Department of Agriculture / Department of the Interior

Forest Service / Bureau of Land Management

US Forest Service Shield - Link to Forest Service home page Bureau of Land Management logo - Link to BLM home page

Interagency - Pacific Northwest

Oregon - Washington State

great view

Interagency Special Status /
Sensitive Species Program (ISSSSP)

Conservation Planning Tools

[ Photograph ] Usnea Longissima LichenManagement for sensitive species follows Forest Service Region 6 Sensitive Species Policy as identified in Forest Service Manual (FSM) Section 2670. Management of Oregon/Washington Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Special Status Species follows agency policy documented in the BLM Manual Section 6840.

Under Forest Service policy, agency botanists and biologists review programs and activities, through a Biological Evaluation, as part of the National Environmental Policy Act process, to determine potential effects on sensitive species. Proposed management actions “must not result in a loss of species viability or create significant trends toward Federal listing” (FSM 2670.32).

Under BLM policy, BLM Districts are responsible to assess, review and document the effects of a proposed action on Bureau Sensitive species. The effects of Bureau proposed actions are documented through a systematic, interdisciplinary evaluation following the decision making process as described in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. BLM Districts will also determine and document that District decisions would not contribute to the need to list Bureau Sensitive species under the Endangered Species Act.

In order to conduct these evaluations, agency personnel need to know species habitat requirements and distribution, assess likelihood of species occurrence, and assess the risk of impacts. This section provides “tools” that biologists and botanists can use (but are not required to use) to assist in determining what level of analysis should be completed in order to make an assessment of potential impacts from proposed management actions.

Some of our FS and BLM Sensitive and Strategic species may have had research conducted and science published by the U.S. Forest Service Research and Development.  Publications and products can be found on the Pacific Northwest Research Station Publications and Products page, https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/index.shtml.   In order to find publications or products, the site offers the Treesearch system, https://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/.  Treesearch is an online system for sharing free, full text publications by Research and Development scientists in the U.S. Forest Service.  Included in Treesearch are scholarly works published by the agency as well as those published by others, including papers appearing in journals, conference proceedings, or books. All publications appearing in Treesearch are based on peer reviewed research to make sure they provide the best scientific information possible.  This science may also help with assessing effects to Sensitive species.

Page Contents

Vertebrates

General

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife includes vertebrate conservation planning tools within their 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP).  The SWAP can be accessed on the following website, http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/cwcs/.   Included on this website are species facts sheets (Appendix A) and range and potential habitat distribution Maps (Appendix B) for specific mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fishes (Appendix B).

Washington's SWAP is a comprehensive plan for conserving the state's fish and wildlife and the natural habitats on which they depend. It is part of a nationwide effort by all 50 states and 5 U.S. territories to develop conservation action plans and participate in the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants (SWG) Program. The purpose of the SWG Program is to support state actions that broadly benefit wildlife and habitats, but particularly "Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN)" as identified by each individual state.

The Oregon Explorer website, by Oregon State University, has an expansive wildlife portal that allows users to find out about the Oregon Conservation Strategy and access to a broad range of wildlife information for areas around the state. The “Oregon Wildlife Explorer” portal, http://www.oregonexplorer.info/wildlife, provides a single point of access for current and historic wildlife distribution maps, wildlife photos, local wildlife plans and other information. As an example, if you go the link, scroll down to Wildlife in Your Area (middle bottom), click on Launch the Wildlife Viewer. Click on the Species tab and type in any species. This brings up general information as well as a current and historic distribution map. Clicking either of the maps will enlarge them, but by copying them to a file and then opening the map with Microsoft photo editor (or similar) you can enlarge the picture to the general area you are interested in.

Amphibians

Mammals

Bats

Conservation and Land Management

 

Wildlife Explorer, Wildlife Viewer, Oregon

This is an interactive tool for the state of Oregon.  You will need to select the Order, Bats-Chiroptera, and then the Family Vespertilionidae, and then the species. What results are maps of historic and current distribution and potential habitat, and other information on status, habitat, food, threats, etc.   http://oe.oregonexplorer.info/Wildlife/wildlifeviewer/?SciName=Mammalia&TaxLevel=order  

Contacts for Bat cave gate installation:

Jason Ringenberg
AML Closure Specialist, Eng. Equip. Operator
R4, Sawtooth NF, Ketchum, ID
208-420-3911
jringenberg@fs.fed.us

Jeff Gabardi
Mining Engineer
R4, RO, Bio-Physical Resources
Twin Falls, ID
208-737-3205
jgarbardi@fs.fed.us

These employees primarily do closure work on Abandoned Mine Lands (AML), but can also do cave gating on Forest Service and BLM lands in Oregon and Washington, but will need a job code. To reduce the costs of the cave closure, try to coordinate your cave gate proposal with their AML work that may be in the same vicinity.  They do have an agreement with BLM Oregon in the Jackson County area and could probably do a similar arrangement elsewhere, but the AML work has priority.

Reptiles

 

Invertebrates

Clams, Oysters & Mussels (Class Bivalvia)

Snails and Slugs (Class Gastropoda)

General Botany

Fungi

Fungi Effects Tools

General Information

Vascular Plants

Species Distribution Maps