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Chapter 8: WILDLIFE AREAS

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Chapter 8: WILDLIFE AREAS Chapter 8: WILDLIFE AREAS 8.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1 8.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE...................................................................................................1 8.2.1 Conservation Theory..........................................................................................................2 Landscapes, Ecosystems, and Populations ..............................................................................2 Ecosystem-Based Adaptive Management................................................................................3 Contemporary Ecology and the Implications for Conservation...............................................3 8.2.2 Wildlife Areas Functions...................................................................................................5 Human Dominated Landscapes and Variation of Functions Over Time .................................5 Wildlife Areas Protection ........................................................................................................7 Existing Habitat and Wildlife Protection.................................................................................7 Protection Suggested by Literature..........................................................................................8 8.2.3 Protecting Individual Wildlife Species ............................................................................14 Spotted Owl ...........................................................................................................................15 Peregrine Falcon ....................................................................................................................16 Vaux’s Swift ..........................................................................................................................17 Marbled Murrelet...................................................................................................................18 Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat....................................................................................................19 Osprey....................................................................................................................................21 Northern Goshawk.................................................................................................................23 Great Blue Heron...................................................................................................................25 Bald Eagle..............................................................................................................................26 Red-tailed Hawk ....................................................................................................................28 Remaining “Shall” Species....................................................................................................31 “Should” Species ...................................................................................................................31 8.2.4 Priority Habitats...............................................................................................................39 Caves......................................................................................................................................39 Cliffs ......................................................................................................................................41 Talus ......................................................................................................................................42 Snags......................................................................................................................................43 Old-Growth and Mature Forest..............................................................................................45 Wildlife Corridors..................................................................................................................46 8.3 Conclusion..............................................................................................................................48 8.4 LITERATURE REFERENCES.............................................................................................49 EXECUTIVE REPORT – BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE , VOLUME 1 – FEBRUARY 2004 Chapter 8: WILDLIFE AREAS 8.1 INTRODUCTION Wildlife areas are defined herein to include Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas and the Wildlife Habitat Network. The Wildlife Habitat Network is designated and mapped in King County’s Comprehensive Plan. Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas are those terrestrial areas that include: Habitat for federal or state listed endangered, threatened, or sensitive species both within and outside the Urban Growth Area; Habitat for Raptors and Herons of Local Importance: osprey, black-crowned night heron, and great blue heron both within and outside the Urban Growth Area, and red-tailed hawk outside of the Urban Growth Area; Wildlife habitat networks designated by the County; Habitat for candidate species, as listed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, found in King County outside of the Urban Growth Area; Birds of local importance: Trumpeter swan, Tundra swan, Snow goose, Band-tailed pigeon, Brant, Harlequin duck, Blue grouse, Mountain quail, and Western bluebird on lands outside of the Urban Growth Area; and Mammals of local importance: marten, mink, Columbian black-tailed deer, elk, and mountain goat on lands outside of the Urban Growth Area. The Growth Management Act (GMA) defines Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas (FWHCAs), from which the above Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas derive. FWHCAs are lands that are designated and managed for maintaining targeted species within their natural geographic distribution so that isolated subpopulations are not created. Such areas are considered to be critical for the long-term viability and proliferation of certain native fish and wildlife species. GMA includes guidelines that jurisdictions must consider when designating these areas. King County’s Comprehensive Plan includes policies for the protection of FWHCAs. To facilitate discussion and assessment of the FWHCAs, they have been grouped into Aquatic Areas (Chapter 7) and Wildlife Areas, which are the subject of this chapter. This chapter will present a literature review of the best available science (BAS) that relates to wildlife areas. After the literature review, the Critical Areas, Stormwater, and Clearing and Grading Ordinances standards will be assessed to determine their consistency with BAS and any risk to the wildlife areas if the ordinances depart from BAS. Finally, all literature cited in the literature review as well as literature reviewed but not directly cited is listed in the references section. 8.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Wildlife areas are land-based (terrestrial) ecosystems composed of unique interacting systems of soil, geology, topography, and plant and animal communities (Johnson and O'Neil 2001). For the purpose of this discussion of King County’s wildlife areas, the best available science concerned Chapter 8 – Wildlife Areas King County 8 – 1 EXECUTIVE REPORT – BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE , VOLUME 1 – FEBRUARY 2004 with terrestrial conservation is reviewed, including literature that ranges from conservation theory to studies on select terrestrial wildlife species. For this analysis, wildlife areas are defined as those areas in which priority mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates of King County are likely to be found. 8.2.1 Conservation Theory In addition to the conservation framework presented in Chapter 2 – Scientific Framework, other important conservation theory, especially as relates to ecosystems, are presented in this section. Noss et al. (1997) considers the ecosystem “an appropriate target level for conservation planning and for integrating concerns from other levels of organization.” Maintaining viable ecosystems with their respective populations is likely to be a more efficient, economical, and effective conservation strategy than a species-by-species or single-habitat approach (Noss et al.1997). Such a strategy does not suggest that species and their habitats be ignored, but rather that the planning approaches avoid solely focusing on single-species conservation (Noss et al.1997). Because knowledge of such diverse and complex systems is limited, management must be capable of coping with complexity and uncertainty. Consequently, an increasing number of scientists have eloquently argued that the emerging principles of ecosystem-based management and adaptive management are well suited for this task (Lee 1993; Noss et al. 1997; Baydack et al. 1999; Meyer 1997). Landscapes, Ecosystems, and Populations Landscapes are defined as large areas composed of many different kinds of ecosystems that are organized into repeatable patterns of habitats, physical features, and human influences (see Forman and Godron 1986). An ecosystem is defined as a physical system with an associated community of interacting organisms through which energy flows and material cycles. Finally, a population is defined as a group of individuals with common ancestry that are much more likely to mate with one another than with individuals from another such group. Just as ecosystems are components of landscapes, habitats are components of ecosystems. Habitats vary in size, shape, and distribution, and are multidimensional places
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