Contribution to Recovery. The 2011 Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl identified competition from barred owls as one of the primary threats to northern spotted owl. In the Recovery Plan, 10 of the 33 recovery actions address the barred owl threat, including Recovery Action 29 concerning a Barred Owl Removal Experiment. Recovery Action 29: Design and implement large-scale control experiments to assess the effects of barred owl removal on spotted owl site occupancy, reproduction, and survival. We [USFWS] believe removal of barred owls would provide benefits to spotted owls in the vicinity of the removal and may have larger population effects. Given the rapidity and severity of the increasing threat from barred owls, barred owl removal should be initiated as soon as possible in the form of well-designed removal experiments. These experiments will have the potential to substantially expand our knowledge of the ecological interactions between spotted owls and barred owls (Xxxxxx et al. in press) and the effectiveness of barred owl removal in recovering spotted owls. Removal experiments should be conducted in various parts of the spotted owl’s range, including a range of barred owl/spotted owl densities, to provide the most useful scientific information. (USFWS 2011, p. III-65)
Contribution to Recovery. The Applicants’ SHA conservation strategy outlined above supports the recovery action recommendations identified in the Final Recovery Plan, i.e., near-term recommendations to guide the activities needed to accomplish the recovery objectives and achieve the recovery criteria. The SHA net conservation benefits contribute all three recovery objectives as follows: Contributes to creating a sufficiently large and distributed spotted owl populations such that the species no longer requires listing; Contributes by making adequate habitat available to allow the species to persist without ESA protection; and Contributes by reducing the threat of habitat elimination in the southeast portion of its range in Washington. The SHA contribution to recovery and net benefit is provided through implementation of a conservation strategy that is consistent with the White Salmon and Columbia Gorge SOSEA goals for a combination of dispersal and demographic support of the spotted owl by providing current and future foraging-dispersal habitat, and nest patches, across a landscape of 81,587 acres in an area that supports owl distribution and complements owl conservation strategies on nearby USFS and WDNR lands. The SHA is particularly responsive to Recovery Action 14 addressing contributions of State and Private Lands by encouraging applicants to develop HCPs and SHAs that are consistent with the recovery objectives. The Applicants’ SHA is consistent with the SHA for small woodlot owners in Oregon, identified in this Recovery Action, by increasing the time between harvests (with deferrals) and modifying thinning practices to increase tree diameter size and stand diversity. The Applicants’ SHA will provide current and future demographic and dispersal support by providing suitable habitat across the landscape through their forest management plan and snag program.
