Members represent government and private interests
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced today it has convened a 12-member team to develop a recovery plan for the northern spotted owl, a threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Members of the team represent state and federal agencies and stakeholder groups and have scientific and technical expertise in forest management issues and northern spotted owl biology. They are tasked with developing a draft recovery plan that will be available for public review by November 2006 and a final plan by November 2007.
Dave Allen, Director of the Services Pacific Region, recently formally notified recovery team members of their appointment.
"I greatly appreciate the team members willingness to assist the Service on this very important assignment," Regional Director Allen said. "It is my desire that this recovery plan be developed in the most collaborative way possible through a team with a diverse array of scientific and technical expertise."
Dave Wesley, the Pacific Regions Deputy Director, will serve as the leader of the recovery team. Other members of the recovery team are:
- Tim Cullinan, Director of Science and Bird Conservation, National Audubon Society, Washington State Office, Olympia, Washington
- Lowell Diller, Senior Biologist, Green Diamond Resource Company, Korbel, California
- Scott Gremel, Wildlife Biologist, Olympic National Park, Washington
- Mike Haske, Chief of Forest Resources and Special Status Species, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon and Washington
- Cal Joyner, Natural Resources Director, U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, Portland, Oregon
- John Mankowski, Executive Policy Advisor for Natural Resources, Washington Governor's Office, Olympia, Washington
- Ed Murphy, Manager, Resource Inventory Systems, Sierra Pacific Industries, Redding, California
- Barry Noon, Professor, Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, and Defenders of Wildlife Board of Directors member, Fort Collins, Colorado
- Jim Paul, Private and Community Forests Policy Unit Manager, Oregon Department of Forestry, Salem, Oregon
- John Siperek, Wildlife Program Manager, Northern California Coast Region, California Department of Fish and Game
- Dave Wooten, Regional Biologist, Sacramento Pacific Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Sacramento, California
Paul Phifer, a member of the Pacific Regional Offices Ecological Services staff, will be the project manager to coordinate the overall process. An interagency staff team will support the recovery team.
The recovery team will begin meeting in May and is tasked with producing a plan that identifies goals, criteria and management actions for the survival and recovery of the northern spotted owl. During development of the plan, the team is expected to conduct scientific workshops and public meetings. The recovery plan will be peer-reviewed before being finalized.
The team will work with existing materials to develop the recovery plan. Examples of these materials include results of the Services November 2004 Northern Spotted Owl 5-year review and the Northwest Forest Plan 10-year report titled "Status of Trends of Northern Spotted Owl Populations and Habitat.The availability of these recent comprehensive scientific reviews is expected to allow the completion of this recovery plan in an expedited manner.The northern spotted owl was listed as threatened in 1990 and its critical habitat was designated in 1992. The Northwest Forest Plan was developed in 1994 and has been the cornerstone for conserving the northern spotted owl on 24.4 million acres of federal land in Oregon, Washington and California.
The recovery plan will address what is needed to recover the species throughout its range, including federal and non-federal land, and will set specific recovery criteria.
Updates on the recovery plan development and notice of public meetings and opportunities for comment will be available at http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/NSORecoveryPlanning.htm
