Rare species delay

Suttle Lake project

Six rare and obscure flora and fauna species may be present at Suttle Lake Resort and until Forest Service biologists can survey the area, the resort's pending redevelopment project remains on hold.

Earlier this spring, Suttle Lake Resort owners unveiled a proposal to expand the existing facilities to include cabins and a new lodge and entrance road. Public response to the proposed master plan prompted the resort to scale back its proposal and a revised plan was released in September.

The Forest Service requires an environmental analysis (EA) of the resort site before the project can proceed. But a separate, regional EA addressing the status of 32 species listed in the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) must be signed before projects can proceed.

That could take awhile, since experts aren't sure yet how to survey for some of the species.

However, resort developers are taking the delay in stride.

Suttle Lake Resort Manager Larry Solie says the delay will not likely affect the project's master plan.

"Obviously there's an effect," Solie said. "But we're pretty flexible. We've been in the park for seven years and a few more months aren't going to make that much difference. We'll make something work in the interim."

Sisters Ranger District Ecologist Maret Pajutee explained the parameters of the Northwest Forest Plan.

"The Northwest Forest Plan was developed to help bring some resolution to the spotted owl issue," Pajutee said. "It applies to areas within the range of the northern spotted owl."

According to Pajutee, the "owl line" runs north-south through Green Ridge and includes the western half of the Sisters Ranger District. The spotted owl has become an icon representing the NWFP, but Pajutee notes that there are other species addressed in the plan.

"The owl is just one of the species that is an indicator of old growth," she said. "There are literally millions of species, including mollusks, mosses, mushrooms, liverworts and some vascular plants that are just as dependent (on old growth) as the spotted owl."

Pajutee calls these lesser-known species "non-charismatic microflora and fauna."

"It's hard (for people) to get excited about mushrooms and mosses," she said. "But these non-charismatic species are probably more important to the ecosystem (than the owl). If the bottom of food chain isn't there the top never happens."

To formally address the status of these other species, the Forest Service created a new category of plants and animals called "survey and manage" species.

"These are all species that have a strong connection to old growth," Pajutee said. "Because old growth is rare, they are rare."

Based on their habitat descriptions, she said, six such species may exist in or around the Suttle Lake Resort project area. These include a snail, a slug, a lichen, two mosses and one fungus.

A second class of species called "protection buffer species" may also be present in the Suttle Lake area, according to Pajutee. However, the absence of established survey protocols and the scarcity of experts in these specialized fields are stalling the discovery process.

"These surveys are very, very difficult," Pajutee said. "One species is a liverwort the size of a mosquito that grows in moss mats. It's not remarkable looking, but an expert can find it by looking for the fruiting bodies."

Liverworts are a lower form of non-vascular plant.

Four of the six "survey and manage" species already have established protocols. The Crater Lake tightcoil snail and blue-gray tail-dropper slug both require two surveys, at least one of which has to be done in the fall when the ground is free of snow.

A very rare lichen known only as Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis grows on conifers and can be searched for all year.

"The likelihood of it occurring at Suttle Lake is very remote," Pajutee said. "However, by our legal requirements we have to do (the survey)."

The giant-spored tree moss lives on alder, maple, Douglas fir and the ocean spray shrub, all of which exist at Suttle Lake.

Posing some taxonomic identification challenges are the green bug moss, which grows on rotten stumps in shaded, damp forests, and a fungus known as Polyozellus multiplex, which is associated with the roots of fir trees in mature, mid-elevation forests.

"These are two species we really don't know how to survey for yet," Pajutee explained. "They are really difficult to identify and microscopic identifications need to be done."

The NWFP was issued in 1994 and became effective with the start of the Forest Service's 1999 fiscal year, which began October 1, 1998. Without survey protocols in-hand, local forest managers are unable to implement the directions of the plan.

The Pacific Northwest region of the Forest Service has produced its own environmental analysis requesting a delay in the implementation of the NWFP until it can complete surveys for the "survey and manage" species in question.

"Until a decision is reached about this EA, no projects can be implemented in the range of those species," explained Pajutee.

"There are a lot of unknowns," said Sisters Ranger District Lands Forester Jeff Sims. "A regional EA on these species has to be signed before (the Suttle Lake EA) can be signed. This may be delayed until later in the summer.

"If the resort wishes, we can proceed, since they're paying for this EA," Sims explained. "It can be written and sent out for review, but we can't sign it and they can't start building (until the regional EA is signed)."

"It's throwing our time frame off a little bit," Solie said. "Until the facts are firmed up it's difficult to see what direction we want to go. Through the winter, no

construction could be

accomplished anyway."