Northern Spotted Owl Interagency Working Group (NSOIWG)

The Northern Spotted Owl Interagency Working Group (NSOIWG) was officially established in 2016.The group first met as a response to public concerns related to Northern Spotted Owl on private timberland. Staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) are members of the group and meet regularly throughout the year. The goal of the NSOIWG is to promote recovery of the Northern Spotted Owl in California by facilitating interagency understanding and communications.

Meeting topics include

• the Spotted Owl Observations Database
• agency roles
• post-fire issues
• training needs
• current science
• management and regulatory challenges
• outreach

For further background see the NSOIWG Purpose Statement (PDF) and the NSOIWG Update at the 2018 Stakeholder Forum meeting (PDF).

Survey Protocol

The US Fish and Wildlife Service created a consistent survey protocol for Northern Spotted Owls in 1992, revised in 2012. This survey protocol provides a scientifically vetted method for locating owls prior to management activities.

• Protocol for Surveying Proposed Management Activities that May Impact Northern Spotted Owls (PDF) (US Fish Wildlife Service, 2012)