FWS R1 OFWO Draft Barred Owl Management Strategy General Management Areas

<p><span style='font-size:18px;'>General Management Areas (GMAs) represent the primary focus of barred owl management across most physiographic provinces identified in the Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan (</span><a target='_blank' href='https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/NSO_RevisedRP_2011.pdf' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'><span style='font-size:18px;'>USFWS 2011</span></a><span style='font-size:18px;'>). These areas were delineated using landscape-scale GIS data and ecological considerations, including spotted owl site density, habitat quality, barred owl density, connectivity, and risk of catastrophic events such as wildfire.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style='font-size:18px;'>GMAs are generally large enough to support 200–300 spotted owl sites, based on home range sizes and overlap assumptions, though actual size varies by province due to topography and habitat conditions. GMAs may include small portions of adjacent provinces for logistical reasons and exclude towns and heavily populated areas where barred owl removal would not occur. Tribal lands were included only upon request by Tribes (e.g., Hoopa Valley, Yurok, Yakama Nation).&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style='font-size:18px;'>Within GMAs, barred owl management will occur only on lands of willing landowners or managers and will avoid areas within 0.25 miles of occupied dwellings, campgrounds, and other locations with regular human use. At any one time, barred owl management within a province is limited to a maximum of 50% of the combined GMA area to maintain redundancy and reduce risk from catastrophic events. GMAs provide the framework for creating smaller FMAs during implementation, and their boundaries may shift over time in response to habitat changes or catastrophic events.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style='font-size:18px;'>This dataset shows the mapped GMAs developed by the interagency, intergovernmental team to guide implementation of the Draft Barred Owl Management Strategy.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style='font-size:18px;'>Please see the&nbsp;</span><a target='_blank' href='https://www.fws.gov/media/draft-barred-owl-management-strategy' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'><span style='font-size:18px;'>Strategy</span></a><span style='font-size:18px;'>&nbsp;for additional details and&nbsp;</span><a target='_blank' href='https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/178520' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'><span style='font-size:18px;'>https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/178520</span></a><span style='font-size:18px;'>&nbsp;for a downloadable dataset.</span></p>