Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

The BLM Spokane (Washington) District office manages approximately 3,000acres of forestlands within the range of the spotted owl. Owl management hasbeen limited to project clearance, surveys, and protection of suitable habitatwithin known owl activity areas. No nest sites are currently known.Present Status of Habitat and TrendThe ISC and the 1990 status review (USDI 1990) both referred to the majorfactors influencing the amount and distribution of owl habitat on BLM land.The major factors identified include scattered and checkerboard land patterns;past land management activities (primarily timber harvest): and naturaloccurrences such as forest succession, wildfire, and windstorms. This hascreated a mosaic patchwork of stands more than 80 years old as habitat forspotted owls. These stand sizes range primarily from 50 to 500 acres, withsome exceptions of 2,000 to 5,000 acres. The remainder of the landscape is inrecent clear-cuts or forest stands ranging from 5 to 80 years old. Clear-cuttingis the predominant harvest practice used by the BLM on lands in westernOregon. Both clear-cutting and selective harvesting have been used on landsin southwestern Oregon and northern California. Only limited use of silviculturalpractices has been experimented with to create or maintain spotted owlhabitat.In past years, the BLM has classified forest stands older than 80 years asspotted owl habitat, using forest age classes, size, and crown closure as themain criteria. Because these attributes may not provide an adequate characterizationof suitable owl habitat, the BLM refined its habitat figures usingforest operations inventory data combined with a quality check by resourcearea biologists. Table 2.6 illustrates spotted owl habitat on BLM lands inwestern Oregon with two habitat component levels identified representinglevels of habitat quality.BLM lands in the Ukiah District, Arcata Resource Area, consist of isolatedblocks generally 40 to 3,000 acres in size imbedded in a private landscape.The private lands have been subjected to extensive harvest during the lastdecade and contrast with the older timber stands on the adjacent public lands,where most of the remaining owl territories are found.Clear-cutting has not been practiced in the Ukiah District since 1981. Startingin 1982, the BLM has practiced the managed old-growth concept of forestlandmanagement on all timber sales. These guidelines provide for at least 10percent of the site's potential basal area to be occupied by trees that havesurvived at least two 100-year rotation cuttings. These superdominant treesprovide a base for future recruitment of snags and down debris. The structuralelements of old-growth management include 1) large trees for shade andreproduction, 2) large snags for nesting, 3) large debris for nitrogen fixationand carbon recycling, and 4) coarse woody debris in the headwater areas ofdrainages for erosion control.Estimates were made in the 1990 status review (USDI 1990) predicting the rateof decline of habitat during the next 10 to 50 years on BLM-administered land.Historic data showed a loss of approximately 475,000 acres during the last 20years. Assuming the harvest rates prior to the listing of the owl, habitat wouldhave been extremely limited within 30 years. However, since the 1990 listing,the actual timber sale level has been reduced to approximately 40 percent of72