B-1 Appendix B. Profile of the Covered Species TABLE OF CONTENTS APPENDIX B. PROFILE OF THE COVERED SPECIES ................................................... B-1 B.1 NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL (STRIX OCCIDENTALIS CAURINA) .......................................... B-3 B.2 LISTING STATUS ......................................................................................................... B-3 B.2.1 Range and Distribution .......................................................................................... B-3 B.2.2 Life History ............................................................................................................ B-4 B.2.3 Habitat Requirements ............................................................................................ B-5 B.3 FISHER (PEKANIA PENNANTI) ....................................................................................... B-5 B.3.1 Listing Status ......................................................................................................... B-5 B.3.2 Range and Distribution .......................................................................................... B-6 B.3.3 Life History ............................................................................................................ B-8 B.3.4 Habitat Requirements ............................................................................................ B-9 B.3.5 Resting and Denning Habitat ............................................................................... B-10 B.3.6 Foraging Habitat .................................................................................................. B-11 B.4 MARTEN (MARTES CAURINA HUMBOLDTENSIS) ............................................................ B-11 B.4.1 Listing Status ....................................................................................................... B-11 B.4.2 Range and Distribution ........................................................................................ B-11 B.4.3 Life History .......................................................................................................... B-12 B.4.4 Habitat Requirements .......................................................................................... B-13 B.4.4.1 Resting and Denning .................................................................................................................................. B-15 B.4.4.2 Foraging Habitat......................................................................................................................................... B-15 B.5 RED AND SONOMA TREE VOLES (ARBORIMUS LONGICAUDUS AND A. POMO) ................ B-16 B.5.1 Listing Status ....................................................................................................... B-16 B.5.2 Distribution .......................................................................................................... B-16 B.5.3 Life History .......................................................................................................... B-16 B.5.4 Habitat Requirements .......................................................................................... B-17 B.6 SENSITIVITY OF THE COVERED SPECIES TO IMPACTS .................................................. B-18 B.6.1 Northern spotted owl ........................................................................................... B-18 B.6.1.1 Threat from Barred Owls ........................................................................................................................... B-18 B.6.1.2 Threats from Habitat Loss .......................................................................................................................... B-19 B.6.1.3 West Nile Virus ........................................................................................................................................... B-21 B.6.2 Fisher .................................................................................................................. B-21 B.6.2.1 Threats from Habitat Loss (Timber Harvest and Wildfire) ......................................................................... B-21 B.6.2.2 Small Population Size ................................................................................................................................. B-22 B.6.3 Marten ................................................................................................................. B-24 B.6.3.1 Habitat Loss ................................................................................................................................................ B-24 B.6.3.2 Trapping ..................................................................................................................................................... B-26 B.6.3.3 Disease ....................................................................................................................................................... B-26 B.6.3.4 Predation ................................................................................................................................................... B-27 B.6.4 Tree voles ........................................................................................................... B-27 B.6.4.1 Loss of Habitat ........................................................................................................................................... B-27 B.6.4.2 Fragmentation ........................................................................................................................................... B-27 DRAFT Forest HCP B-2 B.7 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................... B-28 DRAFT Forest HCP B-3 B.1 NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL (STRIX OCCIDENTALIS CAURINA) B.2 LISTING STATUS The Service completed a status review for the northern spotted owl (spotted owl) in 1990 (USFWS, 1990a) and officially listed the owl as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on June 26, 1990. When listed, the spotted owl was assigned a recovery priority number of 3C, based on a recovery priority scale of 1C (highest) to 18 (lowest; USFWS, 1983a; 1983b), indicating the subspecies had a high degree of threat, high recovery potential, and was in conflict with other economic activities (USFWS, 1990a). A draft recovery plan was completed in 1992, but was never finalized (USFWS, 1992). Following completion of the 1992 draft recovery plan, the Service designated Critical Habitat for the spotted owl in a final ruling dated January 1, 1992, which encompassed 6,887,000 acres of Federal lands in California, Oregon, and Washington (USFWS, 1992). In 2004, the Service completed a 5-year review of the spotted owl’s status and concluded that it should remain listed under the ESA as a threatened species (USFWS, 2004). The 5-year review went on to recommended that the spotted owl be given a recovery priority number of 6C, indicating that the subspecies had a high degree of threat, but low recovery potential, and was in conflict with other economic activities (USFWS, 2004). A final recovery plan for the spotted owl was completed and signed on May 13, 2008 (USFWS, 2008a), which was followed by a final ruling for revised Critical Habitat on August 13, 2008 (USFWS, 2008b). The 2008 final recovery plan was challenged in court and in 2010 the Service was ordered to revise the plan. A revised recovery plan was published in June 2011 (USFWS, 2011a) and a new designation of critical habitat for NSO was adopted on December 4, 2012 (USFWS, 2012a). On September 4, 2012, the CFGC received a petition to list the NSO as threatened or endangered pursuant to the CESA (EPIC, 2012). On August 25, 2016, the CFGC listed the NSO as threatened pursuant to CESA. B.2.1 Range and Distribution Before modern settlement by Europeans in the mid-1800s, spotted owls are believed to have inhabited most old-growth forests throughout the Pacific Northwest, including northwestern California (USFWS, 1989). The current range of the spotted owl extends from southwest British Columbia through the Cascade Mountains, coastal ranges, and intervening forested lands in Washington, Oregon, and California, as far south as Marin County, California (USFWS, 1990b). Within the US, the range of the spotted owl is partitioned into 12 physiographic Provinces based on recognized landscape subdivisions exhibiting different physical and environmental features (Thomas et al., 1993). These Provinces are distributed across the species’ range as follows: • In Washington: Eastern Washington Cascades, Olympic Peninsula, Western Washington Cascades, Western Washington Lowlands • In Oregon: Oregon Coast Range, Willamette Valley, • Western Oregon Cascades, Eastern Oregon Cascades, Oregon Klamath • In California: California Coast, California Klamath, • California Cascades Spotted owls have become rare in certain areas, including British Columbia, southwestern Washington, and the northern coastal ranges of Oregon. DRAFT Forest HCP B-4 B.2.2 Life History Spotted owls are territorial and typically monogamous. Home-range sizes vary across the species’ range, with a generally increasing trend from south to north (USFWS, 1990b). Estimates of median annual home range size vary from 2,955 acres in the Oregon Cascades (Thomas et al., 1990) to more than 14,000 acres on the Olympic Peninsula (USFWS, 1994). Home range sizes may vary depending on the primary prey available in a given region and it has been demonstrated that