WILD ROGUE Wildlife and Habitat

 

Wildlife and Habitat 

San Juan Islands National Monument RMP 

Wildlife Habitat and the Planning Process 

The San Juan Islands National Monument contains a diversity of habitats, including forests, woodlands, grasslands, 

and wetlands intermixed with rocky balds, bluffs, inter-tidal areas, and sandy beaches. These habitats are home to 

a variety of locally important, historically significant, and federally threatened plants and wildlife. 

Through the planning process, the BLM will identify the objectives and management direction that will guide 

its stewardship of these important habitats over the next 15 to 20 years. This will include exploring different 

management approaches that could respond to the types of planning issues described below. We want your help 

during scoping to identify additional planning issues, as well as management approaches that you believe we 

should consider adopting in order to address these issues. (More information on reverse side.) 

 Preliminary Planning Issues 

• What management is needed to protect or restore wildlife species and their habitats? 

• How should human uses - including recreation, scientific research, and travel on 

roads and trails - be managed to protect wildlife and their diverse habitats? 

• What role should fire play in the Monument to preserve grasslands that were previously 

maintained through periodic burning by the Native Americans and/or early settlers? 

• What types of management should be considered to reduce the spread of invasive 

species and disease? 

• What types of management should be considered to reduce the risk of catastrophic 

wildfire? 

What is THE San Juan Islands National Monument RMP? 

The Bureau of Land Management is developing a Resource Management Plan (RMP) 

for the San Juan Islands National Monument which will guide the management of these 

spectacular lands in a manner that ensures the protection of their remarkable cultural, 

historic, and ecological values for the benefit of generations of Americans to come. 

news & updates 

Scan our QR Code or visit us at: 

www.blm.gov/SanJuanIslandsNM/RMP 

Or send us an email to: 

blm_or_sanjuanislandsnm@blm.gov 

San Juan Islands National Monument 

BLM, Lopez Island Office 

P.O. Box 3 

Lopez, WA 98261 

mdechade@blm.gov 

Contact us 
 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat in the San Juan Islands National Monument 

The San Juan Islands National Monument planning area provides habitat for a diverse array of 

wildlife species. This diversity reflects the variety of habitats found within the terrestrial and 

marine environments present in the planning area. However, due to the fact that BLM’s 

administrative jurisdiction is delineated by mean high tide, terrestrial habitat will be the primary 

focus of this discussion. 

Excluding fish, there are approximately 250 vertebrate species present in the planning area. 

Vertebrates are typically divided into the following general categories: amphibians, reptiles, 

birds, and mammals. The table below shows the approximate numbers of wildlife in each of 

these broad categories that occur either seasonally or year-round in the San Juan planning area. 

Category Number of Species 

Amphibians 7 

Reptiles 7 

Birds ~201* 

Mammals 35 

*Over 291 birds have been documented in the archipelago, but some species are extremely rare 

transients, while others are believed extirpated from the area (Lewis and Sharpe, 1987) 

While total species estimates are less reliable for invertebrates (e.g., insects), this category of 

wildlife contains some distinctive and rare species of concern in the Planning Area. For example, 

the island marble butterfly is a non-migratory, highly endemic species that lives its entire 

lifecycle within upland grasslands, sand dunes, or coastal lagoon habitat. 

How does the Proclamation address this resource? 

The diversity of wildlife and habitats are objects and values for which the monument was 

designated. Therefore, management that protects and restores these values would be compatible 

with the proclamation. In some cases, there could be trade-offs between short-term impacts to 

wildlife or wildlife habitat and meeting long-term goals and objectives for maintaining and 

restoring wildlife and wildlife habitat. 

How Does this Resource or Use Fit Into the Planning Process? 

Through the planning effort, the BLM will determine how wildlife and wildlife habitat will be 

managed for the next 15 to 20 years. It will also analyze any impacts to these resources that 

would be expected based on the range of management approaches being considered in the 

planning process.