Wildfire and endangered species management are paramount priorities for Sierra land managers today. More than a century of logging and fire exclusion in some mixed-conifer stands has led to declines of old-forest dependent species and a build-up of small-diameter fuels. This build-up has been blamed for increases in size and severity of wildfires than might have historically occurred in these forest types, although this phenomenon has not been definitively proven by scientific data. The Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) has been identified as an indicator species for the health of old-forest ecosystems because it is strongly associated with older forests for nesting, roosting, and foraging. Stand-replacement fire is often invoked as one of the primary threats to the species, but results from research investigating the impacts of fire on spotted owls are equivocal. Research is urgently needed to answer questions about how Spotted Owls respond to habitat conditions caused by wildfire, so that post-fire landscapes can be best managed to benefit this focal species.

In 2006 project investigators Monica Bond, Derek Lee, Rodney Siegel, and Pat Ward initiated a project to a) radio-track adult male and female California Spotted Owls throughout the breeding season in territories that were burned by alarge wildfire five years four years earlier (in 2002) in the Sierra Nevada, and b) analyze historical data from across the species' range to assess site occupancy patterns before and after wildfires. The objectives of this study are:

a) to determine whether the owls preferentially use or avoid habitat burned at varying severities for foraging and roosting during the breeding season;

b) to assess the extent to which size, shape, and spatial distribution of burned patches within an owl’s home range influences post-fire occupancy; and

c) to provide information for post-fire management that will benefit the species.

In early 2007 we were invited to present preliminary results to the Northern Spotted Owl Federal Recovery Team; more recently we have submitted our first manuscript resulting from this project for peer review at Journal of Wildlife Management.

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2. Habitat Modeling, Field Census and Development of Management Plans for Northern Spotted Owls in North Cascades National Park, WA

IBP scientists are collaborating with NPS Wildlife Biologist Bob Kuntz at North Cascades National Park, WA, to census Spotted Owls in the eastern half of the Park, and to develop management tools for them, including a habitat suitability map, and site-specific management plans for each Spotted Owl breeding site. Contact Rodney Siegel for more information.