BY SARAH ROSS

Gilchrist Tract Image by dsdportland via Flickr

SALEM- A new joint agreement to save the northern spotted owl population was announced on Friday, amid some frustrations.

The Safe Harbor Agreement is a voluntary program designed to provide incentives for landowners and promote conservation efforts, as agreed upon by the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

If landowners are interested in participating in the agreement, they first must contact the ODF to develop a stewardship agreement, according to Janet Lebson at the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Then the departments jointly develop a management plan for the property incorporating “mutually agreed” upon conservation measures like extended timber harvest crop rotation, among other things.

Landowners who participate in the program can apply for financial incentives in the form of property easements. The incentives, currently amounting to $4 million, come from the Healthy Forest Reserve Program run by the NRCS.

Miel Corbett of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department said the agreement is unique in that it is the only one of its size (encompassing 50,000 acres), the only such program in Oregon, and the only agreement with a state agency rather than a business.

“This represents a unique partnership and a new tool for private landowners to take advantage of,” said Corbett.

Corbett said the department knew people are interested in northern spotted owl conservation but that they simply do not have the individual resources to dedicate to conservation.

“So now that we’ve done this programmatic approach, where we can handle multiple landowners in a streamlined process, we’ve heard that there are a lot more landowners who are coming forward and expressing an interest now that we’ve made it easier and more cost-effective for them,” she said.

Some, however, expressed concerns about the program.

“It’s a shame that we are continually in a quandary of whose science is best, which does not allow us to look at long-term approaches to creating sustainable forest industries and sustainable forests,” said Karla Kay Edwards, Rural Policy Analyst at the Cascade Policy Institute, parent organization of The Oregon Politico.

The “quandary” Edwards referred to was the debate over whether the cause of a decline in the spotted owl population was loss of habitat or competition from the barred owl.

However, Corbett said she did not see a downside for landowners in this situation and called the program a “win-win.”

“In this case they are able to contribute to spotted owl recovery and sound forest management while retaining flexibility of their private property,” she stated.