Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

The list of species was developed in a series of meetings with more than 60biologists, other scientists, and managers from the Pacific Northwest who hada wide array of expertise. The committee also reviewed lists of threatened andendangered, candidate, and sensitive species from the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService, Washington Department of Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish andWildlife, and California Department of Fish and Game. To identify speciesassociated with older forests, the committee reviewed the results of the ForestService's Old-Growth Wildlife Habitat Research Program (Ruggiero et al. 1991 a).A series of meetings on other species and ecosystem concerns was conductedby members of the committee from May through August 1991. The committeemet seven times, and members of the committee conducted more than 25meetings with outside biologists, other scientists, and managers in the threestates. Records of the committee's consultation with other individuals areincluded in the administrative record of the recovery plan.Identification of Priority Species and AssemblagesThe short list of priority species represents a consensus of the committeemembers. Highest priorities were assigned to threatened or endangeredspecies or those that are candidates for listing in at least parts of their geographicrange. Attention also was given to species that have restricted geographicranges or are endemic to the Pacific Northwest; species that have beendesignated as management indicator species of older forests by the ForestService (i.e., pileated woodpecker, goshawk, fisher, marten); and spotted owlprey species (woodrats, flying squirrel, red tree vole, red-backed vole).In developing the list of species, it became apparent that riparian ecosystemsin older coniferous forests were of particular importance and concern. Theimportance of these ecosystems is demonstrated by the numerous species andstocks of native fishes, amphibians, molluscs, aquatic insects, small mammals,and birds that are associated with them. In addition, spotted owls often areassociated with riparian areas.A short list of priority species was developed and concerns related to riparianecosystems were identified. Committee members reviewed numerous publications,geographic ranges, status of populations, natural history, habitat associations,and factors affecting populations and habitat. In addition, the committeesponsored a 2-day workshop on priority species and riparianecosystems to which scientists were invited to present information on priorityspecies. The workshop included opportunities for questions and answers atthe end of each presentation. In all, 16 speakers presented information on themarbled murrelet, goshawk, bald eagle, marten, fisher, riparian ecology, nativefish, amphibians, spotted owl prey, vascular plants, fungi, and ecologicalcorridors. The entire workshop was transcribed by a court reporter for thecommittee. Initially, there was a manual mapping exercise that designatedland ownerships, habitat conservation areas for the owl from the InteragencyScientific Committee (Thomas et al. 1990), critical habitat areas as proposed bythe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and significant old-growth areas as designatedby a congressional scientific panel (Johnson et al. 1991). Later, thiseffort was incorporated into a GIS mapping procedure that allowed moreefficient evaluation of options (see Appendix I for a description of GIS mappingmethods).339