The importance of western Oregon BLM lands to fish and wildlife habitat conservation

Executive Summary

October 2005

Overview:

Western Oregon contains approximately 2.5 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management ( BLM) across six districts (Salem, Eugene, Coos Bay, Roseburg, Medford and Lakeview): approximately 2.1 million acres of this is managed under the requirements of the Oregon and California (O&C) Lands Act of 1937 and other laws with the remainder (406,600 acres) managed as “public domain” lands.  A lawsuit filed by the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and others against the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior alleged that the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) violated the terms of the O&C Act and numerous other laws.  In response, BLM is revising its Resource Management Plans to consider at least one alternative that will not create (i.e., eliminate) any reserves on O&C lands except as needed to avoid jeopardy to species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The purpose of this report is to provide BLM with a scientific foundation for managing its lands to meet the ecological objectives of the NWFP, ESA, and Clean Water. Using computer mapping analysis in a geographic information system ( GIS) and satellite imagery interpretation (2000 imagery), we documented the importance of BLM lands and reserves (Late-Successional Reserves (LSRs) and Riparian Reserves). In general, lands administered by the BLM in western Oregon make up a key portion of the public lands in this area and contain significant amounts of old-growth and mature-forest essential to the recovery of federally listed species and the health and integrity of the larger region. BLM LSRs contain a significant portion of this habitat (i.e., are the “backbone” to species recovery) and are integral in the conservation of hundreds of old-growth associated species and native salmonids. Below we described additional key findings of this report.

Key Findings:

• BLM LSRs and Riparian Reserves (i.e., reserves) are fundamentally important to the ecological objectives of the NWFP - they are the “bare minimum” required to avoid the need to list additional species under the ESA. If reserves are eliminated this could trigger the need to elevate the status of threatened species like the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet to endangered in order to avoid jeopardy.
• BLM reserves contain 900,000 acres of old growth (>150 years) and 590,000 acres of mature (80-150 years) forest, 22% and 15% of the old and mature forests remaining in western Oregon, respectively (or nearly 40% of older forests).
• BLM lands and LSRs are essential to recovery of the federally threatened northern spotted owl - BLM LSRs contain nearly 600,000 acres of owl habitat—which is 58% of the suitable owl habitat on BLM land in western Oregon. Collectively, BLM LSRs contain 16% and 25% of the total owl critical habitat in western Oregon and the Coast Range, respectively.
• BLM lands and LSRs are important to the recovery of the federally threatened marbled murrelet - BLM lands contain 485,000 acres (32%) of critical murrelet habitat, 83% of which is found within LSRs. Without the full network of LSRs (both USFS and BLM), it will likely be impossible to meet the goals of the recovery plan for this species.
• The Northwest Forest Plan is a key underpinning of the State of Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds - depending on how BLM intends to manage its lands in the future, the foundations of salmon conservation could be seriously undermined, particularly if logging is increased within Key Watersheds and Riparian Reserves.
• BLM lands provide essential habitat for over 400 rare species — the viability of “survey and manage” (i.e., rare species designated by the NWFP) depends on a functional reserve network in combination with protective “buffers” in areas open to logging.
• Cumulative actions from reductions in protections on federal lands combined with stepped up logging on non-federal lands could trigger a jeopardy decision for listed species, including spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and salmon - examples of cumulative actions include reductions in survey and manage protections, Aquatic Conservation Strategy rollbacks, salvage logging in LSRs, increased logging and deficiencies in Habitat Conservation Plans on the Elliott State Forest and Weyerhaeuser-Millicoma tree farm.
• BLM roadless areas are vital as salmon strongholds and refugia for sensitive species - BLM lands contain 268,181 acres of unroaded areas (>1,000 acres) spread over 146 areas across all BLM allocations; 76 of these are small unroaded areas totaling 105,000 acres within BLM LSRs. The majority of unroaded acres are within one large LSR adjacent to Wild Rogue Wilderness and Siskiyou National Forest in the Medford BLM District - the Zane Grey Roadless Area - which is threatened by logging.
  

Key Recommendations to BLM:

• Consider transferring O&C lands (at a minimum, all reserves and threatened species habitat areas) to the Forest Service where such lands can be managed as part of the National Forest system and reserve network under the ecological objectives of the NWFP as the statutory requirements for listed species and the Northwest Forest Plan are far less ambiguous and stronger on national forests.
• Design management alternatives to seek volume (small diameter) from thinning plantations and small trees (<80 years) in association with comprehensive restoration measures that include rescaling the road system, restoring streams, addressing fire and fuel issues, and variable-spaced thinning. Based on our calculations and a one-time entry for timber volume, this could potentially generate ~1.6 billion board feet from the Matrix and Adaptive Management Areas with an additional 717 million board feet of small trees from reserves.
• Inventory and then determine whether roadless areas, Riparian Reserves, Key Watersheds, ESU units, and LSRs qualify for protective status as Wild and Scenic corridors, Botanical Areas, Research Natural Areas, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, Wilderness Study Areas, or Forest Reserves.

For more information, please contact Dominick DellaSala