Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

The primary economic costs of achieving recovery result from the loss of theeconomic benefits from the timber that otherwise would be harvested and fromthe resulting increases in the prices of goods that are produced from timber.Economic benefits arise from timber harvesting because logs have a highereconomic value than the costs of producing them. The economic benefits fromharvesting timber are mostly captured by the owners of forestlands. Forfederal lands, the profits are captured by the Forest Service and the BLM andare shared with states and local communities.The primary social cost of owl conservation measures is the decline in thequality of peoples' lives that results from the unemployment and reducedincome caused by foregone timber harvests. These social costs are generallymost severe in small, isolated communities with a large portion of the populationemployed in the timber and wood products industry. Small businessessuch as sawmills and supply businesses may fail, causing loss of assets andincome. People in these communities have less opportunity to find new jobs atsimilar wages than people living closer to urban areas with a more diversifiedeconomic structure.The general principle for reducing the economic and social costs of owl recoveryis to employ management actions that will produce a higher "yield" of owls(the number of owls supported) per unit of foregone timber production and itsbenefits, particularly near communities where timber workers are less able toshift to other employment.B. The Importance of Owl Habitat ProductivityA recovery plan that uses habitat having higher productivity for owls should beable to achieve recovery using less habitat (assuming other biological requirementsfor recovery are met). Identifying the characteristics of habitat that arebest for owls and finding ways to enhance owl habitat productivity, especiallyin areas that currently are not suitable habitat, may help to reduce the costs ofrecovery.The high cost of owl preservation results from the large area of forestland withold-growth characteristics that is needed to provide sufficient habitat to supporta viable owl population. The productivity of owl habitat is measured bythe density, reproductive success and individual survival rates of the owlpopulation that it is capable of supporting. Owl habitat productivity variessubstantially and depends highly on local conditions as well as the generalstructure of the forest landscape. Other things being equal, the costs ofachieving recovery for the owl will be lower if the areas used as owl habitat arecapable of supporting more owls per acre.Measures that increase owl habitat productivity also may help reduce recoverycosts. For the overall cost of recovery to be reduced, the cost of implementingmeasures to increase owl habitat productivity must be less than the economicbenefits gained from the additional timber that can be harvested because of theincreased owl habitat productivity.If ways can be found to improve the capability of currently existing and newlydeveloped owl habitat to support the owl population, then less forestland willbe needed to sustain the population and more forestland can be used fortimber production. This may reduce the long-run costs of achieving recoveryfor the owl.Research on owl ecology may help to identify environmental conditions thatpromote higher owl productivity. Experimentation with various silvicultural537