A Conservation Strategy for the Northern Spotted Owl

Thomas, Jack; Forsman, Eric; Lint, Joseph; Meslow, E.; Noon, Barry; Verner, Jared

The Interagency Scientific Committee to Address the Conservation of the Northern Spotted Owl (hereafter the Committee) was established under the authority of an interagency agreement between the, USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, and USDI National Park Service. The Committee’s charter was signed by the agency heads and subsequently incorporated into Section 318 of Public Law 101-1 21 in October 1989. The Committee was asked to develop a scientifically credible conservation strategy for the northern spotted owl in the United States. The committee concluded that the owl is imperiled over significant portions of its range because of continuing losses of habitat from logging and natural disturbances. Current management strategies are inadequate to ensure its viability. Moreover, in some portions of the owl’s range, few options for managing habitat remain open, and available alternatives are steadily declining throughout the bird’s range. For these reasons, delay in implementing a conservation strategy cannot be justified on the basis of inadequate knowledge. The committee proposes a two-part conservation strategy. The first stage, prescribes and implements the steps needed to protect habitat in amounts and distribution that will adequately ensure the owl’s long-term survival. The second stage calls for research and monitoring to test the adequacy of the strategy and to seek ways to produce and sustain suitable owl habitat in managed forests. Insights gained in this second stage can be used to alter or replace habitat conservation areas prescribed in the first stage, but only if the modified strategy can be clearly demonstrated to provide adequately for the long-term viability of the owl.