Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

2. The population has been stable or increasing duringat least the last 8 years, as indicated by both densityestimates and demographic analyses, in all parts of thearea that would be considered significant under theEndangered Species Act.Delisting a threatened population while it is declining would be difficult tojustify. This is particularly true with northern spotted owls because evidencethat populations were declining was one of the major reasons for listing thesubspecies. These statements apply to the total population in the area beingconsidered for delisting, or to any subpopulation that would be considered''significant," and thus would qualify for protection under the EndangeredSpecies Act. The Recovery Team recognizes, however, that suitable habitat inthe matrix-and owl populations-are likely to decline, and several decadesmay be required before populations stabilize completely, even if recovery isproceeding as anticipated. The Recovery Team believes that delisting eventuallymight be appropriate if the populations in protected areas were stable orincreasing, even if the overall population still was declining slightly. Thecriteria for delisting under these conditions are difficult to specify precisely atthis time, and doing so may be unnecessary if habitat protection in the matrixis integrated successfully with other forest activities (section III.B.2.). For thesereasons, the Recovery Team has not attempted to specify the exact criteria fordelisting while the population still is declining at a small rate.State-of-the-art methods should be used to estimate population trends. Methodsthat would be appropriate at present are described in Appendices A and C.3. Regulatory mechanisms or land management commitmentshave been implemented that provide for adequatelong-term protection of breeding, foraging, anddispersal habitat, as described in section III.C.4., recoverygoals and strategies for each province.Delisting would be followed by loss of protection under the Endangered SpeciesAct. Adequate protection through alternate means is essential before delisting.For example, management plans for federal land should provide adequateassurances of habitat protection prior to consideration of delisting. The form ofthese regulations and commitments should be determined during the comingyears and will vary across the range. The Recovery Team therefore has notattempted to specify the form of the protection precisely. Reasonable assurancemust exist that the conditions which have brought about populationstability will be maintained, or, if necessary, improved during the foreseeablefuture.96