Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

Monitoring and Research ProgramThe draft recovery plan is based on extensive scientific data on northernspotted owls. This information gives the Recovery Team reasonable assurancethat implementation of the draft plan will result in recovery of the species.However, increased knowledge of owls and their habitat will provide opportunitiesto refine and improve the plan. Consequently, the draft recovery planrecommends a comprehensive monitoring, research, and adaptive managementprogram. The program has two objectives:1) It will help produce information to assist in refining managementguidance and practices to promote recovery and, to the extentfeasible, achieve greater economic efficiency and effectiveness. Theprogram will include assessments of how implementation techniquesare applied and the results they achieve.2) It will provide documentation necessary to consider delisting the owlin part or all of its range.Information derived from the monitoring and research program eventually mayresult in significant changes in the Recovery Team's recommendations. TheRecovery Team has a long-term goal to move from a landscape composed ofprotected areas and matrix toward a landscape where conditions provide amore continuous distribution of owls. Results from monitoring and researchmay support such a change. In any case, the delisting criteria still would beappropriate even if specific recommendations changed.Implementation MechanismsRecovery plans are not self-implementing under the Endangered Species Act.Instead, they are used by federal agencies as a guide to refine managementplans, procedures, and strategies so that on-the-ground operations helpachieve recovery as it is defined in the draft recovery plan. Nonfederal partiesare not required explicitly to follow recovery plans. However, they must followapplicable Endangered Species Act provisions that are reflected in the recoveryplan. The draft recovery plan suggests an implementation schedule which, iffollowed, will expedite progress toward recovery and provide increased certaintyand stability in owl management. Also, in recognition that actions are recommendedwhich cover an extended time frame and involve federal andnonfederal parties, the draft recovery plan recommends establishment of acoordinating group to guide implementation efforts over the long term. Thegroup would provide advice and assistance on policies, plans, and otheraspects of management including monitoring and research.The Scientific Basis for the Recovery PlanThe draft recovery plan is based on field studies of the habitat conditions thatspotted owls prefer for nesting and breeding, on demographic studies, and onstudies of owl behavior. It also is based on biological principles that describethe interactions within and among subpopulations that depend on areas offavorable habitat separated by areas of less favorable conditions. The RecoveryTeam drew substantially on theories and models of population dynamics todetermine the desired size of population groups and the overall population.xiiThe draft recovery plan also is based on silvicultural studies of the growth offorests under natural conditions and human management. Silvicultural modelswere used to study the opportunities for promoting more rapid development ofsuitable habitat conditions by appropriate management in younger stands.