A recent historical perspective
The northern spotted owl issue in the Pacific Northwest showed us how great a legal power the ESA could have over natural resource extraction. During the latter part of the spotted owl issue, Crocker-Bedford (1990) published a paper on goshawk reproduction and forest management, and cited a "correlation between excessive timber harvest and loss of goshawk breeding territories." Petitions to list the bird followed, including not only concerns for the "continued existence of a species, but a desire to stop logging in old-growth forest: not just the mesic forest of Douglas-fir, butthe more widespread drier forest of Ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and mixed conifers of the interior West."

Goshawks and Old-Growth Forest
Most studies have focused on nesting habitat, partly because of the importance of breeding biology to the ecology and management of goshawks, but also it was difficult to approach research on this elusive species in any other way. When you examine these studies as a group, a pattern emerges: goshawk s regardless of region or forest type, tend to select stands with large trees and relatively high canopy closure.

The author believes "it was a combination of our recent experience with northern spotted owls and the pattern of goshawks nesting in forest stands with old-growth characteristics that led many to believe that the goshawk was on "old-growth" species. However, Reyonlds (1992) described what might be optimal goshawk habit in the southwestern US: it included not only a large percentage of the landscape in older forest, but also a mix of stand types and ages that provides for a variety of prey". These guidelines even incorporated timber harvest as a mechanism to achieve the desired mix and distribution of forest structural stages. Other data also supports this (Ripple et al. 1991, Siders and Kennedy 1996, McGrath 1997).

The data we have
The author agrees with Kennedy (1997) in that "demographic information, as difficult as it is to collect, is vital to understanding population dynamics" and the "available demographic data on any species considered for listing must first be assessed."

"Goshawks can be found in a variety of cover types throughout the West and in that sense can be viewed as forest generalists"although they do "nest in stands with large trees and high canopy closure." "Older forests may also be important in the postfledgling family area (PFA) (e.g., Kennedy et al. 1994)."

"Goshawks hunt in older forests and may even prefer it if it is available.but they also hunt in a variety of vegetative cover." Some of the most important prey for goshawks are snowshoe hares and ruffed grouse, which inhabit early successional forest habitats.

The data we need

Demography
"Demographic data are vital, but studies must be properly designed and be long-term or the results are difficult, if not impossible, to interpret."
"The US Forest Service and other federal agencies must commit to studies that run greater than 10 years as the answers we need cannot be determined in two to three years."
"Listing decisions based on migratory counts of goshawks would be problematic, given the importance of cyclic prey and the capability of goshawks for long-range movements in response to declining prey."

Habitat
"With the exception of A. g. laingi in southeast Alaska, and A. g. apache in the Southwest, another study on nesting habitat of goshawks in the West may not be necessary."
Much remains to be known, however, of "how juvenile goshawks use habitat within PFAs and how adults use habit to forage. Also, very few habit studies have been conducted in winter."
"Documenting the distribution of all forest structural stages, including mature old growth forest, across the west would be an important step in a status review process." However, "future decisions on the status of goshawks ought not to be made based on the availability of old-growth forest alone. Concurrent data on demography and distribution of goshawks is also needed."

Prey
Encourages a "multi-species approach, which depends on predators, prey, and competitorsand moves us away from single-species management and more toward community and ecosystem approaches."

Discussion and Conclusions
"There is little doubt that we have destroyed, fragmented, and otherwise altered old-growth forest in North America. In frustration to conserve remnant patches of old-growththe strongest tools will be the ones most used. One such tool is the ESA. In the case of the northern spotted owlthis approach was prudent and necessary". "However, before we take this action for the goshawk and list it as Threatened or Endangered, we need to ask if it is in the best interest of the species and the ESA itself."
He advocates a "reasoned (stance) that considers our credibility as scientists and a judicious use of the ESA." He is definitely concerned about the status of the goshawk in North America, and the loss of our old-growth forest, but he does not believe listing the goshawk in order to protect it's old-growth forest habitat is a good idea. His position rests on the findings that goshawks use a wide variety of structural stages; they significantly prey on some early successional stage forest species; there is an overwhelming pressure to list many species in the US that taxes our limited resources; and his concern that we invoke the ESA judiciously.

Recommendations
"1) Provide funding and support to maintain current research similar to that on the Kaibab Plateau, and perhaps two or three additional and coordinated studies in other regions; 2) continue coordinated effort to identify and map areas of remaining older forest in the West; 3) support the testing and evaluation of empirical habitat models that have been developed in the Southwest (Reynolds et al. 1992); 4) conduct on-site experiments to measure goshawk responses to silvicultural treatments; and 5) defer listing the goshawk under the ESA in favor of a coordinated scientific effort to assess habit components, monitor populations, and estimate models and silvicultural treatment experiments (see Marzluff and Salabanks 1998). Federal and state land management agencies as well as the timber industry should be involved in this process.Resource agencies need to make firm commitments now to avoid listing the goshawk later."

"if we were to base our plans for the conservation and management of old-growth forest solely on the goshawk, we might not like what we get. It is true that mature forest is important around nest sties and as a component of foraging habitat, but ideal goshawk habit may include a sizable portion of the landscape in early seral stage forest to encourage high populations of important prey such as lagomorphs (snowshoe hares) and ruffed grouse. The distribution of seral stages that may be good for goshawks, however, may actually include less old-growth than some other species require (possibly Pileated woodpecker and American marten)."

Summary
This paper reviews recent events that helped shape the debase over Endangered Species management, summarizes available data on goshawk ecology, and give suggestions for additional data that could or should be collected, and deals with questions on how professional biologists, environmental groups, and society in general invoke and use the ESA. The author states that a combination of our recent experience with northern spotted owls and the pattern of goshawks nesting in old-growth stands led us to believe the goshawk was an "old-growth species." States that it is very important to note that the goshawk actually uses a variety of cover types throughout the West, and can even be viewed as forest generalists. He believes that listing the goshawk right now in order to save our old-growth forest is a poor idea due to several factors: 1) goshawks use a wide variety of vegetative structural stages, 2) a significant amount of their prey (snowshoe hare and ruffed grouse) rely on early successional stages of forest, 3) he wants to see the ESA invoked judiciously, especially in light of the overwhelming number of other species in need of listing, which are in even more danger than the goshawk, and 4) he wants to maintain the credibility of scientists involved in studying endangered species. In conclusion, "if we base our plans for the conservation and management of old-growth solely on the goshawk, we may not like what we get."