Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

Table H.10. Comparison of timber employment levels, 1995, related to federal timberharvest (with conservation areas and matrix).Timber Harvest With Timber HarvestTimber Harvest Current With Recovery Plan**With Final Plans Owl Management* (DCAs & Matrix)Washington Forest Service 10,342 3,814 3,541Oregon Forest Service 29,754 17,478 17,075Oregon BLM 18,546 9,233 9,137Oregon Subtotal 48,300 26,711 26,212California Forest Service 7,728a 3,434 3,478California BLM 25 0 0California Subtotal 7,753 3,434 3,478Salvage and Silviculture*** 1,770Three States Total 66,395 33,959 35,001Forest Service 47,824 24,726 25,377BLM 18,571 9,233 9,624"Projections. Final forest plans have not been released'Estimates based on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service analysis of critical habitat.Assumes 56 percent of planned harvest in matrix is prohibited by listing under the Endangered Species Act and an additional 24 percent isprohibited in critical habitat outside of habitat conservation areas.-Estimates assume effects of recovery plan matrix guidelines will be the same as effects of current owl management outside of the ISc's habitatconservation areas plus Endangered Species ActBLM will provide more precise estimate of matrix effects during draft recovery plan comment penod.Effects of limited silviculture and salvage in DCAs.DCAs = designated conservation areasBLM USDI Bureau of Land Management5763. Estimating Wage Losses.Protection of owl habitat causes wage losses because reductions in the level ofemployment in the timber industry cause layoffs. People who lose their jobsare unemployed for a period, during which they earn no income, and then atleast some are reemployed, often at a lower wage. Some displaced workersgain reemployment within the timber industry, displacing other workers. Toestimate the wage losses due to implementation of the recovery plan, it isnecessary to estimate the number of workers that would be displaced eachyear, the period during which they would be unemployed, and the wage level atwhich they would be reemployed.Wage losses were estimated for the draft recovery plan and for other owlhabitat protection plans using the same methods used by the FWS in itsanalysis of the critical habitat designation. These estimates were based on theemployment levels estimated for the annual harvest levels for the variousplans. To estimate the period of unemployment, the FWS assumed thatdisplaced workers will be reemployed over two years with 92 percent reemployedby the end of the first year after displacement and 8 percent at the end