Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT
Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT
habitat in DCA WD- 16. Approximately 20,000 acres are needed toachieve this objective. The L.T. Murray Wildlife Area is owned by theState of Washington and most of the land is dedicated to wildlife habitatuses. Although there is little spotted owl nesting, roosting, or foraginghabitat in the area now, development of habitat over time is possible. Therecovery plan recommends that mixed conifer habitat in this area bemanaged to develop old-growth and other late successional forest characteristics.This will contribute to the recovery objective.Checkerboard ownership north from WD-6 and extending to area surroundingand adjacent to WD-20, WD-21, and WD-22. In this area, the concernsand recommendations are the same as described for the Interstate 90corridor.Two other areas of special management emphasis are nonfederal landsbetween the Yakima Indian Reservation andfederal DCAs (between WD- 12and the reservation, and between the reservation and WD-1). The recommendationfor these areas is to provide dispersal habitat. Dispersal areasshould be as continuous as feasible, and broad enough to allow a reasonablelikelihood that owls will stay within them as they move betweenDCAs. In the southern area, this dispersal habitat will improve dispersalopportunities adjacent to the Columbia River Gorge.Much of this area is currently in uneven-age management, which in manycases provides dispersal habitat and perhaps foraging habitat. Developmentof new forestry practices and uneven-aged management mayimprove the contribution to recovery. Protective management, as describedin section III.C.3., could contribute to this objective. If new stateforest practices regulations were developed, such regulations couldcontribute to this objective.Oregon Coast Range ProvinceProvince descriptionThis province covers approximately 4.5 million acres in western Oregon betweenWashington and the Oregon Klamath province. Ownership is 57 percentprivate, 30 percent federal, and 13 percent state lands. The Grand Ronde andSiletz Indian Reservations lie within the province; contributions from theseIndian lands are discussed in section II.C.8. Federal lands include the SiuslawNational Forest and portions of four BLM districts. BLM lands are distributedin a checkerboard ownership pattern through much of the province. Approximately325 northern spotted owl pairs are known to occur in the province.Thirty-two percent of the pairs are in the southern portion of the province,south of Highway 38 primarily on BLM lands.Severe threats to the spotted owl exist in this province including low anddeclining populations, little nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat (only 15percent of the province), poor distribution of remaining owls and owl habitat,and high levels of predators. There is poor habitat and population connectivityboth within the province and with adjoining provinces.Four areas of special emphasis have been identified. Reduced habitat and poorpopulation connectivity are problems in all four areas.Tillamook/Astoria area. Forest stands in this area are primarily youngand homogeneous due to past fires and logging. Federally owned landscomprise a small proportion of the ownership and are unlikely to makemajor contributions to recovery. Suitable habitat and owl populations areat extremely low levels.162
Middle Oregon Coast (Highway 18 to Highway 34). Ownership in this areais primarily nonfederal. Currently, nesting, roosting, and foraging habitatis limited in the recommended DCAs, due to timber harvest. Habitat tosupport dispersal among the DCAs also is limited.Eugene and Drain Corridor. Nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat hasbeen reduced and fragmented in recommended DCAs, due to timberharvest. Habitat among the DCAs between the Oregon coast and thewestern Oregon Cascades is highly fragmented, thus reducing its suitabilityfor dispersal.Area south of Highway 38. Nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat islimited within recommended DCAs. Habitat for dispersal is limitedamong DCAs and between this province and the Oregon Klamath province,due to harvest patterns within areas of checkerboard ownership.Biological goals and implementation on federal landSeventeen DCAs are recommended for this province, with five DCAs meetingcategory 1 criteria (Tables 3.11 and 3.12). A total of 110 pairs of owls has beenTable 3.11. Summary of acreage and owl pairs for designated conservation areas (DCAs)and for all lands in the Oregon Coast Range province. (More detailed information, includingprojected owl pairs on nonfederal lands, is in Appendix J, Table J. 5.)AcreageOwl PairsDCA Percent NRF Current FutureIdent. Federal Habitat Known Owls 3 Projected ProjectedNumber Total Land 1 Federal 2 Federal Nonfed Federal 4 Federal 5OD-27 77,749 67 27,320 15 1 12 20OD-28 70,663 69 26,720 19 5 15 20OD-29 50,636 82 28,360 9 1 10 15OD-30 59,934 57 15,760 14 4 10 12OD-31 70,555 84 31,760 14 0 14 20OD-32 39,894 75 15,000 5 0 5 10OD-33 60,175 61 9,640 5 0 5 12OD-34 50,661 49 24,600 7 0 7 15OD-35 51,780 86 17,800 3 0 3 15OD-36 70,212 76 9,720 3 0 3 18OD-37 46,239 58 2,920 2 2 3 7OD-38 8,942 54 1,240 1 0 1 1OD-49 22,352 13 800 1 0 1 1OD-50 51,050 17 240 2 2 2 4OD-53 86,004 91 38,440 8 0 12 30OD-54 8,509 58 2,640 2 0 1 2OD-55 2,713 53 200 0 0 0 1Totals: 828,068 69 253,160 110 15 104 203Totals for all lands in province: 437,494 269 57'Management of nontederal lands within the perimeter of designated conservation areas is discussed in the narrative.2 NRF = nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for spotted owls. Habitat information was not available for nonfederal lands3 Numbers are pairs of spotted owls verified in a 5-year period either 1986 through 1990 or 1987 through 1991.4 This is an estimate of the number of pairs of owls that the DCA would be expected to support on federal lands if the population stabilized with current habitat conditions SeeAppendix J for further details This may be smaller than the current known number where populations are adjusting to rapidly changing habitat conditions5 This is an estimate of the number of pairs of owls that the DCA might support in the future on federal lands it habitat were recovered. See Appendix J for further details.163
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Middle Oregon Coast (Highway 18 to Highway 34). Ownership in this areais primarily nonfederal. Currently, nesting, roosting, and <strong>for</strong>aging habitatis limited in <strong>the</strong> recommended DCAs, due to timber harvest. Habitat tosupport dispersal among <strong>the</strong> DCAs also is limited.Eugene and Drain Corridor. Nesting, roosting, and <strong>for</strong>aging habitat hasbeen reduced and fragmented in recommended DCAs, due to timberharvest. Habitat among <strong>the</strong> DCAs between <strong>the</strong> Oregon coast and <strong>the</strong>western Oregon Cascades is highly fragmented, thus reducing its suitability<strong>for</strong> dispersal.Area south of Highway 38. Nesting, roosting, and <strong>for</strong>aging habitat islimited within recommended DCAs. Habitat <strong>for</strong> dispersal is limitedamong DCAs and between this province and <strong>the</strong> Oregon Klamath province,due to harvest patterns within areas of checkerboard ownership.Biological goals and implementation on federal landSeventeen DCAs are recommended <strong>for</strong> this province, with five DCAs meetingcategory 1 criteria (Tables 3.11 and 3.12). A total of 110 pairs of owls has beenTable 3.11. Summary of acreage and owl pairs <strong>for</strong> designated conservation areas (DCAs)and <strong>for</strong> all lands in <strong>the</strong> Oregon Coast Range province. (More detailed in<strong>for</strong>mation, includingprojected owl pairs on nonfederal lands, is in Appendix J, Table J. 5.)Acreage<strong>Owl</strong> PairsDCA Percent NRF Current FutureIdent. Federal Habitat Known <strong>Owl</strong>s 3 Projected ProjectedNumber Total Land 1 Federal 2 Federal Nonfed Federal 4 Federal 5OD-27 77,749 67 27,320 15 1 12 20OD-28 70,663 69 26,720 19 5 15 20OD-29 50,636 82 28,360 9 1 10 15OD-30 59,934 57 15,760 14 4 10 12OD-31 70,555 84 31,760 14 0 14 20OD-32 39,894 75 15,000 5 0 5 10OD-33 60,175 61 9,640 5 0 5 12OD-34 50,661 49 24,600 7 0 7 15OD-35 51,780 86 17,800 3 0 3 15OD-36 70,212 76 9,720 3 0 3 18OD-37 46,239 58 2,920 2 2 3 7OD-38 8,942 54 1,240 1 0 1 1OD-49 22,352 13 800 1 0 1 1OD-50 51,050 17 240 2 2 2 4OD-53 86,004 91 38,440 8 0 12 30OD-54 8,509 58 2,640 2 0 1 2OD-55 2,713 53 200 0 0 0 1Totals: 828,068 69 253,160 110 15 104 203Totals <strong>for</strong> all lands in province: 437,494 269 57'Management of nontederal lands within <strong>the</strong> perimeter of designated conservation areas is discussed in <strong>the</strong> narrative.2 NRF = nesting, roosting, and <strong>for</strong>aging habitat <strong>for</strong> spotted owls. Habitat in<strong>for</strong>mation was not available <strong>for</strong> nonfederal lands3 Numbers are pairs of spotted owls verified in a 5-year period ei<strong>the</strong>r 1986 through 1990 or 1987 through 1991.4 This is an estimate of <strong>the</strong> number of pairs of owls that <strong>the</strong> DCA would be expected to support on federal lands if <strong>the</strong> population stabilized with current habitat conditions SeeAppendix J <strong>for</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r details This may be smaller than <strong>the</strong> current known number where populations are adjusting to rapidly changing habitat conditions5 This is an estimate of <strong>the</strong> number of pairs of owls that <strong>the</strong> DCA might support in <strong>the</strong> future on federal lands it habitat were recovered. See Appendix J <strong>for</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r details.163
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