(1) The department shall participate in recovery efforts of threatened and endangered plant and animal species. The department shall confer in its sole discretion with the United States fish and wildlife service (USFWS) to develop habitat mitigation measures.

(a) Measures may differ from federal management guidelines because the department plays a subsidiary role to federal agencies in species recovery.  In all cases, measures to support recovery must be consistent with department responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act and Trust Law.  The department shall work with the USFWS to amend such measures when, in the judgment of the forest management bureau chief, they are inconsistent with trust management obligations.

(b) Measures to support species recovery shall be periodically updated to implement new biological information and legal interpretations as warranted.

(2) The department shall, in its sole discretion, participate on interagency working groups established to develop guidelines and implement recovery plans for threatened and endangered species.

(a) If additional plant or animal species with habitat on state trust lands are federally listed as threatened or endangered, the department shall, in its sole discretion, participate in working groups for those species.

(b) The department shall, in its sole discretion, also participate in interagency groups formed to oversee management of recently de-listed species.

(3) The department staff shall report sightings of threatened and endangered species, except bald eagles, to respective working groups or an appropriate data repository.

(a) For bald eagles, only new nest locations shall be reported.