Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

II.C. Current Management1. Forest ServiceHabitat of the northern spotted owl is managed by many individuals, corporations,federal and nonfederal agencies, and Indian tribes. The large number ofentities involved and the diversity of statutory and regulatory authorities underwhich land is managed pose a challenge and provide opportunities for coordinatinglandscape-level conservation measures for the species. The followingsections explain federal, state, and Indian land management authoritiesthroughout the range of the northern spotted owl. The sections are organizedto accommodate the specific roles played by the groups that will participate inrecovery. In each case, the intention is to show the means available to participantscarrying out the recovery plan.Management BackgroundPrior to the early 1970s, little was known about the northern spotted owl innational forests in Washington, Oregon, and California except that it resided ina variety of forest types. Early research in Oregon and California indicated anassociation with mature and old-growth forests.In 1973, an interagency committee was organized, consisting of biologists fromthe Forest Service, BLM, FWS, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, andOregon State University. The committee, known as the Oregon EndangeredSpecies Task Force, recommended that 300 acres of old-growth forest beretained around every known spotted owl nest site.During the next 3 years, research provided information about spotted owlhabitat needs (Gould 1974; Forsman 1976). In November 1976, the regionalforester for the Pacific Northwest Region directed that nesting sites of spottedowls be protected on national forests in Oregon, as prescribed by the taskforce, until biological unit management plans were developed.In 1976, the Oregon Endangered Species Task Force recommended a longrangegoal to maintain 400 pairs of spotted owls on public lands in Oregon.The task force spent 1977 developing objectives and management prescriptionsto meet that goal. For that 1-year period, the task force recommended thatinvolved agencies protect locations around northern spotted owl nests andareas where spotted owls had been sighted.On November 3, 1977, the Oregon Endangered Species Task Force released itsInteragency Spotted Owl Management Plan. In the plan, national forests inOregon were requested to support at least 290 pairs of spotted owls, theBLM was asked to support 90 pairs of spotted owls, and 20 pairs were identifiedfor lands in other ownerships. Each pair of spotted owls was to be providedwith a minimum of 1,200 contiguous acres of habitat consisting of a corearea of at least 300 acres of old-growth conifer forest (to the extent it wasavailable) and an additional 900 acres, of which at least 50 percent was to bein stands more than 30 years old. Additional criteria were given for the distributionof habitat and proximity among pairs of spotted owls.65