Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

from nonfederal lands are needed to support these 10 sites becausesufficient habitat does not occur on federal lands. These contributionsare needed until habitat in the DCA recovers. The final recommendationis to provide dispersal habitat on other nonfederal lands between WD-4and WD- 17.In the Interstate 90 corridor area, prohibition of take on nonfederal landscurrently is contributing to recovery. Nonfederal landowners currentlyare affected by prohibitions on take at approximately 20 owl sites in DCAsin the Interstate 90 corridor, and a smaller number of sites to the north.Not all of these restrictions are contributing to the identified recoveryobjective. Protective management, as described in section III.C.3., couldlead to more efficient conservation measures and improve achievement ofrecovery objectives. State forest practices rules also could be used toensure implementation of agreed on protection of known owls. If there isan adequate federal nexus, federal critical habitat designation couldprovide additional protection. The City of Seattle currently is protectingsuitable habitat within its Cedar River watershed (near WD-17). Withinthis watershed the unsuitable habitat is expected to develop into suitablehabitat over time.In this area, as in all other parts of Washington, known owl pairs currentlyare partially protected through federal prohibition on take. However,protection is limited to 40 percent of suitable habitat within a 1.8-mile radius of the site center. Additional habitat protection may beneeded to ensure long term survival of the pair. Additional protectedacreage could be negotiated in exchange for relief from take prohibition onother owls, or a larger area could be managed actively to provide protectionin the long term in exchange for reduced habitat protection in theshort term (see section III.C.3.). Opportunities to negotiate will be reducedto the extent that the recovery objective already requires protectionof most currently known owl pairs. In that case, little incentive exists forlandowners to make additional contributions. Land exchange or purchasemay be necessary in some cases to increase the level of protection.Columbia Gorge. The portion of the Gorge through which spotted owlsmight move between the Washington and Oregon Cascades is generallylocated between DCAs WD- 1 and OD- 1. This includes a portion of theeastern Washington Cascades province. The recommendation for thearea in the western Washington Cascades is to provide protection forcurrently known activity centers on nonfederal land using supplementalpair areas. These owls should be protected within an area equal to themedian home range size within the province. The acreage of habitatprovided should be at least the median amount of habitat used withinhome ranges. Seven pairs and single owl sites currently are located inthe Columbia Gorge.An additional recommendation is to develop strategies for future recruitmentof additional habitat (Appendix G) to provide a density of four owlpairs per township in the Columbia Gorge.Current prohibitions on take are contributing to the accomplishment ofrecovery objectives in the Gorge. However, there is little opportunity tonegotiate additional landowner contribution in exchange for relief fromtake prohibition because there are only a small number of known owlsites: most are clustered near the national forest boundary; and most areneeded to meet the objective for pairs in the area. State forest practicesregulations can help ensure protection of known owls, and, if new regulationswere developed, could provide dispersal habitat among pairs.156