Washington State’s Spotted Owl Special Emphasis Areas (SOSEA) is a strategy employed by the Department of Natural Resources designed to prevent the continued decline of the Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) on nonfederal lands in Washington over which the state has regulatory authority. However, a situation that took place within our Chapter’s boundaries a few years ago strongly indicates to us that the rules applied to SOSEAs essentially undermine their stated intent. As a result, SOSEAs are essentially designed to fail.
In 2019, NCWAS submitted a petition to the Washington Forest Practices Board (FPB) contending that the rules applying to SOSEAs are demonstrably incapable of achieving the protection of sufficient suitable habitat for the owl. Simply put, they are failing it, and thereby indicate that the laws applying to SOSEAs need to be reconsidered and strengthened. Our petition (click here to read it) addressed the numerous shortcomings of the current laws governing SOSEAs in Eastern Washington and suggested remedies we feel would substantially improve the situation.
After consideration, the FPB responded with a letter (click here to read it), stating “DNR staff recommends the Board deny the petitioner’s request for a moratorium”, and went on to say, “Nothing in the Forest Practices Act expressly authorizes the Forest Practices Board to adopt a moratorium on the acceptance or approval of forest practices applications”. While this was the stated basis for their decision, we note that nothing in it expressly prevents it from doing so either.
While the FPB denied our petition, it did so on a technical point having nothing to do with the issues it raised. With our concerns still not having been addressed, in March 2020 NCWAS submitted a second petition (click here to read it). It’s essentially the same as the first one, with the following exceptions. First, we broadened it to address SOSEAs throughout the state. Secondly, we eliminated our request for a moratorium, instead asking for a full reconsideration of the rules governing SOSEAs and that a separate management plan be developed for each of them.
In May 2020, we met with the FPB to discuss the issue. It made a presentation regarding the status of the NSO in Washington, then went on to say the wild population is essentially doomed without lethal removal of Barred Owls. The other option it mentioned was that of bringing the remaining birds into captivity. Shortly after this meeting, we received a letter (click here to read it) indicating that our second petition was denied.
WAC 222-16-080 is the driver of regulations applied to SOSEAs throughout Washington. Both of our petitions explained in detail our concerns that it is undermined by WAC 222-16-085. The FPB’s response to our second petition stated, “WDFW and the Board remain concerned about and interested in preserving Northern spotted owl habitats, but we lack indications that the definitions in WAC 222-16-080 are impacting the owls at this time”. As a final follow-up, we submitted a letter detailing our continuing concerns (click here to read it).
The FPB’s decision came with a couple of important caveats. First, they agreed to seek a resolution to the situation within the SOSEA our petition cited. Secondly, they offered to consider reconvening the state’s Spotted Owl Implementation Team (SOIT) in an effort to develop options for voluntary stewardship of NSO habitat on private lands within SOSEAs throughout the state.
As of November 2023, efforts to grant DNR the authority to negotiate “safe harbor agreements” (SHA) with private property owners for the benefit of statewide NSO habitat are underway. If successful, it would “authorize DNR to implement a programmatic SHA that would provide Washington’s forest owners, large and small, the opportunity to voluntarily grow habitat on their lands in exchange for regulatory assurances against possible future changes under the ESA”. The SOIT has not been reestablished.
The bottom line is, that SOSEAs, which are supposed to emphasize the welfare of the Northern Spotted Owl, actually continue to favor the interests of private timber companies. Under the current rules, private property owners can still conduct logging operations within them that are contrary to the interests of the NSO. They just have to jump through a few more flawed regulatory hoops to do so. For now, the status quo continues.