State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan

Final habitat conservation plan 1997

Our state trust land Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) guides management of approximately 1.8 million acres of forested state trust lands within the range of the northern spotted owl. This HCP is a partnership between the National Marine Fisheries Service–now known as NOAA Fisheries Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and DNR.

In general, the plan guides DNR’s management of forested state trust lands west of the crest of the Cascade Mountains and those on the eastern slopes of the Cascades, from the Canadian border to the Columbia River. To manage these areas more efficiently and effectively, HCP lands have been broken into nine planning units based primarily on large watersheds. The HCP enables us to comply with Endangered Species Act requirements by providing conservation objectives and strategies that provide habitat for listed and unlisted species while providing greater certainty, flexibility, and stability in meeting our trust responsibilities–generating revenue for trust beneficiaries through activities such as harvesting timber and other forest products.

The trust lands HCP “merged” Final Environmental Impact Statement (Merged Final EIS) combines the Draft EIS and the Final EIS. This enables readers to identify where and why changes were made to the Draft—in response to public comment and new information—to create the Final. The Merged Final EIS summarizes the comments received, by topic area, and details how DNR responded to them in making changes to the document.

For those with high-speed connections, the following files are offered.

State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan 1997