Cow Catcher Timber Sale Environmental Assessment (EA # OR ) South River Field Office, Roseburg District Prepared: August 25, 2003

Transcription

1 Cow Catche Tie ale Envionental Assessent (EA # OR ) outh Rive Field Office, Roseug Distict Pepaed: August 25, 2003 Decision Docuentation Decision: It is y decision to offe the Cow Catche Tie ale, ipleenting Altenative 2 of the Cow Catche Tie ale EA (pp. 3-5). The sale will contiute 4,678 MBF of tie, equivalent to 7,482 CCF, towad the annual allowale sale quantity (AQ) fo the Roseug Distict. The sale consists of five units located in T. 31., R. 6 W., ections 5, 7, 9 and 17, W.M. These units total 146 aces, with 65 aces allocated to the Geneal Foest Manageent Aea and 81 aces to Connectivity/Divesity Block. Appoxiately 12 aces of Unit 1, identified as Unit A in the EA and on the attached ap, is availale fo havest with tacto o othe gound-ased logging systes. Opeations will e esticted to the dy season, etween May 15 and Octoe 1. The eainde of the sale will e cale-yaded with systes capale of aintaining a iniu of one-end log suspension. Cale havest on Unit 1 is also esticted to the peiod fo May 15 to Octoe 1. The eaining fou units ae accessed y peanent o sei-peanent all-weathe oads and ae availale fo havest in any season. pu oad constuction will total 312 feet. An old jeep oad, identified as Road o on the attached ap, will e enovated in Unit 1. These oads will e decoissioned and locked to vehicula use upon copletion of tie havest, site pepaation and efoestation. Appoxiately 5.6 iles of peanent oads will e enovated which will include installation of additional cossdains, soe esufacing, and eshaping of oad cowns and ditches. Appoxiately 0.55 iles of BLM Road o will e paved fo the end of Douglas County Highway 93 to a point aove whee the oad cosses ove Council Ceek. This segent is located iediately adjacent to the ceek and paving will eliinate it as a souce of sedient. All oad constuction and yading equipent will e pessue washed o stea cleaned pio to eing oved into the poject aea, to eove any vegetative ateial o soil that ay e containated with weed seeds. This is intended to iniize, if not eliinate, the isk of tanspoting new weed species into the poject aea. Though no Pot-Ofod-ceda is pesent in the poject aea, equipent washing will educe the likelihood that Pot-Ofod-ceda oot disease ay e intoduced into the poject aea and tansitted to adjacent aeas whee Pot- Ofod-ceda ay e pesent.

2 A single ountain lady-slippe was located and is eing potected y eoval of the aea fo Unit 1, in conjunction with a Ripaian Reseve and Del ote salaande site descied elow. A Del ote salaande site was located in Unit A (Unit 1) alongside a jeep oad in ites located pio to eptee 30, 1999, ae to e potected to aintain long-te species pesistence. The site was eoved fo the unit in conjunction with a Ripaian Reseve. The jeep oad will e locked to taffic to potect the site fo distuance. A patial ed tee vole suvey was conducted in Januay, 2000, which identified a single active nest tee in Unit A (Unit 1). On May 1, 2003, an attept was ade to veify the continued existence of the site. o evidence of a nest o othe indications of occupancy wee pesent. As a consequence, it does not constitute a known site and will not e anaged. Resin ducts and ed tee vole nest eains and deis wee suitted to this office etween August 8 th and 14 th, y epesentatives of Upqua Watesheds, oe than thee weeks afte the close of the 30-day pulic coent peiod. These ateials wee epotedly collected in units of the Cow Catche tie sale y individuals affiliated with anothe oganization, whose suvey ethodology and qualifications ae unknown. The ateials suitted y Upqua Watesheds do not constitute new infoation. In the EA (p. 10), it is acknowledged that ed tee voles utilize foest stands in the poject aea. It is also noted that the equieent fo pe-distuance suveys in the cental potion of the ed tee vole s distiution ange was eoved following the 2001 Annual pecies Review which was povided fo in the Recod of Decision and tandads and Guidelines fo Aendents to the uvey and Manage, Potection Bufe, and othe Mitigation Measues tandads and Guidelines in Foest evice and Bueau of Land Manageent Planning Docuents Within the Range of the othen potted Owl, Januay, The cental potion of the ange includes the Roseug Distict, and ased on the ange of haitat types in which voles have een found, the aount of availale haitat and the nue of vole sites that have een identified, the species is consideed faily coon and thee is no concen fo its pesistence within the outh Rive Resouce Aea. Rationale fo the Decision: The Roseug Distict Recod of Decision and Resouce Manageent Plan (ROD/RMP) estalished an ojective fo an annual allowale sale quantity of 45 illion oad feet to e havested fo those lands allocated as Matix, consisting of Geneal Foest Manageent Aea and Connectivity/Divesity Blocks (ROD/RMP, p. 60). It was assued that an aveage of 1,190 aces of Distict lands would e egeneation havested annually ove the fist decade of the plan. The ipleentation of Altenative 2 is consistent with these assuptions and ojectives and would eet the pupose and need identified in the Cow Catche Tie ale EA (pp. 1-2), wheeas Altenative 1 would not. Coents on the Cow Catche Tie ale EA wee eceived fo fou oganizations and seven individuals, expessing oth suppot and opposition fo the poposed tie sale. one of the coents identified issues o concens which wee not aleady consideed and addessed in 2

3 the EA, o which constituted new infoation that would alte the conclusions of the analysis. oe coents eflect incoect assuptions and ae addessed as follows. The Cow Ceek poject is inadequate to potect Pot Ofod Ceda (POC) fo Phytophthoa latealis (oot ot). As peviously noted in this Decision Docuent, thee is no Pot-Ofod-ceda in the poject aea. I a opposed to a anaged stand that will e logged evey 60 yeas. The stands authoized fo havest ae not eing anaged on a 60-yea otation. Dependent on site class, foest stands in the Geneal Foest Manageent Aea ae anaged on a otation of etween 90 and 110 yeas while stands allocated to Connectivity/Divesity Blocks ae anaged on a 150-yea otation. The EA does not adequately disclose ipacts of new logging oads and landings on this key wateshed. The aea in which the sale is located is not designated as a Key Wateshed. The neaest aea designated as such is to the south in the Middle Ceek 6 th -field suwateshed. Thee is no new peanent oad constuction associated with the tie sale, and oad density on BLM-anaged lands will actually e educed y planned oad decoissioning. The sale will eove 146 aces of suitale nesting, oosting and foaging haitat fo the nothen spotted owl. ixty aces ae located in designated Citical Haitat Unit OR-63. The BLM ade a deteination that the tie sale is Likely to Advesely Affect fo haitat loss. Thee ae no known nest sites within ¼-ile of any unit and the poject will have o Effect fo distuance. The action was deteined not an advese affect on citical haitat ecause adjacent Late- uccessional Reseves and Ripaian Reseves will continue to fulfill the designated iological function of this CHU (FEI, Vol. II, Appendix G, Biological Opinion, pp ). The BLM eceived concuence on these deteinations fo the U.. Fish and Wildlife evice in the Biological Opinion fo fiscal yea Tie ale Poga and othe Pojects Affecting Listed pecies (Ref: F-206), dated June 28, Delisting of the Upqua Rive cutthoat tout, eoval of designated citical haitat fo the Oegon Coast coho salon, designation of Essential Fish Haitat pusuant to the Magnuson- tevens Act, and new infoation on fish distiution in the poject dainages waanted a new analysis of the effects of the poposed tie sale on fish and aquatic haitat. This analysis also assessed effects of tie havest at the poject scale, athe than just the wateshed scale. As pevious consultation was neve concluded, a new iological assessent was copleted and suitted to OAA-Fisheies fo consultation. The BLM deteined that the action was not likely to advesely affect the Oegon Coast coho salon and Oegon Coast steelhead tout, and would have no advese affect on Essential Fish Haitat. The deteination was ased upon the potection of aquatic haitat, y Ripaian 3

4 Reseves, fo any diect o indiect effects associated with tie havest, and negligile shotte effects associated with oad enovation and ipoveents that will esult in long-te eductions in sedient within the poject dainages. In a lette dated July 11, 2003, OAA- Fisheies concued with these findings. Monitoing: Monitoing will e done in accodance with the ROD/RMP, Appendix I (pp. 84, 190, 193, and ). Effectiveness and validation onitoing will e conducted with specific egads to: Ripaian Reseves, Matix, Wate and oils, Wildlife Haitat, and pecial tatus and pecial Attention pecies Haitat. Potest Pocedues: As outlined in 43 CFR Adinistative Reedies unde (a) and (), potests ay e ade within 15 days of the August 26, 2003, pulication date of the fist notice of sale in The ews-review, Roseug, Oegon. Potests shall e filed with the authoized office and contain a witten stateent of easons fo potesting the decision. E. Dwight Fielde Date Field Manage outh Rive Field Office 4

5 Regeneation Havest RIDDLE Appox. 3 Miles $T COW CREEK 32 39A 33 Pivate 93 A Pivate CREEK COUCIL RRC RRC B Roseug Resouces Co. (RRC) 8.1 E 9 C RRC F C&D Lue 18 County Highway W E Haul Route T31, R6W Miles eliaility, o copleteness of this data fo individual o aggegate use with othe data. 16 BLM (PD) Land BLM (O&C) Land Pivate Land

6 Regeneation Havest A %[ %[ RA E W E Feet T31, R6W eliaility, o copleteness of this data fo individual o aggegate use with othe data. BLM (O&C) Land tea Pivate Land %[ Constuct Roadlock Renovate, Rock Renovate, Decoission 100' Contou 20' Contou

7 Regeneation Havest B 7 pu pu C W E Feet T31, R6W eliaility, o copleteness of this data fo individual o aggegate use with othe data. BLM (O&C) Land tea Pivate Land Constuct, Decoission 100' Contou 20' Contou

8 Regeneation Havest E pu F1 F W E Feet T31, R6W eliaility, o copleteness of this data fo individual o aggegate use with othe data. BLM (O&C) Land tea Pivate Land Renovate, Rock 100' Contou 20' Contou

9 Regeneation Havest F1 F F3 Tuck Tun-aound W E Feet Renovate, Rock 100' Contou 20' Contou T31, R6W eliaility, o copleteness of this data fo individual o aggegate use with othe data. BLM (O&C) Land tea Pivate Land