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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepared for a throng and a ruckus. Instead a polite gathering came.
In less than two hours Tuesday night, commenters had their say on the 2007 Northern Spotted Owl Draft Recovery Plan.
The majority of the 18 outspoken people, of the more than 50 who came to the agency’s public information and comment meeting at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, railed against the plan and called for improvements to the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan.
At least two, however, favored the plan and agreed that spotted owl populations would recover and be delisted as a threatened species from the Endangered Species Act with the draft recovery plan’s second option.
“Option 2 will provide the greatest opportunity for allowing (the Bureau of Land Management) to meet its statutory rate of inventory requirements associated with the O&C Act and the Endangered Species Act,” said Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson.
Robertson told a panel of U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials that the option is the better of the two for incorporating up-to-date science and information on the location of spotted owls. It would allow land managers of public agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service and BLM, to make decisions on where to designate spotted owl habitat.
Option 1 of the draft recovery plan calls for the designation of Mapped Owl Conservation Areas – or MOCAs – already identified as spotted owl habitat.
Among those who say Option 1 is the better of the two, hardly any say it flies.
“On the news, there has been disturbing references to Bush appointees manipulating scientific data in order to have a certain outcome in recovery plans,” said Susan Applegate, an Oregon Wild board member and a member of Umpqua Watersheds.
In less than two hours Tuesday night, commenters had their say on the 2007 Northern Spotted Owl Draft Recovery Plan.
The majority of the 18 outspoken people, of the more than 50 who came to the agency’s public information and comment meeting at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, railed against the plan and called for improvements to the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan.
At least two, however, favored the plan and agreed that spotted owl populations would recover and be delisted as a threatened species from the Endangered Species Act with the draft recovery plan’s second option.
“Option 2 will provide the greatest opportunity for allowing (the Bureau of Land Management) to meet its statutory rate of inventory requirements associated with the O&C Act and the Endangered Species Act,” said Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson.
Robertson told a panel of U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials that the option is the better of the two for incorporating up-to-date science and information on the location of spotted owls. It would allow land managers of public agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service and BLM, to make decisions on where to designate spotted owl habitat.
Option 1 of the draft recovery plan calls for the designation of Mapped Owl Conservation Areas – or MOCAs – already identified as spotted owl habitat.
Among those who say Option 1 is the better of the two, hardly any say it flies.
“On the news, there has been disturbing references to Bush appointees manipulating scientific data in order to have a certain outcome in recovery plans,” said Susan Applegate, an Oregon Wild board member and a member of Umpqua Watersheds.
Applegate said enormous political pressure currently rests on scientists who do work for government agencies, which later has an effect on industry and natural resources. That’s the case, she said, with the spotted owl recovery plan, which identifies fewer acres of old growth forest habitat than the Northwest Forest Plan.
Ross Mickey of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber-industry group, said Option 2 incorporates the latest scientific data and would allow spotted owls to define habitat areas that they use.
Mickey is also a strong proponent for the plan’s design to improve spotted owl habitat with the removal of barred owls, an Eastern species — by shotgun.
“The barred owl has established itself throughout the spotted owl range and is growing in size every day,” Mickey said. “The barred owl is not only decimating spotted owl populations, but all our native owl species.”
Despite pleas for increasing owl habitat, Mickey said he fails to see how additional spotted owl habitat will help the species survive because it will make room for more barred owls.
Patrick Starnes, a Lookinglass cabinet-maker, brought a map to the meeting that outlines 400,000 of the nearly 1 million acres of the Umpqua National Forest that he said are in dire need of commercial thinning.
Starnes said the Northwest Forest Plan’s late successional reserves can continue to provide habitat for the northern spotted owl and other species for decades to come. There’s an ever-growing need, he said, to log fire-prone areas instead of fragmenting LSRs.
“That’s what this (timber) industry needs,” he said.
Comments on the draft recovery plan will be accepted until June 25. However, Dave Wesley, deputy regional director for U.S. Fish and Wildlife, said it is likely an additional 60 days will be granted for comments.
The number of people who attended the meeting was a far cry from the standing-room only public meetings on recovery plans for the northern spotted owl in the early 1990s. Over 400 chairs were left vacant.
“A decade ago, we would have filled this room and then some,” said Joan Jewett, a spokeswoman for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
Ross Mickey of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber-industry group, said Option 2 incorporates the latest scientific data and would allow spotted owls to define habitat areas that they use.
Mickey is also a strong proponent for the plan’s design to improve spotted owl habitat with the removal of barred owls, an Eastern species — by shotgun.
“The barred owl has established itself throughout the spotted owl range and is growing in size every day,” Mickey said. “The barred owl is not only decimating spotted owl populations, but all our native owl species.”
Despite pleas for increasing owl habitat, Mickey said he fails to see how additional spotted owl habitat will help the species survive because it will make room for more barred owls.
Patrick Starnes, a Lookinglass cabinet-maker, brought a map to the meeting that outlines 400,000 of the nearly 1 million acres of the Umpqua National Forest that he said are in dire need of commercial thinning.
Starnes said the Northwest Forest Plan’s late successional reserves can continue to provide habitat for the northern spotted owl and other species for decades to come. There’s an ever-growing need, he said, to log fire-prone areas instead of fragmenting LSRs.
“That’s what this (timber) industry needs,” he said.
Comments on the draft recovery plan will be accepted until June 25. However, Dave Wesley, deputy regional director for U.S. Fish and Wildlife, said it is likely an additional 60 days will be granted for comments.
The number of people who attended the meeting was a far cry from the standing-room only public meetings on recovery plans for the northern spotted owl in the early 1990s. Over 400 chairs were left vacant.
“A decade ago, we would have filled this room and then some,” said Joan Jewett, a spokeswoman for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
So you know ...
Comments on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2007 Draft Recovery Plan for the northern spotted owl can be made by e-mail — nsoplan@fws.gov — or by writing: NSO Recovery Plan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, 911 N.E. 11th Ave., Portland, OR 97232.
To review or download the draft recovery plan, visit http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/NSORecoveryPlanning.htm. Copies can also be requested in writing to the above address or by calling (503) 231-2194. In 1990, the northern spotted owl was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Despite the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, spotted owl numbers continue to decline. The draft recovery plan is designed to recover the bird and delist the species. |
