Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

III.B. Principles Followed in Developing the Plan1. Strategic PrinciplesAdequate assurance of recovery must be provided.Secretary Lujan's letter directed the Recovery Team to prepare a plan whichwould "bring the owl to the point at which it will no longer need the protectionof the Endangered Species Act." The directive to the Recovery Team recognizedthe "biological imperative" in the Endangered Species Act. No plan would beacceptable unless it provided adequate assurance that recovery would beachieved. Proposals for recovery were evaluated first to determine whetherthey provided adequate assurance of recovery. This evaluation was madewithout regard to economic implications of the proposal, and all proposalswere required to meet this biological imperative prior to being given furtherconsideration.The plan should minimize social and economic costs.The Recovery Team attempted to develop a plan which, while meeting therequirement of achieving recovery, would recognize and try to reduce theoverall cost and would distribute this cost in an equitable manner across theregion. For example, the Recovery Team made an intensive effort to placeDCAs in locations where timber yield already was reduced (e.g., national parks,wilderness areas); efforts were made to distribute DCAs in a way that reducedadverse effects on timber-dependent communities; and analyses were carriedout to identify activities within DCAs that might produce economic returnswithout reducing the assurance that recovery would occur.The plan should be comprehensive.Secretary Lujan directed the Recovery Team to develop a plan that "will serveas a guide to future federal, state and private activities affecting the owl."These activities will include research, monitoring, habitat protection, developmentof conservation plans, and numerous other efforts to bring about recovery.The Recovery Team attempted to integrate all of these activities into asingle, well-coordinated plan for achieving recovery using all tools availableunder the Endangered Species Act.All contributions to recovery should be recognized.Important contributions to recovery are being made on nonfederal land and onfederal land outside of DCAs. Some of these contributions are required forrecovery, but others may provide higher levels of protection than are needed toassure recovery. These measures should not be required, and if they arecontributed voluntarily, then the possibility of requiring less contribution fromother sources should be investigated. This approach is consistent with thegoal of minimizing the cost of recovery, and may be particularly important asan incentive for nonfederal landowners to find owls and develop long-termconservation programs for them.99