How Owls Shaped the Northwest

April 30th

During my two classes of ENVS 607, we will look at the West Oregon Plan Revision and the Northern Spotted Owls. We will travel from the events that precipitated to the watershed NW forest crisis in the late 80s and early 90s to a more abstract discussion of issues of 'post-normal science' in natural resource planning. My hope is that after these classes you will:

• understand the history leading up the the Spotted Owl crisis (it was actually bigger than just the spotted owl), including the details of the ESA
• gain an appreciation of how the Spotted Owl has shaped the landscape of the Pacific Northwest,
• discuss the importance of space in separating forest between conservation and extraction purposes,
• the inherent uncertainty of determining this (by mapping habitat quality).

Overview:

• The first class (April 30th) will act as an introduction to the issues preceding the WOPR, including the Northwest Forest Plan and the Northern Spotted Owl.
• The second class (June 2nd) will discuss the use of science in natural resource planning, focusing in particular on post-normal science (acting on uncertainty).

Basically, I find the owl and its history remarkably fascinating, as it is one of the defining moments in our societal relationship to our natural environment.  Like the 2001 Klamath water crisis, the spotted owl represents a fulcrum around which so many stakeholders are balanced.  Was the right balanced achieved?  How do you determine this balance?  By being spatially explicit (remember this concept?) can this balance be better articulated and more obtainable?  With what certainity can this balance be said to have been reached?  There are so many fascinating questions surrounding this issue, and I hope we can converse deeper about this defining issue of the NW.

I have arranged four articles (one is mine!) to read:

BACKGROUND TO THE NORTH WEST FOREST PLAN (NWFP) AND SPOTTED OWLS

wisdom_spotted_owls.pdf

i) Yaffee, Steven The Wisdom of the Spotted Owl. Island Press. Washington, DC. 1994. Introduction.

Key Guiding Quotes:

-What are the appropriate bounds of political input into science-based decisions, and of science in policy choices?

-How should we deal w/ technical uncertainties when faced w/ the need to make important decisions?

-How do we best bind ourselves to long-term objectives in the face of short-term uncertainties that lead us astray?

THE FIRST 10 YEARS: HOW EFFECTIVE HAS THE NWFP BEEN AT PROTECTING OWLS?

Noon2006- NSO Conservation under NWFP.pdf

ii) Noon, B and Blakesley, J. 2005. Conservation of the Northern Spotted Owl under the Northwest Forest Plan. 288-296

In what ways has the Northwest Forest Plan been success / failed?  What exactly was it's original purpose?  Have the goals of the plan, in effect, changed over these past 15 years?

What should be done now? Does the owl still require protection?

NOTE: Pay attention to the last paragraph, it refers specifically to the events leading up to the WOPR.  In particular, look closely at the wording of the US District Court quotation.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS: THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

ESA-Overview_Doremus_Tarlock_2003.pdf

iii) Doremus, Holly and Tarlock, A. Dan, 2003. Excerpt Overview of ESA.  Fish, Farms, and the Clash of Cultures in the Klamath Basin.  Ecology Law Quarteryly.  Vol 30:279.  pg. 328-336

This exerpt is taken from an article discussing the Klamath water crisis of 2001 concerning the federal decision to assign the majority of water of the Klamath river towards protection of Coho Salmon.  Questions to think about?

While technically required by the ESA upon listing of the species, critical habitat is often ignored.  This was the case with the spotted owl until a lawsuit forced the NFWS to define this boundary.  How important is Critical Habitat for protection of the owl?  What defines adverse modification of habitat, and to what extent would that modification jeopardize the owls?

WOPR ANALYSIS

Evers-4_WOPR Spatial Analysis_APA Submission.pdf

iv) My paper, 'Spotted Owls and Landscape-Guided Forest Managment'

Here is your chance to read the paper that I sumbitted to the APA awards... Eek!

There are a lot of issue here...

owl population dynamics, the WOPR issue, habitat

capacity modeling, simulation models and landscape ecology, uncertainty

analysis and its bearing on modeling and on planning, how science should

play a role in management, etc...