Sierra Nevada Framework Management Indicator Species
Appendix E of the 2001 Sierra Nevada Framework required that the Forest Service develop a monitoring program for a wide variety of essential and important wildlife species within the National Forests of the Sierra Nevada. This important list of Management Indicator Species (MIS) within Appendix E survived the Bush Administration's dismantling of the 2001 Sierra Nevada Framework and was carried over into the Framework revisions of 2004. These existing monitoring requirements for MIS and related species are an essential part of land management plans and provide a valuable safety net to reduce the likelihood of plan implementation having significant adverse environmental impacts on the habitats of these wildlife species.
There are currently 52 species on the MIS list for the Sierra Nevada. Some of these species, such as the Bald eagle, Mule deer and Northern goshawk, are on the lists for all ten Sierra Nevada National Forests. While others, such as the Wolverine, and California condor only appear on the list for one national forest in the Sierra Nevada.
The Forest Service is currently attempting to minimize their forest monitoring requirements by altering the MIS lists that are tracked across all Sierra Nevada National Forests. The 2001 and 2004 Framework requires the Forest Service monitor effects that Forest Service projects have on the long-term viability of these species and the long-term health of the habitats that they depend upon for survival, yet the Forest Service has decided to streamline this process and reduce their monitoring efforts on these species and reduce the number of species monitored.
Sierra Forest Legacy is deeply concerned that the revision of existing monitoring requirements will have significant environmental consequences and will weaken existing protection for species and the biological diversity of the Sierra Nevada. It is important to note that the needs of forest health, ecosystem integrity, and species survival, are not regarded as a primary purpose of this proposed amendment to the monitoring program. The Forest Service has sadly decided to amend this highly promising monitoring program without ever having put forth a serious effort to enact and implement it. If the Forest Service had diligently acted upon the monitoring requirements from both the original 2001 Framework, and the 2004 revisions, there would be monitoring data available analyzing the impacts of Forest Service management on species of importance and the habitats they depend upon.
Species currently on the MIS list for Sierra Nevada Forests
American marten
Bald eagle
Band-tailed pigeon
Bighorn sheep, Nelson
Bighorn sheep, California
Bighorn sheep, Sierra Nevada
Black bear
Blue grouse
Brook trout
Brown trout
Bufflehead
Canada goose
Chinook salmon, Central Valley spring run
Cutthroat trout, Lahontan
Cutthroat trout, Paiute
California condor
Tule elk
Golden eagle
Goose Lake Redband trout
Great grey owl
Hairy woodpecker
Largemouth bass
Little Kern Golden trout
Lost River Sucker
Mallard
Modoc Sucker
Mountain quail
Mule deer
Northern goshawk
Osprey
Pacific fisher
Peregrine falcon
Pileated woodpecker
Prairie falcon
Pronghorn
Rainbow trout
Red-breasted sapsucker
Red-naped sapsucker
Sage grouse
Greater sandhill crane
Shortnose sucker
Sierra Nevada Red fox
Spotted owl, California
Spotted owl, Northern
Steelhead trout, Central Valley winter run
Swainson’s hawk
Western grey squirrel
Wild turkey
Williamson sapsucker
Willow flycatcher
Wolverine
Yellow warbler