An Effective Approach to ESA Consultation and Planning for Projects in

Northern Spotted Owl Habitat

Doug LayeKlamath Falls Fish and Wildlife Office

What is an effective consultation?

One that:

► Fully considers the impacts to T and E species

► Helps to attain the goals of the project

► Is consistent with regulations or statutes

► Is timely

What is the key to effective consultation?

A) Waiting until the last minute to talk to anyone about the project because that gives them the least amount of time to derail it.

B) Waiting until your boss tells you that you’ve got to involve “others” in the planning process.

C) Pretending that consultation is only for projects that aren’t as important as yours

What is the key to effective consultation?

► Early

Preferably when the project is in the first stages of consideration or even the brainstorm phase

Before documents get drafted and the action gets locked in

► Often

Because this builds a relationship between people of different disciplines and issues will surface more informally before strong positions are developed

Communication

What is necessary for good communication?

Calibration - Developing common understandings of words and phrases

Calibration

Calibration needs to start in the field

Consistency – To be or not to be……

► Owl biological information► Habitat Distribution► Environmental factors► Fuel Distribution ► Fire behavior ► Fire starts

What types of site specific information might lead to customized projects?

Site specific information such as:

So now you’ve got a well planned,site specific, rational project that has sailed

through consultation….

What could go wrong now ?????

Failure at the implementation level

Goals and objectives must be clearly communicated to the folks that are implementing the action

on the ground

“You can’t remove too many large trees from spotted owl habitat”

Communication

Calibration

Site specific information

Informed implementation

Questions ????