Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

DiseasesIt will be difficult to completely protect DCAs from diseases. Many diseases,especially decay organisms and dwarf mistletoes, are desirable in terms of creatingowl habitat. While removal of infected western hemlock trees is desirablefor timber production, retention of some infected trees in managed stands willallow development of dwarf mistletoe trees in the future. Young trees may beprotected from wounding to prevent entry of decay organisms, but eventuallymost trees will develop decay if they are left for more than 100 years. Oldertrees are much more likely to have substantial decay columns, especially whitewood species like western hemlock, Sitka spruce, and true firs.D. Forest Protection GuidelinesFireIntensive presuppression, detection, and initial attack, with high priority forsuppression forces, are the most prudent course in the West Cascades subregion.This region is moist, and severe fire weather usually persists only forseveral days at a time. Fire suppression records in 1950-80 (Hardy 1983) showthat the average size of Class E and larger fires (300+ acres) was relativelysmall in national forests primarily in this subregion: Olympic (897 acres),Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie (458 acres), Gifford Pinchot (1,458 acres), Mt. Hood(2,423 acres), and Siuslaw (none), in contrast to east side national forests,which averaged More than 2,500 acres for Class E+ fires. The Gifford Pinchotand Mt. Hood forests, with the largest averages in the subregion, have east sideacreage and have the Columbia Gorge wind influence. Of course, larger fireshave occurred within historical time in the subregion, and there is a chance ofa series of large fires in this subregion similar to what apparently occurred inthe past. Nevertheless, an aggressive fire control strategy appears to have ahigh chance of success here.The primary fire severity level in this subregion is high (Huff 1984, Yamaguchi1986, Gray 1990) so that stands burned are likely to be unsuitable for owls fordecades to a century, assuming that snags and any residuals are not salvaged.In wilderness areas and national parks, a prescribed natural fire policy may bein place. If owl habitat is a primary management constraint, prescribed naturalfire zones should exclude DCAs and should include an intervening bufferbetween the DCA and the prescribed natural fire zone.If manipulation of stands is mandated (some portion clear-cut or partial cut),the use of fire to reduce hazard should be considered in a minority of cases,generally on the drier, more fire-prone sites. First, the risk of escaped firesexists (Dell 1977), although fire behavior usually is reduced once the fire entersadjacent uncut stands. Secondly, fuel hazards in untreated slash decline tolevels similar to treated slash over a short time frame. Burning slash in thesemoist west side conditions may reduce fire hazard up to 15 years (Morris 1970)compared to untreated slash. Fine fuels fall to background levels for bothprecommercial thinning and blowdown within 2 to 4 years (Christensen andPickford 1991). This is a temporal risk which is probably acceptable as long ascontiguous slash is not present over thousands of acres.From a fire protection standpoint, stand manipulation directed toward reductionof fire hazard in natural stands should be avoided. Instead, an aggressivefire control strategy should be implemented, with concentration on fire detec-453