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Northern Spotted Owl Conservation Strategy Sisters Ranger District

Northern Spotted Owl Conservation Strategy Sisters Ranger District. Background. East Cascades NSO Habitat Development Primarily Due to Fire Exclusion Changes in Species Composition Changes in Stand Densities Changes in Stand Structure. Background. East Cascades NSO Habitat Decline

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Northern Spotted Owl Conservation Strategy Sisters Ranger District

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  1. Northern Spotted Owl Conservation StrategySisters Ranger District

  2. Background • East Cascades NSO Habitat Development Primarily Due to Fire Exclusion • Changes in Species Composition • Changes in Stand Densities • Changes in Stand Structure

  3. Background • East Cascades NSO Habitat Decline • Spruce Budworm (Insect/Disease Complex) • Wildfires • Management

  4. NSO Habitat Decline Due to Insect/Disease Complex • 72% of NRF Habitat was Lost between 1985 and 1996 due to an Insect and Disease complex associated with western spruce budworm, the primary disturbance agent. McCache Example • 1985 = 5,621 acres of NRF • 1996 = 1,547 acres of NRF

  5. McCache Project Area NRF 1985 1996

  6. Revelation 1 Insects and Diseases Can be Very Bad for NSO Habitat.

  7. NSO Habitat Decline Due to Wildfire Matrix

  8. NSO Habitat vs. Wildfire Before After

  9. June 30, 2003 Oct 2003 Davis Fire June 20, 2003

  10. Spotted Owl • B and B Complex • Lost 21,000 acres of NRF • Of 21 known owl sites only 7 are still potentially viable • 66% of the watershed owl sites lost • 59% of the district owl sites lost

  11. Revelation 2 Wildfire can be very Bad for NSO Habitat

  12. Status of NSO on the Sisters Ranger District

  13. Revelation 3 Management of the Majority of an East Cascade Landscape for NSO Habitat is Not Biologically Possible!

  14. Northwest Forest Plan Forest-wide LSR Strategy LSR Assessments Project Analysis—Fire and I&D in LSR’s Evolution of NSO Strategy Proposed Landscape Strategy

  15. Deschutes NF LSR Landscape Strategyfor NSO(Science Team)

  16. Example McCache Project Area Stratified by Focal Species Elevation ranges from 3500-5800 ft.

  17. Assumptions:Eastside NRF is Unstable Spotted Owl Stand—Simulated Wildfire

  18. Assumptions: • Largetree structurerequireslow densities to develop • Strategyto manage for sustainable spotted owl habitat is realistic

  19. Viability Assumption • 20-40% of the landscape should always be NRF

  20. Strategy to Sustain 20-40% NRF HIGHLY SUITABLE FOR NRF SUITABLE NRF Chocolate Chunk Cookie Concept Protection: surround key habitat with low hazard forestsDevelop future habitat in other locations on the LSR landscape LSR

  21. Eastside spotted Owl Habitat probably developed in stages. The large tree structure developed historically under low intensity fires. Dense canopy cover as a result of the absence of fire transformed the forest into prime spotted owl habitat

  22. Conclusions of McCache Analysis:Overall effects of Treatment Proposal on Late Successional Reserve • In LSRs that have Experienced Serious Deterioration, Critical levels of NRF will probably not be met for a long time and will depend on the status of Large Trees.

  23. Sisters RDLandscape Strategyfor NSO(New and Improved) Chocolate Chunk Cookie Concept on a Grand Scale

  24. Chocolate Chunk Cookie NSO Landscape Strategy • Identify the most productive sites to manage for NSO habitat – the areas with the highest likelihood of growing and maintaining NRF habitat over time. • The “Chocolate Chunks” • Manage the remainder of the landscape as large-tree dominated fire climax structure. • The “Cookie Dough” Objective: Risk Reduction to the Choc. Chunks (i.e., NRF)

  25. Process • Ignore current land management Allocations (LSR vs. Matrix) • Identify the most productive sites. • Plant Associations • Soils • Fire Regimes • IIIa lined up with the “Dough” • IIIb lined up with the “Chunks”

  26. We will only manage for NSO nesting habitat where site productivity is high enough to develop and sustain the desired structure Matrix

  27. B&B ProjectRelated to NSO Strategy • Reduce Current & Future Fuel Loadings • Ensure desired reforestation • Species Composition • Douglas-fir • Ponderosa Pine • Western Larch • Stand Density • Variability in species composition and density • Grow the large tree component

  28. Conclusion • Modification of Existing Forest LSR Strategy • Encompasses Entire Mixed Conifer -- Not just LSR • Targets Most Productive Sites for NRF • Conceptual at this Time • Needs Refinement • Has not been Approved or Implemented

  29. QUESTIONS??

  30. Spotted Owl Stand—Simulated Wildfire

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