Northern Spotted Owl in Big Trouble
12/14/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Northern Spotted Owl in Big Trouble
Source: jdj@efn.org
Date: 12/14/97
Ever wonder just what effects Forest Service Timber sales are
having on spotted owls? A September 30, 1997 U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service document gives a government agency's spin on the question. The
Biological Opinion for Fiscal Year 1998 Habitat Modification Projects in
the Willamette Province is a report summarizing the results of the
periodic consultations about the status of endangered species populations
between the USFWS and the FS mandated by the PNW.
The conservation strategy for the Northern spotted owl adopted by
Option 9 establishes Late Successional Reserves (LSRs) which are
supposedly off-limits to harvest activities, and the matrix, which along
with Adaptive Management Areas (AMAs) are designed for regularly scheduled
timber harvest. Within the matrix, connectivity corridors and riparian
reserves are supposed to allow for the communication of genetic
information among isolated populations necessary for the species'
viability.
Within the 7 million acre area studied (the western part of the
Mt. Hood NF, the northern part of the Umpqua NF, all of the Willamette
Nat. Forest, and the majority of the Salem and Eugene BLM Districts) there
is currently 2.7 million acres "capable of supporting suitable spotted owl
habitat." Of this, about 1.27 million acres (47%) is "currently suitable
owl habitat." Of the 2.7 million acres of "capable" habitat, 1.5 million
(56%) enjoys some degree of protection, although only 55% of it (819,665)
acres is "currently suitable." Option 9 predicts that as areas that owls
live within the matrix are destroyed, more of the protected areas will
develop old-growth characteristics for the owls to live.
So out of 7 million acres, owls only inhabit 819,665 acres. And
some of this acreage will continue to be cut. Only 427,768 acres where
owls currently live or could live are protected. Another way to look at
it is that there are currently some 1,180 Owl Activity Centers (where a
breeding pair or a resident single resides). 675 of these centers are
unprotected.
Even if owls successfully disperse into protected areas that
develop the necessary habitat conditions, the survival of the species
still depends on birds being able to breed between LSRs, within the
matrix. So some of the matrix land must be protected, too. The USFWS has
identified Critical Habitat Units (CHUs) within the matrix that should be
protected to meet this need. How are the FS and other agencies doing at
making sure there is enough land within the matrix for the continued
viability of the species?
At the beginning of 1997 there was 455,000 acres of suitable owl
habitat in the matrix. 7,000 acres were removed in '97Q448,000 are left
right now. The FS and the BLM plan to remove another 15,000 acres in
Fiscal Year 1998 (one third of this acreage will be for replacement
volume). At this rate of deforestation, the spotted owl will in all
probability be left with a habitat base that will guarantee its extinction
in 30 years.
Don't worry though, the USFWS "encourages the administrative units
to minimize the rate of loss of suitable spotted owl habitat with CHUs
outside of LSRs ... " And you were starting to worry.