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Southern Rocky Mountains - Colorado Recovery Unit

This RU alls partly within the Southern Rocky Mountain Physiographic Province (USGS 1970) and partly within the Colorado Plateau Ecoregion (Bailey 1980). The Colorado - New Mexico state line delimits the southern boundary of this RU because land-use practices on Federal lands differ between these states.

The Mexican spotted owl reaches the northeastern limit of its range in this RU. Found primarily in canyons, the owls appear to occupy two disparate canyon habitat types (Reynolds 1990). Those on Ute Mountain Tribal lands occupy sheer, slick-rock canyons containing widely scattered patches (up to 1 ha in size) of mature Douglas-fir in or near canyon bottoms or high on the canyon walls in short, hanging canyons. Those on FS lands inhabit steep canyons containing exposed bedrock cliffs either close to the canyon floor or, more typically, several tiers of exposed rock at various heights on the canyon walls. Mature Douglas-fir, white fir, and ponderosa pine dominate canyon bottoms and both north and east-facing slopes. Ponderosa pine grows on the more xeric south and west-facing slopes, pinyon-juniper on the mesa tops.

Land-use practices throughout the RU include timber cutting and grazing, mining, oil and natural gas pumping, plus all the associated facilities development such as access roads, pipelines, and staging and storage areas. Recreational activities includes downhill and cross-country skiing, off-road driving, rock climbing, backpacking and camping, hiking, and mountain biking. Road, water, and urban development may also affect spotted owl habitat. Timber harvest is not suspected to have a major impact on owl habitat in this unit, because little harvest occurs in the types of habitat where owls are found.