Learn about a Safe Harbor agreement that provides suitable habitat for listed species such as the Gray Wolf and northern spotted owl in Northern California. Pursuant to Article 195D-22, Revised Statutes of Hawaii (HRS), a Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) program is established to encourage private landowners to voluntarily manage their lands for endangered, threatened, proposed, and candidate-rich species, with the assurance that future ownership restrictions are not necessary as a result of these conservation efforts. An SHA may, by issuing a By-Catch Licence (LTI), authorize the removal of an endangered, threatened, proposed or candidate species if such removal is related to an otherwise legal activity in or impacting habitat created, restored, preserved or enhanced. “Taking” means harassing, injuring, tracking, hunting, shooting, injuring, killing, catching or collecting threatened or threatened aquatic species or wildlife, or cutting, collecting, uprooting, destroying, injuring, possessing or attempting to engage in endangered or threatened species of aquatic life or terrestrial plants (section 195D-2, HRS). Other incentives available to landowners include the annual recognition of one or more private landowners who demonstrate sound conservation practices and principles on their land (Section 195D-23, HRS). The Safe Harbor agreement, which covers the spotted owl`s distribution area throughout the state, focuses on forest owners of 5,000 acres or less and has a term of 50 years. In addition to the special incentives provided through the LFO and NRC land management programs, participants receive official assurances from the Fisheries and Wildlife Service that they will have no regulatory restrictions on the use of listed lands in the future if they agree to improve the habitat value of spotted owls. To learn more about FWC`s conservation incentive programs, please contact Tom Ostertag by phone at (850) 488-3831 or by email [email protected]. To learn more about FWC`s Red Cockle Woodpecker Safe Harbor program, please contact Rebecca Pfaller by email at [email protected]. NRC`s Healthy Forest Reserves Program is a voluntary conservation program under the 2008 Farm Bill established to restore and enhance forest ecosystems.
In Oregon, the goal of this program is to help private forest owners manage their land for sustainable and profitable timber harvests while promoting habitat for the endangered Northern Spotted Owl. Participating landowners receive safe harbor insurance and are compensated for listing forests in permanent easements and agreeing to manage these lands with sustainable forestry practices. The program has been implemented in just eight states across the country, with Oregon added in 2009. The fully voluntary National Safe Harbor includes conservation efforts coupled with federal financial incentives and technical assistance to landowners. This is the most comprehensive attempt in Oregon to improve the non-state contribution to the recovery of the Spotted Owl since the Pacific Northwest forest raptor was designated threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1990. The agreement is a coordinated effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and the USDA`s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The basic principle of SafeHarbor is that private landowners receive regulatory guarantees against future land use restrictions in exchange for voluntary cooperation in implementing specific management practices that benefit listed species at the state and/or federal government level. In addition to providing regulatory certainty regarding state and potentially federal endangered species laws, an essential element of a Safe Harbor agreement is the creation of a specific habitat management plan for the recovery of threatened species, which also incorporates the landowner`s management objectives and is compatible with other land uses such as timber harvesting, cattle production or quail management.
To offset the costs of some land management activities for endangered species, landowners also have state and federal cost-sharing programs available. Federal and state authorities have reached a historic agreement that ensures private forest owners can continue to manage long-term sustainable timber harvests while improving habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl. In exchange for measures that contribute to the recovery of species listed on non-federal lands, participating landowners receive formal assurance from the service that if the service meets the conditions of the CHA, they will not require additional or different management activities from the participants without their consent. In addition, at the end of the contractual period, participants can reset the registered property to the original conditions that existed at the beginning of the SHA. Safe Harbor agreements have different durations, e.B 10, 25, 50 or even 100 years, depending on how long it takes to achieve conservation benefits for each species and habitat covered. A Safe Harbor agreement can also be extended as long as the landowner and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agree. Towards the end of the contract period in 2060, participating landowners will have the opportunity to continue their conservation measures on the registered land, bringing them back to the original conditions that existed at the beginning of the agreement, such as an increase in commercial deforestation activities or anything in between. In collaboration with local staff, landowners also have the opportunity to apply for financial incentives to support certain forestry practices. Participation in Safe Harbor on Oregon forest lands is achieved through the development of a stewardship agreement between the landowner and ODF. A stewardship agreement is a voluntary written plan in which a landowner commits to meeting the natural resource conservation standards of the Oregon Forest Practices Act through alternative practices.
Currently, there are three other Safe Harbor agreements for spotted owls: one that was signed with Forster-Gill, Inc. in 2002 and covers 236 acres near the northern California town of Blue Lake; a second signed in 2009 with the nonprofit Pacific Forest Trust, a land conservation group that manages the 2,200-acre Van Eck Forest in Humboldt, California. and a third, for the endangered owl and marbled murre, signed in 2009 with Port Blakely Tree Farms on more than 45,000 acres in Lewis and Skamania counties in southwestern Washington state. Once the landowner has contacted FWC, a biologist or other appropriate employee will work with them to draft a specific agreement based on the following procedures: Any non-federal landowner may be a party to a Safe Harbor agreement. Existing agreements affect individual families, states, state agencies, tribes, county authorities, conservation organizations, businesses, and universities. Fish and Wildlife Service often implements a Safe Harbor agreement in partnership with another government agency or organization that works directly with landowners on a local basis. Here`s how it works: Voluntary agreements would promote long-term conservation benefits, such as extended timber harvest sequences, forest management strategies that develop spotted owl habitat features, and the maintenance of owl habitat conditions over the life of the agreement and possibly beyond. The agreement helps implement several restoration measures identified in the 2008 Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan, which are intended to promote habitat conservation on non-federal lands for the benefit of the Barn Owl. For more information on the program and stewardship agreements, please contact the ODF.
For more information on NRCS support, contact your local USDA service center or visit www.or.nrcs.usda.gov Safe Harbor agreements are just a tool to improve the protection of endangered species on private lands (other common tools developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service include habitat conservation plans and partners for fish and wildlife projects). .
