• Contrary to popular belief the California Spotted Owl is not listed as threatened or endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. (more)
   
• The Forest Service has identified the California Spotted Owl as a sensitive species. The Forest Service defines "sensitive species" as those plants and animals for which population viability is a concern (FSM 2670.5), as evidenced by:
          a.  Significant current or predicted downward trends in population
                    numbers or density.
          b.  Significant current or predicted downward trends in habitat capability
                    that would reduce a species' existing distribution.

• California Spotted Owl Technical Report (Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-133. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 285 p.) (more)
• Dr. Jared Verner Review of "A Preliminary Report on the Status of the California Spotted Owl in the Sierra Nevada"; USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Fresno, California; 7 July 1999 (more)
• US Fish & Wildlife Service Finding (07/12/00) (more)
• US Fish & Wildlife Service Finding (05/15/06) (more)
• US Fish & Wildlife Service Notice (pdf) in Federal Register (06/21/05) (more)
• Population Dynamics of the California Spotted Owl: A Meta-Analysis (04/18/03) (more)
• Plumas-Lassen Administrative Study Reports (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) (more)

An Overview of Fire in the Sierra Nevada, McKelvey et al.  Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress, vol. II, Assessments and scientific basis for management options: Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, 1996.  (report)