March 16, 1993 – The owl was listed as threatened.

February 14, 1994 – The Center filed suit to obtain critical habitat. A court ordered the same.

June 6, 1995 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 4.6 million acres of critical habitat on the Southwest's 11 national forests. Meanwhile, the Center sued the Forest Service for failing to consult on the effects of the 11 regional forest plans on the spotted owl.

1996 – Timber proponents sued to strike down critical habitat for lack of review under the National Environmental Policy Act. Meanwhile, the Forest Service amended all 11 plans to incorporate the Mexican Spotted Owl Recovery Plan, but grandfathered in all ongoing logging and grazing, making it exempt from the added protections of the newly revised plans. The Center sued the Forest Service.

1997 – The 1995 critical habitat designation was withdrawn because of a legal technicality. Meanwhile, Center legal battles halted all logging in the Southwest for 16 months before forcing the Forest Service to implement the federal recovery plan.

1999 – The Center sued to have critical habitat reinstated after the Service refused to do so on its own.

2000 – A judge ordered the Service to re-designate critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl, citing systematic delays by the federal agency.

2001 – The Center filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the Service after it decided the best habitat for the Mexican spotted owl should not be included in its critical habitat designation. After obtaining the support of several other organizations, the Center issued a second letter of intent to sue — after which we proceeded to file suit again.

2003 – When Interior Secretary Gale Norton refused to comply with a court order to designate critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl, the judge ordered “immediate and expedited” compliance.

2004 – The owl’s critical habitat was expanded to 8,647,749 acres.

2008 – After the Center intervened in a lawsuit by the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association challenging the owl’s 2004 critical habitat designation, a federal court confirmed the validity of the 2004 final rule and upheld critical habitat protection.