No Threatened Status for the California Spotted Owl. Current protections remain. The article is a good read, with some of the “usual suspects”.
http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_a866d476-14d2-11ea-b7e0-7b830918c726.html
The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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No Threatened Status for the California Spotted Owl. Current protections remain. The article is a good read, with some of the “usual suspects”.
http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_a866d476-14d2-11ea-b7e0-7b830918c726.html
Thanks for posting, Larry! I like the way the author interviewed people with different perspectives. Worthy of an appreciative note IMHO.
“Existing conservation measures will “continue to decrease the negative effects of clearcutting and mechanical thinning,” the finding states. “They will benefit the California spotted owl by maintaining high canopy cover and large trees within owl territories.”” (FWS)
“Luster (SPI) added that active even-age management (clear-cutting) forests can create a landscape that provides “a mosaic of forest stands that meet spotted owl needs for nesting, roosting and forage…””
So I guess the FWS is not counting on much from private industrial forests. They are counting on national forests, and the “existing regulatory mechanisms” provided by their forest plans (from the listing documents): “Specifically, measures described in the 2004 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment, the 2005 Southern California National Forest Land Management Plans, and other conservation measures will continue to decrease the negative effects of clearcutting and mechanical thinning. They will benefit the California spotted owl by maintaining high canopy cover and large trees within owl territories.”
They got a little loose with their language by throwing in “other conservation measures,” which are not regulatory mechanisms and can’t be considered in a listing decision. It’s not easy to figure out what they are talking about, but it does not appear to refer to the recently developed “Conservation Strategy for the California Spotted Owl in the Sierra Nevada,” which they say will be incorporated into forest plans (and then become an existing regulatory mechanism).
Also, outside of the Sierra Nevada, the FWS seems to have gotten confused about this, which might cause them some problems: “the 2005 Revised Land Management Plans for Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, and San Bernardino have protection measures specific to CSO. Conservation guidelines include: … protecting spotted owl territories according to the species conservation strategy (unpublished, trying to get a copy, will have to take out if not provided),…” Yup, that’s their final published rationale, but even if they can find a copy, if it’s not already in the forest plan it’s not an existing regulatory mechanism.