Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

ITable 3.24. Summary comments on the designated conservation area (DCA)network in the California Cascades province. (Section III.C.2. and Appendix Iprovide further information on the criteria and process used to delineate theseareas.)DesignatedConservationAreaCD-35 through CD-41,CD-101 through CD-1l1CD-28, CD-42 throughCD-45CommentsBecause of the naturally fragmented landscape,larger multipair DCAs are not possible. These DCAs provide connectivityto DCAs to the west and provide the link between the range of thenorthern spotted owl and the California spotted owl in the Sierra Nevada.No opportunities exist to support category 1 DCAs.DCAs are delineated where owls are currently known, where futurehabitat opportunities occur, and where the only demographic support forthis local population is possible. Suitable habitat is not uniformlydistributed over this region because of moisture and soil conditions.< .......................................................................... ity of individual HCP or no-take plans. The scarcity of owls may not makelandscape management attractive to landowners, especially if few owl sites aredetected through no-take surveys. Forest practice rules do not provide forpermanent protection of nest sites if they become unoccupied, and the ruleswould have to be amended. Habitat on state and private land could be obtainedby purchase or land exchange. There is some potential for land acquisition,due to checkerboard ownership, but land acquisition likely would alterradically timber supply access among different owners. Land purchase is likelyto be expensive, and landowners are likely to be concerned about removingland from private ownership, given the need for a timber base to supply existingmills.Short-term deferral of harvest, until a long-term management strategy with lowrisk to the population can be drafted, might be accomplished through taxexemptions or habitat conservation easements, but the institutional mechanismsfor accomplishing this are not yet developed.One option is presented for achieving recovery goals. Other options may beappropriate if they achieve equivalent or better protection for the owl. Alloptions must be evaluated based on the likelihood that they will achieverecovery goals when fully implemented.Option 1: Manage existing owl sites to establish clustersThis option would include all currently known owl sites on nonfederal lands,and any new sites found in the next few years of intensive surveys, as supplementalpair areas. This would increase the demographic stability of theprovince over the short term. In the short term, existing suitable habitat wouldbe retained, even if a site becomes unoccupied. Attempts should be made tocombine sites on federal, state, and private lands into clusters of mutuallysupporting owl pairs. Future evaluation would have to be made to determine iflarger clusters could be designated and maintained in a pattern that wouldprovide a lower risk of future local extinction. Combining with other sites maynot be feasible for some areas that will remain as reserved pair areas due to196