Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

including wildlife. In other cases, scattered or checkerboard ownership withfederal lands complicates management.Nonindustrial Private. Nonindustrial lands comprise almost a quarter of theforestland ownership in Washington. These lands may or may not be managedprimarily for timber. Because of their location close to human populations,management of these lands has important effects on supply of nontimbervalues. However, due to their small size and generally young timber, opportunitiesfor management of these lands to promote owl conservation are limited.Land AcquisitionWashington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. Created in 1988 as acoalition of citizen groups, this organization lobbies the state legislature forfunds to bring high priority habitat and park lands into public ownership. Todate, $113 million have been appropriated for these purposes.Trust Land Purchase Program. In 1989-90, the Washington legislatureappropriated approximately $150 million in state general funds to purchaseenvironmentally sensitive state trust lands. When completed, these purchaseswill bring about 60,000 acres into conservancy management. The value of thetimber (usually about 90 percent) goes to the same trust accounts as doestimber sale revenue. The land value goes to purchase replacement trust lands.Other Preserved Lands. Several hundred thousand acres of state lands aremanaged in a preserve status as natural area preserves, state parks, wildlifeareas, and under related designations. Periodically additional lands are addedto these categories. Some of these lands may contribute to owl habitat, but forthe most part, they are of small individual size.Assistance ProgramsWashington provides a number of programs of technical and financial assistanceto small-acreage forest landowners to encourage improved managementof lands for a variety of objectives, including timber supply, watershed protection,and wildlife habitat. In the future, additional funds are expected to beavailable to address a broader range of resource objectives.Incentive ProgramsResearchSeveral programs of state and local government currently provide a variety oftax and other incentives for land management that promote open space,farmland preservation, and other resource objectives. These programs maycontribute incidentally to owl conservation, but would need expansion anddirection to make more substantive and intentional contributions.The Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Wildlife conductand participate in research programs concerned with the spotted owl. For themost part, these research programs are funded and led by federal resourceagencies.88