216 



those wno say "no", that there is no known vay to accomplish 

 this. Yet that la exactly what was said about the owl. In 

 1988 tha qov«rnjn«ntal and univaraity r«aearch«rs statad that 

 tfta northarn spotted owl was old growth depand^nt. Neither 

 owls or marbled aurreieta know ir a Horoat is old growth or 

 not. They only know whether or not their habitat 

 requirements are present within the forest structure. For 

 the owj , nusierous types of managed forests contain suitable 

 habitat. Seuld another way, forests have been managed to 

 produce owl habitat. 



Tot the marbled aurrelet, its 1988 all over again. 

 Governmental and university researchers are saying that 

 aiirreieta Bust have the old growth, ie- the "Headwaters 

 Forest." Murrelets only know that the habitat is present. 



Since 1988 our firm, inconjunction with foresters and 

 biologists with The Pacific Lumber Company, have been 

 studying what constitutes suitable nurrelet nesting habitat 

 on Pacific Lumber Company lands. We have spent thousands of 

 hours monitoring the flight and nesting behavior of 

 murrelets on the property. This past summer (1993) we 

 supervised over thirty fxeld personnel who were collecting 

 iijjrornation on marbled murrelet nesting behavior and habitat 

 structure. He have traveled to other murrelet nest sitae in 

 California/ Oregon, and Washington to gain information on 

 the forest structural attributes that constitute marbled 

 murrelet habitat. 



This inUeiiiiive eL'I'ort has culminated in a draft Habitat 

 Conservation Plan for the marbled murrelet on Pacific Lumber 

 Company Lands. Under this comprehensive plan, marbled 

 murrelet habitat is identified and management practices are 

 itnpienented to retain that habitat through time. 

 Par this plan to be impiomentad it will, liXe the owl plan, 

 have to be approved by the California Department of Fish and 

 Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Until such 

 time of approval, the bird, and its habitat are protected by 

 the Endangered Species Act, the California Endangered 

 Species Act, and the California Forest Practices Act. 



Sa the cfuestion before you ia not one of will the habitat of 

 the marble murrelet be retained, but rather under what 

 management authority. HR 286ti would, as I understand it, 

 authorize the federal government to purchase the "Headwaters 

 Foreet" and portions of surrounding property, thus placing 

 the land in governmental ownership, at a tremendous cost to 

 the taxpayer. The result will be a hands off management 

 approach of the forest. The result of that will be in tine 

 a xiajor fire, and a loss of the habitat the tax payer 

 bought. It will also result in the loss of jobs and tax 

 revenue, both of which our north state economy can ill 

 afford. 



