Oregon promises better protection for spotted owls

JEFF BARNARD, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published September 29, 2001

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- The Oregon Department of Forestry said Friday it will do more to protect forest habitat after critics warned that logging in the Clatsop State Forest intended to improve spotted owl habitat might have actually harmed the threatened birds.

The department did not acknowledge that the 1996 thinning project would qualify as "take" under the Endangered Species Act. "Take" is defined as harming, harassing or killing the birds or destroying their habitat.

But the department agreed to consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists before offering new timber sales on the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. It also agreed to adopt guidelines that go much further than the Oregon Forest Practices Act to protect the best available owl habitat.

The agreement comes on top of a new Department of Forestry plan for managing the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests, which is designed to speed up the process of creating good habitat for owls and salmon on forest growing back after devastating fires of the 1930s known as the Tillamook Burn.

The deal will remain in force for 10 years, or until the Department of Forestry adopts a formal plan for protecting owls and their habitat, known as a habitat conservation plan.

Sybil Ackerman, conservation director for the Portland Audubon Society praised the agreement, called it a "huge step" toward incorporating the latest science in protecting owl habitat in northwestern Oregon.

Ray Wilkeson, legislative director of the Oregon Forest Industry Council, said he had no objection to state foresters consulting Fish and Wildlife biologists on timber sales. But he said he did not see why it was necessary to take concerns for one pair of spotted owls and apply the standard to all new timber sales.

The agreement grew out of the Walker Ridge Stand Improvement timber sale, located 20 miles southwest of Astoria on the Clatsop State Forest. Logged in 1997, the sale was intended as an experiment to improve owl habitat by speeding up the growth of young trees, Department of Forestry spokesman Jeff Foreman said.

However, Oregon State University scientists watching over a pair of owls known as the Strum Creek pair found they quit using the thinned area.

"We alleged there could have been a violation of the (Endangered Species Act) for a take violation," said Ray Folliard, a Fish and Wildlife biologist. "To try and settle things that benefitted all the agencies and the owls, we worked with ODF to craft this agreement more or less to avoid those situations in the future."

Spotted owls have been declining in Northwestern Oregon, because the old growth forests the birds favor have been heavily logged or burned, said Folliard.

The Tillamook and Clatsop state forests are home to 32 spotted owls, 13 pairs and six single owls.

Under the agreement, the Department of Forestry agreed not to cut any trees older than 40 years old within the home range of the Strum Creek pair of owls. Stands less than 40 years will be logged only if the department decides that will improve owl habitat and Fish and Wildlife does not object.

For other owls, the core area around an owl nest where logging is prohibited increases from 70 acres to 250 acres. Core areas are also established for single owls.

"By protecting resident singles, they are taking the step to try to increase the numbers of owls," Ackerman said.

Outside the core area, varying degrees of logging are allowed within the home range of the owls, defined by radio-tracking or a 1.5-mile radius. But the emphasis will be on protecting 500 acres of the best habitat available.

Foreman said the agreement was not expected to significantly decrease the amount of timber coming off the state forests.

Warned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that logging on the Clatsop State Forest could harm northern spotted owls (pictured above), the Oregon Department of Forestry announced Friday it has agreed to promote greater conservation of habitat for the threatened bird.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

back to main Outdoors: Wildlife index