Opinion ID: 793549
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Cavity-nester guild: three-toed woodpecker and flamulated owl as MIS

Text: 35 The Forest Service selected two species, the three-toed woodpecker and the flamulated owl, to represent the cavity-nester guild. The three-toed woodpecker lives in spruce and aspen habitat and relies on spruce beetles as a primary food source; its population fluctuates with prey abundance. 1 AR 000073, 2 AR 001250. The flamulated owl also feeds on spruce beetles. The Project's primary objective is to reduce the overall stand densities of the stands that are at the highest risk of infestation of spruce bark beetles. 1 AR 000044. 36 Visual and auditory surveys detected woodpeckers on Thousand Lakes Mountain during 2000, but nesting pairs were not located. Id. at 000151. The EA concluded that the proposed treatment acres represent approximately 2% of the total available spruce/aspen habitat for the three-toed woodpecker on Thousand Lakes Mountain. Direct and indirect effects to the three-toed woodpecker are therefore not expected to cause a loss of population viability. . . . Id. at 000075. We also acknowledge the Forest Service's pronouncement of stable trends in the populations of eighteen cavity nesters, including the three-toed woodpecker, based on a breeding bird survey in Wayne County. 2 AR 001348. However, we do not find sufficient quantitative data on the three-toed woodpecker in the administrative record to determine population trends or to forecast the Project's effects on its population viability. Accordingly, the Forest Service has not met its MIS monitoring responsibilities under § 219.19 with respect to the three-toed woodpecker. 37 As to flamulated owls, the Forest Service cites a 1991 study and 1992 study that detected the owls in mixed conifers one mile west and 2.5 miles east of the Project area. 1 AR 000075. The EA recognized that the Project's proposed salvage harvest would remove potential nesting habitat for the owl, and concedes [w]hether these owls would tolerate selective logging during the breeding season near a nest site is unknown. Id. at 000076. The Forest Service contends that the Project's impact on the owl will be minimal because (1) the Project area's vegetation is not the owl's preferred habitat and (2) the Project area constitutes only a small percentage of available habitat on Thousand Lakes Mountain. However, in light of the paucity and staleness of quantitative data on the flamulated owl in the record, the Forest Service has not satisfied its obligations under § 219.19 for this species.