Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

VI. Conclusionsmortality will result and stands will become particularly vulnerable to firebecause of heavy fuel loadings. Dwarf mistletoes will continue to increase inthe absence of fire, particularly on Douglas-fir. With underburning, mistletoeinfectedtrees in the understory will be killed. Heart rots will also continue toincrease in the absence of fire in older stands.Forest ecosystems are dynamic. They change with or without active management.In the case of unmanaged stands within the range of the northernspotted owl, such temporal change has been different within the three subregionsdefined in this report: the West Cascades, Klamath, and East Cascadessubregions. Such change and the likelihood of successful protection of owlhabitat by subregion is summarized in Table F.7, Klamath subregion. Clearly,active management is recommended for a majority of the land area occupied bythe northern spotted owl, and within areas such as the Klamath subregionwhere the highest densities of owls exist.A recommendation to implement a strategy that in fact reduces optimum owlhabitat may seem a paradox. We believe that such implementation will in thelong run better protect owl habitat than a more short-sighted attempt tocontinue total protection. Total protection would have been a viable 50-yearstrategy in 1910, but it is not viable in the 1990's. Active management ofhabitat in the Klamath and East Cascades subregions, through protectionstrategies designed to prevent large-scale catastrophic events, is the mostrational management direction. In the West Cascades subregion, while werecognize that large-scale catastrophic disturbance is historically important,future occurrence is not predictable, and an aggressive fire control strategy isrecommended. While these strategies are by no means perfected, they will helpus learn through implementation, and hopefully ensure the long-term viabilityof the northern spotted owl.Table F.7. A comparison by subregion of changes in forest structure since activeforest protection began, the probability of continued successful protection, andneeds for innovative management.CategorySubregionWest Cascades Klamath East CascadesChange in UnmanagedStands with Protection Low High Very highProbability of ContinuedSuccessful ProtectionOver the Next Century High Very low Very lowNeed for InnovativeFuture Forest Protection Low High High472