I think that you have been given bad information regarding thinning your forestland. Yes, threatened and endangered species habitat has some legal restrictions on management and logging of large trees, but I’ve never seen a T&E species recovery plan that doesn’t have provisions for hazardous fuels thinning. I know you can do that in California spotted owl habitat because we do this on National Forest lands in CA, under consultation with US Fish and Wildlife Service. I recommend talking to someone with your state forestry department or a consulting forester.