Boise Ridge Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) Project

Transcription

1 Boise Ridge Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) Project Introduction In 2003, the Forest issued a revised Boise National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) (USDA 2003). On July 1, 2010, Boise National Forest Supervisor Cecilia R. Seesholtz issued an amendment to the 2003 Forest Plan to integrate a Wildlife Conservation Strategy (WCS) for the Forested Biological Community. This Forest Plan WCS complements the Idaho Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (Idaho CWCS) (IDFG 2005) by building on the broad-scale conservation needs identified in the Idaho CWCS for the Forest area. The Idaho CWCS provides a framework for conservation partners to jointly implement a long term approach to habitat restoration and conservation that will benefit species of greatest conservation need (IDFG 2005). Conservation partners include state, Federal and tribal agencies, local governments, conservation organizations, universities, industry, and private landowners (IDFG 2005). The analysis supporting the 2010 forest plan amendment found that, in comparison to historic conditions (i.e. prior to European settlement), habitats for some wildlife species have declined substantially. Other broad-scale assessments reached similar conclusions (ICBEMP 2000; NWPPC 2004; IDFG 2005; Mehl and Haufler 2004). Thus, there are concerns about conservation of species which are dependent upon these habitats. The underlying philosophy of the WCS is that restoration of habitats toward their historic conditions and emulation of natural disturbance processes would contribute to species conservation (Haufler et al 1996; Hunter et al 1988; Noss 1987; Raphael et al 2000; McComb and Duncan 2007; Wisdom et al 2000). The 2010 Forest Plan amendment added a comprehensive and diverse set of management direction for vegetative and wildlife habitat conservation and restoration. This included establishing forest-wide desired conditions that are within the historical range of variability. In addition, a new guideline (WIGU15) was added that emphasizes use of certain conservation principles to identify treatment priorities, design restoration treatments, and help understand the effects of proposed activities on vegetative and wildlife habitat diversity (2010 Forest Plan, Chapter 3 and Appendix E). The 2010 Forest Plan strategy assumes that restoration of vegetative conditions toward the historical range of variability (HRV) will provide more resilient, resistant, and representative forests. The vegetative and habitat diversity expected to result will support native vegetation and wildlife habitat diversity, reduce hazardous fuel conditions within low to mid-elevation ponderosa pine forests, and provide for a sustainable supply of goods and services from NFS lands within the administrative boundary of the Boise National Forest. Project Location The project area encompasses approximately 1,240 acres of National Forest System (NFS) Land on the Mountain Home Ranger District (RD) of the Boise National Forest (NF). The project is located about eleven miles northeast of Boise, Idaho in Boise County within the Shafer Creek sub-watershed. Bogus Basin Mountain Resort is located immediately adjacent to the project area (Figure 1), and the project area encompasses the western portion of the Resort s recreational permit area. This project is located in Management Area (MA) 4, Boise Front/Bogus Basin, as defined by the Forest Plan (2010). 1

2 Boise Ridge TSI Project 16 Legend Idaho Power Poweline Intermittent Stream Perenial Stream NFS Trails BNF_Major_roads RCA (FP Option 2) NFS Trails - No Treatment Area (Variable ft Buffer) Bogus Basin Special Use Permit Boundary Bogus Basin Ownership Project Boundary Crown Fire Risk (based on Torching Index) Crown Fire Risk Rating By Stand High Moderate Low Bogus Basin Mountain Resort Miles Figure 1 - Boise Ridge TSI Project Area Map 2

3 Relationship of this Project to the 2010 Forest Plan The Forest is committed to focusing management activities for the remainder of the 7 to 8 year planning period within watersheds identified in the 2010 amendment to the Forest Plan as high priority for vegetation and/or wildlife habitat restoration. In addition, to make best use of limited funding and personnel to plan and implement projects, inter-related multiple-use management objectives in the Forest Plan will be addressed and integrated within restoration projects such as that proposed in the Boise Ridge Project Area, where practical and efficient to do so. Specifically the Proposed Action for the Boise Ridge TSI Project addresses priorities and management objectives in the 2010 Forest Plan as follows: Restoration of the types of forested vegetative communities within the proposed Boise Ridge TSI Project Area is a priority under the 2010 Forest Plan. Management objectives in the 2010 Forest Plan focus restoration in low to mid-elevation forests dominated by ponderosa pine in the non-lethal and mixed 1 fire regimes. The Proposed Action for the Boise Ridge TSI Project focuses restoration activities in mid-elevation ponderosa pine stands in the nonlethal and mixed1 fire regimes. The watershed that includes the Shafer Creek sub-watershed has been identified as an Active-High priority for vegetation restoration in the Vegetation and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Strategy (Forest Plan, 2010). Active restoration watersheds are those with the most historically nonlethal and mixed1 fire regimes and greatest number of acres in medium and large tree size class within these fire regimes. While emphasizing restoration of vegetation and wildlife habitat, the 2010 Forest Plan also recognizes the need to integrate objectives associated with a variety of other multiple-use goals and objectives, including hazardous fuels management within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). The Boise County Wildfire Protection Plan (Boise CWPP), completed in 2003 and updated in 2005, designated the watershed that includes the Shafter Creek subwatershed as a wildland urban interface (WUI). The Boise CWPP WUI designation is due, in large part, to the structures and facilities associated with the Bogus Basin Mountain Resort and communication sites. Management of hazardous fuels would occur as part of the Proposed Action for this project and the management activities would contribute to reducing the existing hazardous fuels conditions within this WUI. Additionally, the Shafer Creek sub-watershed is identified in the Forest Plan (2010) as a Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) watershed due to the potential downstream risk to human life, property, and/or municipal supply watersheds from post-wildfire floods, landslides, and debris flows, if an uncharacteristically lethal wildfire were to occur within the watershed. Identification of BAER watersheds is recognition that these watersheds would likely require BAER evaluation and/or treatments to alleviate emergency conditions following high intensity and severity wildfire to mitigate significant threats to health, safety, life or property. The Boise Ridge TSI Project Area is assigned to Management Prescription Category 5.1 (Restoration and Maintenance Emphasis). The emphasis of vegetation treatments in this MPC is to restore forest conditions toward or move them within desired conditions identified in Appendix A of the 2010 Forest Plan. Forests in desired conditions will provide a diversity of habitats; reduce risk from undesirable disturbance events, and supply goods and services to meet social and economic needs of surrounding communities (ROD, 2010 Forest Plan Amendment). The Boise Ridge TSI Project Area also encompasses the western portion of the Bogus Basin Mountain Resort s recreational permit area. Management Objective 0428 identifies 3

4 the need to coordinate with the Bogus Basin Mountain Resort to implement their master development plan. Vegetative treatments proposed in this project have been specifically designed to support the master development plan objective to employ the latest silvicultural techniques to ensure forest health within the special use permit area (USDA, Forest Service, 1996). Purpose and Need The primary purpose for this project is to move stands toward Forest Plan desired vegetation conditions by manipulating the forest structure, density, and species composition in order to accelerate development of larger tree size class stands and improve stand resistance and resilience to undesirable effects from wildfire. Reducing the risk for these undesirable effects is important to sustaining vegetative diversity and wildlife habitat, supporting recreational activities identified in the Bogus Basin Mountain Resort s master development plan, as well as reducing risk of property damage and protecting human safety. Example of Ponderosa Pine in the Boise Ridge Project Area. Typical Stand Conditions in the Boise Ridge Project Area The need to focus the proposed treatments on the smaller tree size class (trees less than 10 inch dbh) rather than all tree size classes is related to the hazardous fuel conditions associated with the smaller tree size class. This hazardous fuel condition represents undesirable levels of risk to sustaining vegetative and wildlife habitat diversity, forest cover important to the area s recreational experience, and property and public safety. Specifically: 4

5 There is a need to increase the acreage of forested stands dominated by ponderosa pine in order to move the stands toward desired conditions described in the Forest Plan (Forest Plan, 2010, Appendix A and Appendix E). Desired species composition should result in landscapes dominated by early-seral 1 species. In general, there is an over-abundance of Douglas-fir in the small tree size class within the project area. Improving species composition so that ponderosa pine becomes the dominant species within most stands would contribute to reducing unacceptable risk of loss of the forest cover from wildfire. Currently forested stands within the project area have tree densities in the smaller tree size classes (<10 dbh) that over time will move these stands further away from desired conditions rather than toward desired conditions (Forest Plan, 2010, Appendix A and Appendix E). These current conditions have the potential to promote undesirable levels of wildfire effects and thus represent unacceptable risks to the sustainability of desired vegetative conditions important to long-term diversity. There is a need within the smaller tree size class to manipulate stand density and arrangement of ladder fuels to reduce wildfire risk to acceptable levels across forested stands in the project area. Additionally, there is a need to maintain and restore stand conditions to be consistent with the nonlethal 2 and mixed-1 fire 3 regimes. Historically crown fire was rare in these fire regimes, while currently about 493 acres or 60 percent of the area proposed for treatment (821 acres) is at moderate risk to high risk for crown fire, based on torching index, as calculated with the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) and the Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE). The current fire risk is based on the density and arrangement of trees in the small size class. Lowering the risk of crown fire would reduce risk of undesirable wildfire effects, and subsequently undesirable effects to vegetative diversity, wildlife habitat, property, and human safety. Preliminary analysis indicates that proposed treatments would reduce the crown fire risk on approximately 375 acres. There is a need to reduce the risk of crown fire to maintain the recreation setting and reduce risk to property and public safety within the project area and adjacent area. Paved road access and the proximity to Boise and the Treasure Valley make this area a very popular year round recreation destination. Recreational activities in the area include downhill and cross-country skiing, mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding, driving for pleasure, and sightseeing. The project area includes the western portion of the area under special use authorization for the Bogus Basin Mountain Resort. The forested environment in the project area is visually sensitive from NFS road 297 (Bogus Basin Road), Bogus Basin Mountain Resort and recreational trails within the Resort s permit area. Restoring vegetation conditions to reduce the risk of losing desirable vegetative components to insects, diseases, and wildfire are critical to supporting activities within this recreational setting. Promoting desired vegetative conditions including scenically valuable patches of large ponderosa pine that have less dense understories than currently is important to the overall recreational experience of people visiting the Resort. In this heavily used recreational area restoring vegetative conditions toward desired would also reduce risks to property and public safety from crown fires. 1 The species or community that is replaced by another species or community as succession progresses. 2 The non-lethal fire regime typically has fire return interval of 5 to 25 years and tree mortality would be expected to be less than 10%. Vegetation patterns are relatively homogenous with small patches generally less than 1 acre of different seral stages, densities, and compositions created from mortality (Forest Plan, 2010 Appendix A, Table A-1, p. A-3). 3 The mixed-1 fire regime typically has fire return intervals of 5 to 70 years and tree mortality would be expected to be 10 to 50%. Vegetation patterns are relatively homogenous with patches created from mortality ranging in size from less than 1 to 600 acres of different seral stages, densities, and compositions (Forest Plan, 2010 Appendix A, Table A-1, p. A-3). 5

6 Proposed Action The proposed action for this project includes: Approximately 821 acres of conifer trees, 10 inch diameter at breast height (dbh) and less would be thinned to a variable spacing (8 to 40 foot spacing) to reduce the continuity of ladder fuels while incorporating clumpiness and diversity across the landscape. Activity slash and boles less than 6 inch diameter would be hand piled and burned on about 821 acres in the project area. All boles greater than 6 inch diameter would be left on site. Pile burning would be expected to occur as weather and fuel conditions allow. Tree well burning, raking, and/ or churning the litter and duff around the base of ponderosa pine trees meeting legacy tree characteristics would be completed on approximately 821 acres to improve individual tree resiliency to fire. Project Design Features/Mitigations No thinning activities would occur between December 1 st and July 1 st in order to reduce the threat of IPS bark beetle. A burn plan would be developed according to the Interagency Prescribed Fire Planning and Implementation Procedures Guide, and Forest Service Manual (FSM 5140), to address prescribed fire mitigations for air quality, contingency, safety, and environmental effects (fire behavior). Requirements of the Montana/Idaho Airshed Group would also be integrated. The plan would specify weather parameters to insure that fire behavior effects are within a desired range. No thinning activities would occur within a variable buffer of 15 to 30 feet from designated NFS roads and trails in order to provide for snow retention on nordic trails and maintain visual quality objectives along NFS roads and trails within the project area. Varying the width from 15 to 30 feet would soften the edge effect of the no treatment buffer. No activities would occur within Riparian Conservation Areas (RCAs). RCAs have been delineated for this project utilizing Option 2 for forested streams as described in Appendix B of the 2010 Forest Plan (Volume II, Appendix B, p. B-34). Site potential tree height is greater than the flood-prone width for the channel types within the project area and therefore site potential tree height for PVG 2 was used to determine the RCA width. Site potential tree height for PVG 2 is 120 feet (Forest Plan, Volume II, Appendix B, Table B-5, p. B-36). Perennial streams would have an RCA of two site potential tree heights (240 feet) and intermittent stream RCAs would be one site potential tree height (120 feet). Cautionary signing would be strategically located to insure public safety when thinning and prescribed fire activities are taking place. In addition, public notices and contacts would be made prior to thinning activities and pile burning activities. Burn piles shall not exceed 6 to 8 feet in height and 6 to 15 feet in diameter. Burn piles would be excluded from non-forested areas within the project area. The North Zone Range Management Specialist would be notified of the timing of project activities including thinning and prescribed fire activities. The North Zone Range Management Specialist would inform the permittee(s) for the Boise Basin Sheep and Goat Allotment, through the allotment annual operating instructions (AOI) of pending project activities in order to minimize the potential for conflicts and to allow for modification of grazing practices, if necessary. Any trees thinned adjacent to the Idaho Power power line corridor in the project area would felled away from this corridor in order to protect the power line. No activity slash would be left within the power line corridor. 6

7 References Dynamac Corporation, Boise County Wildfire Mitigation Plan. Submitted to Boise County Commissioners, Idaho City, ID in July 2003, updated in 2005 and Haufler, Jonathan B., Carolyn A. Mehl, and Gary J. Roloff Using a coarse-fìlter approach with species assessment for ecosystem management. Wildlife Society Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp Hunter Jr., Malcolm L., George L. Jacobson, Jr., Thompson Webb, III Paleoecology and the Coarse-Filter Approach to Maintaining Biological Diversity. Conservation Biology, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Dec., 1988), pp Idaho Department of Fish and Game Idaho Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, Idaho Conservation Data Center, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Boise, ID, 490 p. ICBEMP, Interior Columbia Basin Final Environmental Impact Statement. Portland, Oregon: USDI Bureau of Land Management and USDA Forest Service. McComb, Brenda and Sally Duncan Biodiversity Conservation in Contemporary Landscapes, Stressors, and Ranges of Variability: Scientific and Social Views. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, and Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR Mehl, C. and J. Haufler Preserving and Restoring the Old-Growth Ponderosa Pine Ecosystem in Idaho, Final Report, Idaho Fish and Game WCRP Project R p. Noss, Reed F From plant communities to landscapes in conservation inventories: a look at The Nature Conservancy (USA). Biological Conservation. 41: NPPC (Ecovista) Northwest Power Planning Commission Subbasin Assessments (Boise, Payette and Weiser Subbasin) Raphael, Martin G., Richard S. Holthausen, Bruce G. Marcot, Terrell D. Rich, Mary M. Rowland, Barbara C. Wales, Michael J. Wisdom (Draft) Effects of SDEIS Alternatives on Selected Terrestrial Vertebrates of Conservation Concern within the Interior Columbia River Basin Ecosystem Management Project. Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Plan, USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management. 133 p. Wisdom, Michael J., Richard S. Holthausen, Barbara C. Wales, Christina D. Hargis, Victoria A. Saab, Danny C. Lee, Wendel J. Hann, Terrell D. Rich, Mary M. Rowland, Wally J. Murphy, and Michelle R. Eames Source Habitats for Terrestrial Vertebrates of Focus in the Interior Columbia Basin: Broad-Scale Trends and Management Implications, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, and USDI Bureau of Land Management, General Technical Report PNW-GTR-485 USDA Forest Service, 2010a. Boise National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. USDA Forest Service, 2010b. Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Forest Plan Amendments to Facilitate Implementation of the 2010 Plan Scale Wildlife Conservation Strategy: Phase 1 Forested Biological Community. 7

8 USDA Forest Service, 2010c. Final Environmental Impact Statement for Forest Plan Amendments Proposed to Facilitate Implementation of the Plan-Scale Wildlife Conservation Strategy: Phase 1 Forested Biological Community. 8