Region 1

Plum Creek Habitat Conservation Plan -- A permit authorizing the Plum Creek Timber Company to incidentally take northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina), marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus marmoratus), grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), and gray wolves (Canis lupus) in association with its timber harvesting activities was signed June 27, 1996. Plum Creek will manage its 170,000 acres (68,800 hectares) of timber land in the Interstate 90 corridor of the central Cascades in Washington according to its approved Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The term of the permit is 50 years, but the permit can be extended for another 50 years. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Marine Fisheries Service, and Plum Creek also entered into an "unlisted species agreement" to conserve other vertebrate wildlife species that depend on habitat types addressed in the HCP.

Region 2

Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) -- The FWS Ecological Services Field Office in Arlington, Texas, finalized a no-jeopardy biological opinion under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act addressing anticipated impacts on the red-cockaded woodpecker from implementation of the Revised Land and Resource Management Plan of 1996 for National Forests and Grasslands in Texas. The revised plan incorporates a strategy to support the recovery of this endangered species in Texas by providing a total of over 277,000 acres (112,100 ha) of forest habitat on the Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Angelina, and Sabine National Forests for woodpecker management. It promotes practices that will minimize habitat fragmentation, retain suitable numbers of potential cavity trees throughout the landscape, and reestablish the appropriate pine species. Stability and growth of small red-cockaded woodpecker populations will be aided by creating artificial nesting cavities and translocating juvenile woodpeckers.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Forest Service, in coordination with the FWS, have drafted a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the red-cockaded woodpecker in east Texas. It is based on the "safe harbor" concept that encourages voluntary enhancement and restoration of endangered species habitat. Representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, Texas Forestry Association, International Paper, Louisiana Pacific, Temple Inland, Champion International, The Woodlands Corporation, Big Thicket National Preserve, Houston Audubon Society, and non-industrial private landowners are participating in developing the plan. Its purpose is to encourage land managers to restore and enhance nesting and foraging habitat for the woodpecker on privately-owned and certain other lands in the Pineywoods Region of eastern Texas. The plan is designed to stop the long-term decline of the Pineywoods woodpecker population and to provide time for other conservation strategies to be tested or implemented, such as those proposed for National Forest Lands.

Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) -- In 1995, administrators with the FWS and Coconino National Forest began exploring ways to become more responsive to Mexican spotted owl and forest management issues in northern Arizona. As a result, the FWS transferred biologist Michele James to a sub-office located within offices of the Peaks Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest. With a biologist on site, the FWS hoped to work more closely with Forest Service personnel and with Navajo, Hopi, and Hualapai Tribal biologists to resolve ESA consultation needs informally, and in the process to maximize Mexican spotted owl protection and compatible forest uses. One year later, this approach is working. When funds allow, the FWS will consider locating additional biologists at facilities of other agencies to increase responsiveness to endangered species needs in the field.

Colorado River Species -- The Lower Colorado River has been described by author Aubrey S. Johnson as a "thin green line surrounded by a world in which drought is the rule rather than the exception." The FWS has joined a regional partnership committed to managing the river for the well-being of wildlife, plants, and people. Development of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program is just beginning, but when complete it is expected to address the needs of 102 rare and endangered species associated with wetland, riparian, and upland habitats within the 100-year floodplain, while recognizing the demands placed on the system by an expanding human population.

Southwestern Birds -- Population and habitat viability assessment workshops have been conducted for three endangered birds of the southwest, and the workshop reports are now complete. The workshop on the masked bobwhite (Colinus virginianus ridgwayi) was organized by Bill Kuvlesky, a biologist at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona. Workshops on the golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia) and black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapillus) were organized by Carol Beardmore, a biologist in the FWS Austin, Texas, Field Office. Participants in each workshop involved 20-35 specialists in bird biology, physiology, genetics, disease, small population modelling, captive propagation, and habitat management. The workshop reports identify strategies for recovering these endangered birds.

Region 3

Exhibit Award -- Region 3's traveling exhibit, "Saving Endangered Species, Saving Ourselves?", received a "Green With Envy" award from the State of Minnesota's Great Minnesota Green-Up Committee. The exhibit (described in Bulletin Vol. XXI No. 3) and its creators were recognized at a special ceremony in Minneapolis on Earth Day.

Decurrent False Aster (Boltonia decurrens) -- Next fall, Missouri is expecting to see one of the largest populations of this threatened plant ever recorded in the State. From the number of seedlings found this spring, Dr. Marian Smith, an expert on the species, predicts there will be tens of thousands, or perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of plants this fall at one location in St. Charles County. Decurrent false aster, listed in 1988 as threatened, is a wet prairie perennial. The 1995 flood apparently produced perfect conditions for seedling establishment at this site.