Northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) recovery strategy: chapter 15
12. Recommended Approach / Scale for Recovery
The recommended recovery approach will focus on preventing further population declines, conserving sufficient habitat over the short and long term to sustain the population, and increasing population size as soon as possible to more stable, resilient levels. Recovery of the Spotted Owl requires an integrated approach at a number of spatial scales. This is warranted because Spotted Owls use large areas of the landscape while requiring specific habitat attributes at the stand level. The 1997, the Spotted Owl Management Plan (SOMIT 1997a, b) was developed at a subregional scale (1:100 000) to address management across the owl’s entire known range at that time. Since then, the known range has expanded to include parts of the Cascades Forest District. At the landscape level (1:20 000), management units under the SOMP are based on territories and clusters of territories to address both the territorial requirements of breeding pairs and the dispersal requirements of their young. Habitat enhancement efforts are focused at the stand level. During the recovery process, all three management spatial scales--subregional, landscape, and stand--need to be considered simultaneously and integrated to ensure that the owls’ needs are met.
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