PORT ANGELES — The state Board of Natural Resources, including Clallam County Commissioner Jim McEntire, is considering long-term conservation strategies for the threatened marbled murrelet.
Five alternatives for the protection of the small seabird were discussed in an all-day meeting in Olympia on Oct. 15, but no action was taken.
“It was a long, interesting day to try to figure out what is known and what is not yet known about marbled murrelets — what’s going on with their food source at sea and where these little creatures are, because they’re pretty elusive,” McEntire said at the county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday.
“It’s very difficult to get a good handle on these things because they spend most of their life at sea.”
McEntire was citing a report delivered at the DNR meeting by University of Wisconsin forest and wildlife ecology professor Zach Peery.
The marbled murrelet is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Timber harvests
Its presence on state trust lands could reduce timber harvests on the North Olympic Peninsula, where four mills have closed since June 2014.
DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are developing a draft environmental impact statement for the long-term conservation of the marbled murrelet.
A murrelet-specific amendment to the habitat conservation plan will apply to DNR-managed forests within 55 miles of marine waters.
McEntire represents 21 timber counties on the six-member DNR board, which guides how the department manages state lands and resources.
“We, the board, will have some interesting discussions in the weeks ahead to figure out exactly what is and is not the obligation of the department under the ESA, the Endangered Species Act, for this bird,” McEntire said.
Clallam County Commissioner Bill Peach, a retired forester, attended the Board of Natural Resources meeting to gather information.
His West End District 3 will be most affected by the murrelet conservation strategy.
Five alternatives
The five proposed strategies for long-term conservation of the marbled murrelet contain different acreages of so-called long-term forest cover.
Long-term forest cover includes existing DNR conservation commitments, such as protections for spotted owl habitat, plus “areas of conservation to further secure occupied sites and identify other needed habitat for murrelets,” according to a DNR summary.
Here’s a rundown of the five proposals for marbled murrelet protection:
■ Alternative A: 621,000 acres of long-term forest cover. A “no action” proposal that continues DNR operations as authorized under the 1997 habitat conservation plan.
■ Alternative B: 594,000 acres. Protects known locations of murrelet-occupied sites. It is the only alternative with no buffers around occupied sites.
■ Alternative C: 636,000 acres. Protects occupied sites and provides new habitat for the marbled murrelet.
■ Alternative D: 635,000 acres. Concentrates conservation into special habitat areas.
■ Alternative E: 734,000 acres. Establishes marbled murrelets management areas as recommended in a 2008 DNR science report.
Opinion piece
Kyle Blum, DNR deputy supervisor for state uplands, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife state Supervisor Eric Rickerson wrote in a recent opinion column at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Options that the five alternatives result from “years of research and substantial dialogue with environmental groups and timber communities across Washington.”
“It is the work of those who cherish our forests and wildlife resources,” Blum and Rickerson wrote in the column that appeared on cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/peninsuladailynews on Oct. 14.
“It reflects the strong conservation values of our state.
“This small marine bird does not recognize international, federal, state or private boundaries, yet its fate lies in the ability of landowners to work together to conserve its nesting habitat and fishing grounds,” they added.
McEntire, who is running against Mark Ozias in the general election, said in a Thursday interview that he prefers Alternative B.
“I favor the minimum amount [of long-term forest cover] that is justified by the science and that is provable in terms of current or potential marbled murrelet habitat,” McEntire said.
“I am in favor, of course, of absolutely fulfilling our obligation of the Endangered Species Act, but only to the extent necessary and justified by science.”
Science scant
McEntire said the science for marbled murrelets is “pretty scanty” on land and “almost nonexistent” on water, where the bird spends most of its life.
Ninety-one percent of the marbled murrelet population is in Alaska, McEntire said, citing statistics provided by DNR.
Seven percent of the birds are in British Columbia and the remaining 2 percent are spread along the Washington, Oregon and California coast, McEntire said.
“There’s not a whole lot of these birds down in the lower 48,” he said.
The Board of Natural Resources will discuss the five alternatives at its next meeting Nov. 3 and update the habitat conservation plan “hopefully next spring,” McEntire said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
