Siuslaw National Forest. Central Coast Ranger District - Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

Transcription

1 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Siuslaw National Forest Central Coast Ranger District - Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area 1130 Forestry Lane Waldport, OR File Code: 1950 Date: December 22, 2017 Dear Interested Community Member, It s been well over a year since you have heard from us about the Indian Creek Landscape Management Project. During that time, we ve been considering all the issues and concerns that you provided us through a series of public meetings and field trips. I want to again thank you for your interest and participation in the project. Your engagement has been incredibly valuable in helping us re-design and move forward with the project. I am pleased to announce that the Central Coast Ranger District Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area (CCRD- ODNRA) has prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment for the Indian Creek Landscape Management Project (The Project) and it is now available for 30-day public review and comment. The Draft Environmental Assessment is available for review at the Corvallis, Eugene, Siuslaw (Florence), Mapleton, Newport, Waldport and Yachats public libraries; the CCRD-ODNRA Ranger District Office at 1130 Forestry Lane, Waldport, OR; the Siuslaw National Forest Supervisor s Office at 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR; or, online at: The Project area is north of Swisshome, Oregon in the Indian Creek watershed (please see attached map) - about 14 air miles northeast of Florence, Oregon, and encompasses about 30,816 acres. The Project is designed to accelerate the development of late-successional forest habitat by enhancing the growth, health, stand structure, and diversity of forest stands. The Project s modified proposed actions were developed to achieve terrestrial and aquatic restoration objectives for the enhancement of wildlife and fish habitat while providing economic benefits to local communities. The Draft EA provides an in-depth analysis of two alternatives; Alternative 1 which is the No Action alternative, and Alternative 2 which is the Modified Proposed Action. The following provides a general summary of the proposal. 1. Proposed actions intended to enhance Terrestrial Conditions: Alternative 2 (modified) proposes to commercially thin approximately 6,557 acres. These stands are Douglas-fir plantations that are younger than 80 years in age that were previously clearcut, likely burned, and then planted at a high density with Douglas-fir. These commercial thinning areas have been designed to protect Northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet habitat through retention of canopy cover. An estimated 80% of the commercially thinned stands would be planted with a mix of conifers to develop structural diversity. The conifer species to be planted include primarily western red cedar and western hemlock with a much smaller component of Douglas-fir. A minor component of Sitka spruce would also be planted where appropriate on the landscape, such as lower in the draws in the fog zone. Habitat complexity would be created in these areas by maintaining down wood, creating snags, and developing canopy gaps within the areas proposed for thinning. Red tree vole nesting platforms would be created in some areas planned for thinning that are adjacent to stands with mature trees. Outside of the stands proposed for thinning and in natural stands, large trees would be girdled, inoculated with a native fungus, and/or topped to promote the development of cavities and crevices for nesting habitat and to remediate for the limited amount of large snags found across the landscape. 2. Proposed actions intended to enhance Aquatic Conditions: Large wood would be placed in 25 miles of streams. The large wood would consist of mature trees or smaller trees with their root wads still attached. The material would only be placed in the headwaters or below private Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

2 2 of 5 lands in order to ensure that the pieces do not migrate downstream onto private properties. Most of the placement would occur using helicopters except in those thinning areas that are adjacent to streams where some trees could be pushed into the stream with an excavator. Up to 50 acres of riparian conifer would be released from competing vegetation to improve the long-term stability of stream shade and speed the development of large wood sources. Deteriorated and poorly functioning culverts would be replaced on National Forest System (NFS) roads with culverts that would function properly and eliminate migration barriers to aquatic species. Up to 40 acres of riparian areas would be planted with conifer and hardwood. This would include small strips between streams and some meadows along Mann Creek in order to establish good riparian vegetation while also continuing to allow for dispersed recreation. Large wood placement, riparian planting, stream channel reconstruction, and replacement of deteriorated and poorly functioning culverts would occur along road systems (please see attached map). Abandoned roads carry the risk of road failures which contribute fine sediments to streams which have a negative impact to aquatic conditions. In order to reduce the risk of road failures the proposal includes decommissioning of road/stream crossings along these abandoned roads. The Elk Creek ford would be removed to improve aquatic species migration and the overland flow at the Klickitat Rock Quarry would be addressed. Road work to improve aquatic conditions would occur across the project area. This would include such things as culvert replacement and road maintenance and repair. 3. Proposed actions relating to Road Management: Implementing proposed projects across the watershed means that road management would also be needed. This would include: Repairing and maintaining an estimate 96 miles of National Forest System Roads. Roads needed for future management would be put into storage, which includes closing with an earthen barrier and removing culverts and stream crossings until such time it s needed in the future. An estimated 10 miles of roads would be put into storage. Roads that are not needed for future management in the foreseeable future would be decommissioned, which includes removing culverts and stream crossing, and making them hydrologically neutral for the long term. These roads would no longer be drivable and would be closed with an earthen barrier. An estimated 6 miles would be decommissioned. There are many non-system roads located in the Indian Creek area. An estimated 38 miles of non-system roads would be temporarily re-opened and then closed once the projects are completed. New temporary roads would also be needed for this project. An estimated 1.5 miles of new temporary roads would be built to implement The Project and then decommissioned and closed once they are completed. National Forest System Road has a slide and is not stable. The proposal would re-route this road to a stable ridgetop above the slide on Taylor Creek road by constructing 0.65 miles of new system road to bypass the unstable area. National Forest System Road 3200 would be repaired to allow through travel from Five Rivers area to Indian Creek Road and 5.75 miles would be placed in Key Road status. Mann Creek road was originally proposed for decommissioning in The Project. Instead of decommissioning, road work would occur to allow for public safety and improve the impacts the road is having on the aquatics resources. This would include such items as replacing culverts, disconnecting the ditch flow from stream channels, installing culverts so that aquatic species can migrate through the crossing, re-aligning the road, bio-engineering streambank stabilization, and upgrading and repairing the roads surface. The Klickitat Quarry would be developed as the primary aggregate source for project needs in the project area. 4. Proposed actions for Non-Native Invasive Species Management Treat 12 species of non-native invasive plants on an estimated 260 acres in the project area located along roads, in young forest stands, and meadows using manual, mechanical, and herbicide methods.

3 3 of 5 Implement an early detection-rapid response strategy for managing invasive plants following completion of most project activities. The comment period is scheduled to begin when the legal notice of the opportunity to comment is published in the Eugene Register-Guard. The legal notice is expected to be published on Friday, December 29 th, However, in the event the legal ad is published on a different date, that actual publishing date will constitute the legal start of the 30-day comment period. The Forest Service will accept comments on this proposal for 30 days following publication of the legal notice of the opportunity to comment which is the exclusive means for calculating the comment period. When the comment period expires on a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal Holiday comments shall be accepted until the end of the next Federal working day (36 CFR (2)). It is the commenter s responsibility to ensure timely receipt of comments (36 CFR ). This project is subject to objection pursuant to 36 CFR 218, Subparts A and B. Only those who submit timely projectspecific written comments during a public comment period are eligible to file an objection. Individuals and entities wishing to be eligible to object must provide the following during the comment period (36 CFR (a)(3)): Name and postal address. Title of the proposed project or activity. Specific written comments as defined in 36 CFR regarding the proposed project or activity, along with supporting reasons. Signature or other verification of identity upon request and identification of the individual or entity who authored the comment(s). For comments listing multiple entities or multiple individuals, a signature or other means of verification must be provided for the individual authorized to represent each entity and for each individual in the case of multiple names. A scanned signature or other means of verifying the identity of the individual or entity representative may be used for electronically submitted comments. Names of commenters will be part of the public record subject to the Freedom of Information Act. (Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; however, those who only submit anonymous comments will not have standing to object per 36 CFR Part 218.) Individual members of an entity must submit their own comments to establish personal eligibility; comments received on behalf of an entity are considered as those of the entity only. Written comments should be submitted electronically in common formats (.docx,.doc,.pdf,.rtf,.txt) to commentspacificnorthwest-siuslaw-centralcoast@fs.fed.us. Please include Indian Creek Landscape Management Project in the subject line. They can also be mailed to the Central Coast District Ranger Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, Michele Jones, District Ranger, P.O. Box 400, Waldport, OR ; faxed to (541) ; or hand delivered during business hours (M-F 8:00am to 4:00pm) excluding legal holidays to the CCRD-ODNRA District Office located at 1130 Forestry Lane, Waldport, OR. For additional information, contact Donni Vogel, Project Leader, by phone (541) or by ing at the address above. Sincerely, MICHELE H. JONES District Ranger Enclosure: 2 Maps cc: Jerry Ingersoll, Michele H. Jones, and Donni Vogel

4 Figure 1. Indian Creek Landscape Management Project (A) vicinity map. 4 of 5

5 5 of 5 Figure 2. Indian Creek Landscape Management Project map of proposed modified actions. The Draft Environmental Assessment and digital maps are available for review at the