Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

out the province. These owl activity centers on federal lands contribute to fourof the 11 larger clusters needed to maintain the owl population throughout theprovince. Outside of the Redwood National Park areas, owl activity centers onfederal land will contribute no more than 11 owl pairs to any of the clusters onnonfederal lands. Also, distances among most of the DCAs on federal landsexceed current size and spacing standards, which creates more need fordispersal habitat on the intervening nonfederal land.There is not enough habitat in the DCAs in this area to support a sustainableowl population. Options exist for nonfederal lands to supplement existingDCAs, and to provide for clusters where spacing among DCAs exceeds thecurrent standards. Supplementing DCAs and providing for clusters does notrequire reserves or set-asides of private land and can be achieved throughvoluntary actions on private lands and compliance with regulations.Del Norte and northern Humboldt Counties. Nonfederal lands can be managedfor nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat, for clusters or supplemental pairareas, and for dispersal habitat among owl clusters and DCAs.Central Humboldt County. A substantial population of spotted owls occurs eastand southeast of Eureka, but no DCAs are possible in this area. At least two20-pair clusters or equivalent supplemental pair protection would be neededon state and private lands in this area to meet recovery goals for demographicstability and distribution throughout the province. Dispersal habitat should bemaintained among areas managed for owl clusters.Southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino Counties. DCAs and state parksare too small in this area to hold 20-pair clusters and must rely on othernearby lands with suitable habitat to provide demographic support. All category2 DCAs and residual habitat areas would benefit from support bysupplemental pair areas or habitat on state and private lands, as feasible andconsistent with current size and spacing criteria. At present, approximately 25category 2 DCAs and 10 residual habitat areas in this area are on federal landand would benefit from this support. For example, three category 2 DCAs havethe capability to be upgraded to support 20 owl pairs by combining them withother DCAs and instituting favorable management on private lands. Fourteenowl activity centers on state park lands also would benefit from this type ofsupporting habitat. In addition to providing nesting, roosting, and foraginghabitat, dispersal habitat is needed among areas managed for owl clusters andDCAs.Southern Mendocino to northern Sonoma Counties. Two 20-pair owl clusters areneeded in this area to support owl populations farther south and east inSonoma, Napa, and Marin Counties. The clusters would be best placed in thegenerally suitable habitat near the coast; habitat of naturally low suitability isfound west and southwest of Clear Lake. Adoption of standard spacing amongclusters would result in locating one in southwestern Mendocino County andone in northwestern Sonoma County. One state park could serve as the basisfor a cluster, supported by management for additional pairs on private land.Southern end of the province. Owls in the southern part of the California Coastprovince have the highest risk of extirpation because of their isolation. Habitatin northern Marin County, northeastern Sonoma County, and most of LakeCounty is either unsuitable, or is of low or questionable suitability. Owls maynot disperse readily across these areas. Three state parks in this area are largeenough to serve as the basis for three breeding clusters, if augmented byprivate lands. However, it may not be feasible to support 20 owl pairs in thesebreeding clusters. Known owl activity centers on state and private lands inthese breeding clusters should be managed conservatively to retain all owl183