Description: Special habitat areas are designed to increase marbled murrelet productivity by reducing edge and fragmentation. In general, special habitat areas rely on the exclusion of active forest management to achieve a goal of reducing edge and fragmentation and growing new habitat over the long term. Special habitat areas are designed to increase interior forest around occupied sites in specific geographic areas to benefit the species. Special habitat areas that include occupied site(s) also contain surrounding marbled murrelet habitat, modeled future murrelet habitat, and non-habitat that may function as security forest. Special habitat areas that do not contain occupied sites contain high-quality current and modeled future murrelet habitat and non-habitat that may function as security forest.
Description: A habitat classification system used in the development of the MM LTCS. Assigns a numeric value to forest stands based on the probability of their use by marbled murrelets for nesting.
Description: DNR-managed lands on which DNR maintains and grows forest cover for conservation purposes, including habitat conservation for the marbled murrelet, through the life of the 1997 HCP. Areas of long-term forest cover have existing conservation commitments under the 1997 HCP, Policy for Sustainable Forests, Natural Heritage Program, forest practices rules, and the OESF Forest Land Plan, and/or are identified as marbled murrelet conservation areas.