PORTLAND, Ore. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued an Endangered Species Act incidental take permit to the Oregon Department of State Lands for its Elliott State Research Forest Habitat Conservation Plan. The permit covers incidental take of the threatened marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl associated with implementing the HCP over 80 years.
The state voluntarily created the HCP to promote innovative forest research and timber production while ensuring the conservation of listed species and their habitats in the Elliott State Research Forest, located in Coos and Douglas counties. The incidental take permit provides consistency and management certainty for the landowner and the public while facilitating extended studies essential to understanding working forests.
The Service worked closely with Oregon Department of State Lands, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service toward the shared goal of an operational and public research forest for conservation of at-risk species and timber management. The HCP is intended to be financially self-sufficient, using revenue generated from the sale of harvested forest products consistent with the plan’s research framework and conservation measures.
Habitat conservation plans are among the many tools under the Endangered Species Act that promote strong partnerships with non-federal landowners. These voluntary plans accommodate economic development by providing long-term regulatory certainty and authorizing the limited and unintentional take of listed species when it occurs incidental to otherwise lawful activities.
Public comment on the HCP was received during a scoping period in 2022 and on a 2023 draft environmental impact statement. A link to the Record of Decision is available on the Service’s Elliott State Research Forest HCP webpage and will publish on May 29, 2025 on under docket FWS–R1–ES�2022�0029.
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