Abstract
The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) shifted federal lands management from a focus on timber production to ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation. The plan established a network of conservation reserves and an ecosystem management strategy on ~10 million hectares from northern California to Washington State, USA, within the range of the federally threatened northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). Several subsequent assessments—and 20 years of data from monitoring programs established under the plan—have demonstrated the effectiveness of this reserve network and ecosystem management approach in making progress toward attaining many of the plan’s conservation and ecosystem management goals. This paper (1) showcases the fundamental conservation biology and ecosystem management principles underpinning the NWFP as a case study for managers interested in large-landscape conservation; and (2) recommends improvements to the plan’s strategy in response to unprecedented climate change and land-use threats. Twenty years into plan implementation, however, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, under pressure for increased timber harvest, are retreating from conservation measures. We believe that federal agencies should instead build on the NWFP to ensure continuing success in the Pacific Northwest. We urge federal land managers to (1) protect all remaining late-successional/old-growth forests; (2) identify climate refugia for at-risk species; (3) maintain or increase stream buffers and landscape connectivity; (4) decommission and repair failing roads to improve water quality; (5) reduce fire risk in fire-prone tree plantations; and (6) prevent logging after fires in areas of high conservation value. In many respects, the NWFP is instructive for managers considering similar large-scale conservation efforts.
Highlights
The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) ushered in ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation on nearly 10 million ha of federal lands within the range of the federally threatened northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) from northern California to Washington State, mostly along the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains, USA (Figure 1)
FEMAT [2] aptly recognized that even with the plan’s protective elements in place, it would take at least a century and possibly two to restore a functional, interconnected late-successional/old growth (LSOG) ecosystem because older forests were reduced to a fraction (
To build on the complementarity of the NWFP and Endangered Species Act (ESA), we recommend that at-risk species recovery on federal lands include more habitat protections to reduce interactions with their competitors, maintain genetic diversity [94], provide for resilient populations, and enable multiple local populations to be well-distributed throughout the NWFP area
Summary
The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) ushered in ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation on nearly 10 million ha of federal lands within the range of the federally threatened northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) from northern California to Washington State, mostly along the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains, USA (Figure 1). Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. The NWFP amended resource management plans for 19 national forests and seven BLM planning districts with 80% of those lands dedicated to some form of conservation (Figure 1). The NWFP amended resource management plans for 19 national forests and seven BLM planning districts with 80% of those lands dedicated to some form of conservation (Figure 1) This increased level of protection and improved management standards were necessary because for many decades federal lands were managed without proper regard for water quality, fish and wildlife viability, and ecosystem integrity. P. lambertina); and mixed-evergreens (Pacific madrone Arbutus menziesii, tan oak Lithocarpus densiflorus, and canyon live oak Quercus chrysolepis) These forests are characterized by the presence of high densities of large (>100 cm in diameter) conifers These younger forests have only recently been recognized as a conservation priority and like old growth have been replaced by structurally simplistic tree plantations [10]
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