Threatened and Endangered Species

Seventeen years after its creation, Weyerhaeuser's first habitat conservation plan, created to help recover spotted owls in Oregon, is working even better than expected. Forests of the Coos Bay Tree Farm managed by Weyerhaeuser under the plan now provide both logs and owl habitat. Spotted owl populations in this region appear to be holding their own.

That's significant, given the owl's long-precarious perch on the Endangered Species Act threatened species list. Listed as threatened in 1990, the bird became a symbol of a controversy that was frequently oversimplified as owls versus loggers. In 1995, Weyerhaeuser worked with federal agencies to create a 50-year HCP to manage our Coos Bay, Ore., forestlands for spotted owl habitat as well as timber harvest. In effect, the plan granted Weyerhaeuser a 50-year harvest permit — if we could make room for spotted owls too.

One key to the plan's success was the creation of dispersal habitat — forested areas that might not have the older trees or structural characteristics that encourage spotted owls to nest, but provide cover and foraging opportunities for juvenile birds as they travel to the stands they prefer. Forty percent of the 209,000 acres in the HCP must provide dispersal habitat by 2015, with that percentage maintained through 2045. Company foresters, particularly Coos Bay resource planner Stuart Stein, have been working toward that goal.

"By maintaining dispersal habitat, we're providing the birds with stepping stones," says Stein, "and those areas must meet specific requirements to qualify. They must be at least 70 percent conifers, at least 70 feet tall, at least 10 inches in diameter, and so forth. My objective is to make sure every acre we plant is — over time — capable of meeting those conditions. It takes a very robust inventory system, careful planning, and everyone on the team focused on the target."

Current projections indicate the company will exceed the 40 percent target. And a collaborative database of owl observations, many of them collected through surveys overseen by Weyerhaeuser wildlife biologist Mike Rochelle, shows that the birds are using the dispersal areas as they're intended.

"Even though the HCP puts a focus on dispersal habitat, we've consistently observed spotted owls successfully nesting, foraging and reproducing at levels comparable to those in 1990," says Kevin Godbout, director of external and regulatory affairs for Western Timberlands. "We're not only growing more dispersal habitat, but we also continue to produce juveniles, which was unexpected and has been a bonus in assisting in spotted owl recovery."

Spotted owl populations in the northern portion of their range are declining, largely due to stiff competition from invading barred owls. Barred owls are appearing near Coos Bay, too, but Godbout says, "The climatic conditions and available food resources in the southern part of the spotted owl's range are more favorable for survival, so we're hoping that over time we'll attain more of a balance between the two competitor species."

In April 2010, five pups were born to a pair of radio-collared red wolves known as the Weyerhaeuser Pack. Born on company timberlands in Hyde County, N.C., the littermates are descendants of the last 14 pure red wolves plucked from dwindling habitat in the 1970s by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists.

One of only three wolf species in the world, the red wolf, intermediate in size and appearance between the more familiar coyote and the gray wolf, once roamed throughout the central and southeastern United States. But by the mid-20th century, the lean and lanky animals were looking down the barrel of extinction due to habitat loss and predator-control programs. The USFWS was legally obligated to intervene.

Not unlike sustainably managing timberlands, restoring populations of critically endangered species is a long-term proposition. Starting with a captive-breeding program, the ultimate goal was to return the red wolf — one of the first mammals listed under the Endangered Species Act — to its natural habitat and help build at least three self-sustaining populations.

From those 14 founding members, the first litter was born in captivity in 1977. Ten years later, after ongoing success in captive breeding, four pairs of the wolves were outfitted with radio collars and released into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. A year after the reintroduction, the first wild pups were born.

Today, 29 identified packs (a pack is generally one or two adults and offspring) occupy the Red Wolf Recovery Area, which encompasses 1.7 million acres of public and private land — including Weyerhaeuser timberlands — in five North Carolina counties. There are more than 100 red wolves in the wild, with approximately 160 in captive-breeding facilities.

The wolves' dispersal from their original site in the refuge was inevitable, and in the mid-'90s, Weyerhaeuser granted the USFWS access to its land to aid in monitoring the animals, says Dr. Jessica Homyack, a wildlife scientist on Weyerhaeuser's Southern environmental research and development team.

In 2009, a formalized agreement was established between the two organizations, and now four university red-wolf research projects are taking place on Weyerhaeuser lands. Homyack manages those relationships along with her other responsibilities, which include conducting research on wildlife populations and assisting Weyerhaeuser in maintaining environmental responsibilities.

"Having the wolves, especially a breeding pair, on our land is definitely positive for the company and for the wolves," says Homyack. "It confirms that managed forests can provide important habitat for many species, including those that are threatened or endangered."