Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

3. Activities that may result in destruction or adverse modification of criticalhabitat.The recovery plan establishes guidelines for the management of DCAs andthe preparation of DCA management plans. The Recovery Team recommendsthat the FWS use these guidelines in determining whether proposalsfor actions within DCAs, or for adoption of DCA management plans,would result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.The recovery plan recommends that critical habitat be revised to conformwith DCA boundaries, and recommends, in the interim, that the FWSutilize the matrix management prescriptions (section III.C.2.) in analyzingthe impact of actions in critical habitat outside of DCAs.4. Relationship between agency actions.The Recovery Team considered the potential relationship between theactions of different agencies. Clearly, recovery will be achieved morerapidly and effectively if all agencies comply with the recovery plan in atimely manner. Substantial lack of compliance could delay or precluderecovery. Agency actions that do not comply with the recovery plan will berequired to individually satisfy the mandate of section 7 consultation interms of adverse modification of critical habitat or jeopardy to the species.However, the accumulated impacts of actions not consistent with therecovery plan could eventually necessitate redesign of the recovery plan ina particular area. This may result in greater restrictions on timber harvestactivities, including those of agencies that have complied with the recoveryplan.Past and current actions of each agency affect other agencies throughimpacts on the rangewide habitat condition and spotted owl populations.Impacts of actions that may affect spotted owls are evaluated in light ofthis baseline condition. However, due to location and ownership patterns,the recovery plan envisions little opportunity to substitute greater contributionsfrom one agency for lesser contributions from another. This isparticularly true in the case of DCAs, but also applies to the matrix.Consequently, the recovery plan generally anticipates that, during the nextfew years, actions proposed by one agency are unlikely to significantlyaffect the outcome of consultations on actions proposed by other agencies.Nonfederal landsThe explicit federal duties described in the Endangered Species Act, combinedwith the concentration of northern spotted owls on lands administered by theForest Service and BLM, give the federal government a dominant role inproviding for recovery of the species. Nonfederal lands, however, compriseimportant portions of the spotted owl's range where federal contributions aloneare not sufficient to meet recovery goals. Recovery goals for each provincecontain objectives for nonfederal lands, although the amount and type ofcontribution vary (see section IIl.C.4.).Current protection afforded spotted owls on nonfederal lands derives from theEndangered Species Act's prohibition against the taking of listed species. TheFWS developed biological guidance in July 1990 for reducing the risk ofviolating the take prohibition. The guidance recommends that landownerssurvey for spotted owls prior to timber harvest and avoid reducing habitatbelow prescribed amounts within circles around nests or activity centers(Section II.C.). This protection applies unless effective alternate measures areimplemented through habitat conservation planning (under section 10 of the129