Background

The Trustee-RP technical working group reached agreements that imply that protection of 12-14 nest equivalents would compensate for the estimated mortality of 135 Marbled Murrelets (MaMus) associated with the Stuyvesant spill. The protection of nests is likely to increase the population relative to the population if habitat is lost.

As a proposed restoration action, the RP and its representatives have investigated the characteristics of the Green Diamond (formerly Simpson) property known as the Miracle Mile Marbled Murrelet Complex (Miracle Mile) using stand data provided by Green Diamond. Using the same basic REA (resource equivalency analysis) approach and population model assumptions as described in the draft DARP, combined with optimistic, but reasonable assumptions on nest densities in the different stand types, the RP has calculated that protection of the Miracle Mile complex in perpetuity would result in protection of sufficient nests to fully compensate for the MaMu injuries.

Miracle Mile Stand Types

The Miracle Mile complex proposed for preservation totals 624.5 acres. It has been partitioned by Green Diamond into 40 distinct forest stands. Based on stand type data, 135.3 acres are un-entered old growth redwood, of which 17.1 acres are site index 1 and 118.2 acres are site 2 index stands. The 118.2 acres of site 2 old growth are similar to the to the 24 acres of unentered stands in Grizzly Creek. There are 25.5 acres of residual stands, with at least four residual old growth trees per acre. The remainder of the land, 463.7 acres, is second growth forest. This second growth, which provides buffer area for the old growth stands, ranges from 9 to 40 years old, with an average age of 21 years. Acreage by forest stand type is summarized below.

Stand Types in Miracle Mile		Acres
Un-Entered Old Growth		135.3
Residual		25.5
Second Growth	Age Class
	9-15	49.9
	15-19	215.6
	20-30	181.2
	30-40	16.9
	Total Second Growth	463.7

The RP believes that application of the Grizzly Creek scaling approach to Miracle Mile results in a conservative estimate of nest credit, since parameters have not been modified to reflect the higher quality habitat in Miracle Mile relative to Grizzly Creek. Miracle Mile has more extensive stands of old growth than Grizzly Creek, and MaMu are thought to prefer larger contiguous old growth forest stands. One stand of old growth in Miracle Mile is approximately 67 acres in extent. This is surrounded by 25.5 acres of residual forest, which connects the 67 acres old growth to another old growth stand of 26 acres. Hence, Miracle Mile contains a single block of old growth and residual forest of approximately 119 acres. This is much larger than the MaMu stands in Grizzly Creek. In addition, Miracle Mile is better located from an energetic perspective. Miracle Mile is closer to the coast, requiring less energy expenditure by MaMu, and if MaMu use tributaries as flyways inland, Miracle Mile is more accessible to MaMu. Miracle Mile is also located adjacent to greater on-water MaMu densities than Grizzly Creek. And finally, Miracle Mile does not have the human disturbance associated with campgrounds that Grizzly Creek has.

In addition to preservation of the old growth, residual old growth, and second growth stands, the RP proposes for this restoration option that the second growth stands in the Miracle Mile complex be actively managed by a non-profit conservation group, fully endowed in advance with an amount acceptable to it, to promote development of MaMu habitat. These management techniques have been shown to promote late seral characteristics benefiting Mamu nesting. This proposal is consistent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife species recovery.

Finally Miracle Mile is at risk. Grizzly Creek is not.

For all of these reasons, the RP feels that the MaMu debit and the public will be well served by protecting the Miracle Mile complex