Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

Option 3: Management of clusters: general boundariesThis option would allow greater flexibility to private landowners in meetingrecovery objectives because the boundaries of areas managed for owl clustersare generalized. Each cluster would have a designated general size, based onthe numbers of owls it should contain and the home range size that would benecessary for owls in that province. Only a general location would be specifiedto meet spacing guidelines; the location of the perimeter would not be fixed.Guidelines would be based on maintaining owl pairs in clusters rather thanmaintaining isolated owl pairs or individuals. Landowners would determinewhere owls would occur within clusters. An owl cluster within a singlelandownership would be managed by the landowner. An owl cluster thatencompasses land owned by several landowners would be managed through acoordinated resource management plan agreed upon by all landowners. Owlsin the extreme southern portion of the range would be managed in enlargedclusters with no removal of owl nesting and roosting habitat.This option would provide the landowner with the greatest number of optionsin land management and would require minimal owl surveys. Owl surveyscould be limited to those required to estimate population trends for the province.The option also could serve as the framework for a more generalized,landscape-based habitat conservation strategy that could consider otherspecies, biological diversity, and ecosystems.This option would require substantial management planning by landowners toensure that recovery goals will be achieved and maintained. Habitat monitoringwould be the paramount concern and would be the responsibility of landownersand implementing agencies. This strategy also would carry a higherrisk of declines in owl populations during the short term or delays in meetingrecovery goals, since many of the relationships between owls and forest managementover the long term are unclear at this time and have not been tested.Achieving recovery goals for the province will require strong coordinationamong large and small private landowners, the state, and the state forestpractices rules. In many areas the need for BLM participation will be highbecause of the numerous small BLM parcels adjacent to state and privatelands. In Marin, Sonoma, and Napa Counties, coordination with local andcounty governments may be critical to maintain owls on private lands and touse zoning to help maintain owl habitat. Coordination in managing owls inthis province is underway in the form of a state-sponsored habitat conservationplan (HCP) for the northern spotted owl in California.California Klamath ProvinceProvince descriptionThe California Klamath province is located between the California Coast andthe California Cascades provinces. It is a continuation of the Oregon Klamathprovince, south to the Clear Lake Basin in the inner Coast Range. The area ismountainous and covered primarily with Douglas-fir forests. Mixed Douglasfirforests are common at lower elevations with Douglas-fir/true fir forests athigher elevations. The province land ownership is dominated by four nationalforests, but includes a few parcels of BLM lands near the eastern border.There are some private forestlands, also near the eastern edge of the province.The Hoopa Indian Reservation occurs within the California Klamath province;recovery contributions of the Hoopa Tribe are described in section II.C.8.186