Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

Assessment, Planning, and MonitoringTimberland Task Force. The Timberland Task Force was established inJanuary 1990, pursuant to legislative direction (Assembly Bill 1580) to developa long-term, more comprehensive, process for addressing wildlife issues in thecontext of forestland management. The Timberland Task Force is charged withdeveloping a coordinated base of scientific information for analyzing cumulativeimpacts on the biological diversity of forestland ecosystems, evaluating timberlandhabitat for its contribution to the overall maintenance of specific wildlifespecies, contracting for studies to validate wildlife models and develop mitigation,and identifying critical habitat areas and species of special status. Thetask force includes representatives from state and federal agencies.The task force will report its recommendations to the governor and Californialegislature in 1992. The coordinated database will be used in reviewing individualtimber harvest plans with regard to their cumulative impacts on wildlife.The database will include geographic information system (GIS) analysis ofvegetation and habitat on forestlands (a pilot vegetation/habitat mappingproject covering approximately 6 million acres within the range of the northernspotted owl will be completed in early 1992) and linkage with the state'sWildlife Habitat Relationships Database (WHR) to relate vegetation growth andyield models to possible land management options.Developing from the initial work of the Timberland Task Force, a memorandumof understanding establishing an executive council to set guiding principlesand policies regarding statewide efforts to conserve biological diversity wassigned on September 19, 1991. This memorandum will provide the long-termframework for developing a statewide strategy to conserve biological diversityand coordinate implementation through regional and local institutions.The Statewide Executive Council, chaired by the Resources Agency Secretaryand consisting of state and federal agencies, will set statewide goals for theprotection of biological diversity, and will encourage and assist the establishmentof bioregional councils to achieve protection of biological diversity. Underthis umbrella, a Klamath bioregion project addressing the range of the northernspotted owl in California is developing, and will build on the state habitatconservation plan.Habitat Conservation Plans. The California Board of Forestry and FireProtection initiated the state's habitat conservation planning (HCP) for thenorthern spotted owl in November 1990, anticipating a future application foran incidental take permit under the federal Endangered Species Act. Thiseffort is in addition to the adoption of rules to ensure that timber harvesting onstate and private lands in California would not result in a take of northernspotted owls.The HCP and the associated environmental impact report/environmentalimpact statement are being developed under the guidance of a broadly basedsteering committee appointed by the state forestry board.The steering committee operates under a set of objectives intended to promotedevelopment of a plan that fully meets the requirements of the federal EndangeredSpecies Act while also limiting effects on private landowners and economicimpacts.The steering committee and a scientific committee currently are evaluatingeight options, which resulted from extensive public scoping efforts and repre-82