Does the Forest Service have any guidelines to protect the California spotted owl?
A. The Forest Service has interim guidelines in place as it develops a conservation strategy for the California spotted owl. These guidelines have been in effect for seven years and a conservation strategy has not yet been produced. They allow the degradation and modification of suitable habitat to such an extent that suitable nesting habitat could be significantly modified or rendered unsuitable. In addition, the continued use of Protected Activity Centers, 300-acre core areas centered on owl location data as old as 1993, protects only a portion of spotted owl home ranges. Survey information used to establish these areas have not been validated since the early 1990s and likely do not account for all current owl locations. The perpetuation of small areas as a management strategy increases the owls vulnerability to loss from random natural and catastrophic events such as insect outbreaks and wildfires. Q. Does the Sierra Nevada Framework protect the California spotted owl? A. One of two
