Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

confine site location to a specific drainage and would be within 0.5 miles of theactivity center.This option would provide the best demographic support for the populations inthese areas where habitat conditions preclude maintaining large enoughclusters to provide a good chance of maintaining a viable population over time.Over time this might result in forming larger clusters than currently possibleand in increasing local population stability.This option would require extensive owl surveys to identify owl sites and tomonitor implementation. The option creates a disincentive to locate owl sitesand an incentive to harvest suitable but unoccupied habitat. Managementstrategies for areas where spatial distribution of known locations do not.match" with needs to support DCAs.Option 4: Landscape-based habitat managementThis option would require maintaining dispersal habitat on inholdings withinDCA boundaries in the western zone, but would provide incentives for maintainingnesting, foraging, and roosting habitat. Category 2 DCAs and reservedpair areas in the eastern and southern zones would be supported by providingsuitable habitat in areas within major watersheds included within DCA boundaries.Specific location of suitable habitat for activity centers would not bespecified, but quantity and quality would be ensured at the watershed level.Suitable habitat to support 10 pairs of owls would be maintained in easternTrinity County, using existing federal lands as the basis. Specific owl sitelocations and cluster boundaries would not be designated.This option provides greater flexibility to the private landowner. It would notrequire owl surveys to the extent of other options. The option provides incentivesfor landowners to participate in landscape level management, and tolocate owls or manage habitat in desirable locations.Coordination. Land ownership is dominated by the national forests. Privatelands in the province are primarily large industrial forest holdings. BLM landsconstitute a small but relatively important portion of the area where managementof a cluster is proposed among multiple owners.This option requires coordination between large industrial forest landownersand the state and its forest practices regulation mechanism. A state-sponsoredhabitat conservation plan (HCP) for the northern spotted owl in California isbeing drafted that will provide the coordination necessary to accomplishmanagement suggested by this option.California Cascades ProvinceProvince descriptionThe California Cascades province is located in the center of the north end ofthe state, between the Oregon Cascades province, the Klamath provinces, andthe range of the California spotted owl at the north end of the Sierra Nevada.Suitable owl habitat generally is fragmented on a broad scale by the ShastaValley, Mt. Shasta, and other high elevation areas, areas of unsuitable soils,and areas of marginal, low elevation habitats. Suitable forest habitat is predominatelyon two national forests although there are significant blocks andcheckerboard ownership areas where forests occur on mostly industrial privatelands. This area forms the linkage between the range of the northern spottedowl and the range of the California spotted owl.193