Northern Spotted Owl: Last week, the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public
Lands held a hearing in Longview, Washington entitled “Failed Federal Forest
Policies: Endangering Jobs, Forests and Species.” Testimony centered around the
impacts of managing forests to protect the northern spotted owl (NSO.) http://naturalresources.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=295110
Tom Fox, President of the Family Forest
Foundation stated that the NSO listing has resulted in the designation of critical habitat
on private lands. After 15 years of waiting for the agencies to approve a county-wide
Habitat Conservation Plan, their local mill closed.
Dr. Hall
Salwasser Dean of the College of Forestry, Oregon State University, testified that western National Forests “no longer serve their
statutory purpose; they are becoming a
substantial liability to the states, their rural communities and American taxpayers; and
they are a growing threat to adjoining landowners due to vulnerability to fire, insects
and disease.” Salwasser stated that: “society has to confront the consequences
of federal forestland management dysfunction,
e.g., declining land health, rising costs, a poverty stricken rural America hanging on
through federal payments because the nation refuses to empower the responsible agencies to
sustainably use public lands and their natural resources to generate wealth and jobs while
improving environmental benefits.”
Stephen
Mealey Vice President of Conservation of the Boone & Crockett Club
indicated that management for habitat for one species had resulted in a 90% habitat
decline for the black-tailed deer. After all the protection given to the owl, efforts have
failed and the owl continues its decline.
Kelly Kreps, owns a 6400 + acre
cattle and timber ranch in White Salmon Washington.
Timber holdings are about 3,200 acres. Of this, only about 1600 acres is prime
timberland. Currently, 550 acres of his timberland is restricted for NSO habitat. The new
proposed, expanded critical habitat would
restrict another 660 acres (1,210 acres total,) of
which 800 acres are prime timberlands. The consequences are that he will have to lay off
two employees and affect his haulers and the contactor he uses for mechanical harvest.
At a recent board meeting, the proposed critical habitat expansion and
its potential local impacts were discussed. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS,) “critical habitat”
is a specific geographic area(s) that is essential for the conservation of a threatened or
endangered species and that may require special management and protection. Critical
habitat may include an area that is not currently occupied by the species but that will be
needed for its recovery.” When a proposed action in critical habitat involves a
federal agency, federal funding or a federal permit, then the federal agencies have to
consult with USFWS (or NOAA fisheries) to ensure that their actions will not jeopardize
the survival of a threatened or endangered species or adversely modify
critical habitat.
Erin
Williams from USFWS assured the Board of Supervisors that they had a good consultation
team. She stated that about one million acres are being proposed under a court order for
NSO critical habitat. However, critical habitat is so contentious that even now they are
being sued on just letter of concurrence.
Forest Service representatives said that almost everything they do
requires consultation. They are trying to
create language that would allow for fuels treatments in critical habitat. The National
Forest is trying to do ecosystem management to restore original function. It is difficult
to do if you have to manage for just one species. It creates an inherent conflict,
Recently, I spoke with a Shasta Trinity National Forest representative
about the new bike trail that recently opened near Mt. Shasta. Because it passed through
NSO critical habitat, even though it had recently been logged and was mostly young trees,
a categorical exclusion from National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was appealed. The resulting process took two years
and cost around $100,000 for NEPA work before the seven mile trail could be approved for
construction.
The comment period on the expanded critical habitat for the NSO has
been extended to on or before July 6. http://www.fws.gov/cno/press/release.cfm?rid=393 A public hearing to receive public comments will be
held June fourth , 3 -5p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at
the Redding Convention Center on 700 Auditorium
Drive.
Siskiyou County, Douglas County, OR and Skamania County, WA have
joined together to request “cooperating agency status” under the NEPA and to
request a 90 day extension to complete their own economic study on the impacts of the
proposed expanded critical habitat. The draft study being done by the federal government
has shown not to have sufficient depth and to have omitted a cumulative effects analysis.
(Cooperating agency status is sought when the counties have particular expertise on a
topic and allows for direct input into the NEPA analysis.)
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