also doubts the science wildlife advocates use.

He says logging creates a healthier forest and isn't harming owls, which he also wants to save. He added that loggers have left large areas of California's forest untouched, and there's room for both humans and wildlife.

The existing protection laws for the California spotted owl have been implemented since 1993 when the Northern Spotted Owl was listed.

TagsCalifornia Spotted Owl, endangered species, Logging, logging burned trees, animal extinction