Province Integrated Resource Management Project

Transcription

1 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service July 2012 Province Integrated Resource Management Project Township of Chatham, Carroll County, New Hampshire Scoping Report Prepared By Saco Ranger District White Mountain National Forest View of Province project area from Kearsarge North For Information Contact: Desiree Johnston Saco Ranger District White Mountain National Forest 33 Kancamagus Highway Conway, NH

2 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual s income is derived from any public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs). Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication or program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA's TARGET Center at 202/ (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write the USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC, or call (800) (voice) or (202) (TDD). The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Printed on Recycled Paper 2 Province Project Scoping Report

3 Introduction The Saco Ranger District of the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is proposing an integrated resource management project in the town of Chatham in Carroll County, New Hampshire. The Province Integrated Resource Management Project includes wildlife habitat, vegetation, recreation, watershed and transportation system management proposals designed to meet White Mountain National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) objectives and address resource management needs in the Province Habitat Management Unit (HMU). Project Area The Province project area is bounded by the Province Habitat Management Unit (HMU), which includes approximately 7,700 acres of National Forest lands located within the Saco River watershed, in the town of Chatham, New Hampshire. Please refer to the attached project vicinity map. Habitats within this area include a mix of northern hardwoods, oak-pine, mixedwoods, and hemlock/spruce/fir softwood stands. Perennial and intermittent streams, small seeps and wetlands occur within the area. The terrain is variable but ranges from flat to moderately steep. Elevations range from about 400 feet near Upper Kimball Pond to 3220 feet at the summit of Kearsarge North. Recreation opportunities within the Province project area include the Weeks Brook and Province Brook hiking trails, Province Pond shelter and the Corridor 19 snowmobile trail. Management Direction The White Mountain National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) provides management direction for the White Mountain National Forest. The Forest Plan allocates lands to a variety of Management Areas (MA), each of which emphasizes particular goals, objectives, and desired conditions. Each MA also has a set of standards and guidelines that set parameters on activities to ensure protection of the character and resources of the land. Applicable Forest Plan goals, objectives and standards and guidelines were used to design the Province Integrated Resource Management Project. The Province project area includes the following Forest Plan Management Area allocations: MA 2.1: General Forest Management (6,600 acres) allows for a range of uses and activities, including timber harvest, prescribed fire, roads, motorized recreation such as snowmobiling, and developed areas such as campgrounds. MA 2.1 is described in the Forest Plan on pages 3-3 through 3-8. MA 6.1: Semi-Primitive Recreation (106 acres) emphasizes non-motorized recreation, but allows motorized trail use in winter. Development levels are kept low and scheduled commercial timber harvest and new Forest roads are not allowed. MA 6.1 is described in the Forest Plan on pages 3-19 through MA 6.3: Semi-Primitive Winter Motorized Recreation (291 acres) emphasizes motorized trail recreation opportunities in the winter. Development levels are kept low and scheduled commercial timber harvest and new Forest roads are not allowed. MA 6.3 is described in the Forest Plan on pages 3-27 through Province Project Scoping Report 1

4 MA 9.3 Candidate Research Natural Area (699 acres) emphasizes natural processes and maintaining eligibility of areas currently recommended for study as Research Natural Areas (RNAs). Recreation use is not encouraged and new development is not allowed. Habitat management is not allowed unless approved by managers to meet the objectives of the area. Timber harvest and new Forest roads are also not allowed. MA 6.3 is described in the Forest Plan on pages 3-83 through The Province project proposes wildlife habitat, vegetation, recreation, watershed and transportation system management activities only in portions of the project area allocated to General Forest Management (MA 2.1). Proposed project activities are designed to meet the following Forest Plan goals and objectives for MA 2.1: Provide a balanced mix of habitats for all wildlife species. Provide high quality hardwood sawtimber and other timber products on a sustained yield basis. Provide opportunities for a full mix of recreational opportunities from low-use hiking trails to developed campgrounds, and meet Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) objectives varying from urban to semi-primitive motorized, in different locations and varying by season or presence of management activities. Manage high-use or highly developed recreation areas to acceptable social and ecological standards; manage to retain some low-use and less developed areas. The Forest Transportation System is designed to provide the minimum road system necessary for safe and efficient travel, while facilitating use and management of the Forest. The Province project area also includes approximately 2,150 acres of lands that were identified as Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA) under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RACR). No activities are proposed in these portions of the project area. Proposed Action The Saco Ranger District, White Mountain National Forest proposes to implement the actions outlined below, and shown on the attached map, in the Province Integrated Resource Management Project. This project includes the following site-specific activities: Forest vegetation management to improve wildlife habitat and forest health conditions on approximately 2,105 acres, with an estimated 6 million board feet of associated timber harvest; Thinning 4 young forest stands (about 67 acres) to improve timber stand conditions; Clearcutting one young forest stand which was severely damaged by an ice storm in 1998 (about 19 acres) to improve timber stand conditions; Creating 1 new and expanding 2 existing permanent wildlife openings (about 20 acres); Relocating approximately 0.8 miles of the Weeks Brook Trail, and decommissioning the corresponding existing sections; Reconstructing portions of 10 existing Forest Roads, totaling an estimated 9.6 miles, including replacing 2 undersized culverts; 2 Province Project Scoping Report

5 Adding 2 existing roads to the Forest Transportation System, totaling approximately 0.4 miles; and Decommissioning a portion of 1 existing road that is not currently included within the Forest Transportation System, totaling approximately 0.6 miles. The locations of these proposed activities are shown on the attached map. Most of the proposed project activities would be implemented within the next 3 to 5 years, however it is possible that implementation of some of the proposed vegetation treatments, such as timber stand improvement, site preparation and wildlife openings, could be extended over the next 10 years. Funding for projects activities will be budget dependent and may be scheduled over time as funds become available. This project would also incorporate a variety of project design features to minimize impacts to protect public health and safety, reduce adverse impacts to scenic quality from timber harvest activities, protect cultural resource areas, minimize impacts to forest visitors recreating in the project area, protect trail integrity and maintain high quality wildlife habitat features. All proposed project activities would be undertaken within the scope of the Forest Plan s standards and guidelines. Vegetation Treatments Vegetation treatments that include timber harvest are proposed to improve wildlife habitat diversity and forest health conditions, as well as provide forest products, on approximately 2,105 acres within the project area. In addition, vegetation treatments that do not include timber harvest are proposed to improve timber stand conditions and create permanent wildlife openings on approximately 105 acres within the project area. Proposed vegetation management and associated timber harvest in the Province project would be confined to MA 2.1 lands considered suitable for commercial timber harvest. Lands that are considered suitable for timber harvest are typically located in areas below 2,500 feet in elevation. Non-suitable lands include wetlands and riparian areas, steep terrain, and areas that are inaccessible for vegetation management. Season of timber harvest would vary by unit. Some of the proposed even-aged vegetation treatment units (clearcuts, patch cuts, seed tree, overstory removal, shelterwood) would be harvested during summer, fall and prior to frozen ground in winter to provide soil scarification to create a mineral seed bed and increase opportunities for successful regeneration and establishment of tree species such as oak, pine, aspen, birch and hemlock. The table below shows the vegetation treatments proposed in this project to accomplish Forest Plan objectives. Reserve patches of uncut trees would be retained in clearcuts, and protective buffers around vernal pools, cultural artifacts, and nest trees are included in the listed acres. Please refer to the glossary and table of proposed units and treatments in the Appendix for further details. Province Project Scoping Report 3

6 Even Aged Regeneration Clearcut with Reserves (CC) Patch Cut (PC) Shelterwood Seed Cut (SHWD2) Overstory Removal (OSR) Seed Tree with Reserves (SDTR) Province Project - Proposed Vegetation Treatments Treatment # Units Estimated Acres* Even-Aged - Intermediate Thinning (THIN) Uneven-Aged Regeneration Group Selection (GS) Single Tree Selection (STS) Single Tree and Group Selection combined (STS/GS) Other Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) Wildlife Opening (WLO) * Acres are approximate Even-Aged Management , Clearcutting with Reserves (377 acres) is proposed in stands containing poor quality, low vigor and/or mature trees to allow the next generation of trees the opportunity to grow to their full potential. Clearcutting is a silvicultural cutting method that focuses on the removal of all the trees in a stand. Uncut patches totaling five percent of the harvest area would be retained per Forest Plan standard. This type of treatment creates a large openings (>10 acres) that allow high levels of sunlight to reach the forest floor. Proposed clearcuts would be implemented through timber harvest except in stand 104. Trees in this young northern hardwoods stand were severely damaged by an ice storm that occurred in These damaged trees are not merchantable for timber and would be mechanically felled, piled and burned and/or chipped to regenerate the stand. Patch Cuts (47 acres) differ from clearcuts with respect to the amount of area treated. Patch Cuts result in openings between two and ten acres. Patch Cuts are proposed for stands with conditions similar to those found in stands proposed for clearcuts. The reduced size of openings created by patch cuts limit the quality of early successional habitat compared to that found in a clearcut. Overstory Removal (4 acres) is proposed in one stand that contains a layer of desirable advanced reproduction growing beneath a mature overstory. This treatment would increase the amount of sunlight for smaller trees in the understory, and increase their growth rates. The residual stand would contain small trees that would be free to grow. 4 Province Project Scoping Report

7 Seed Tree With Reserves (25 acres) involves removal of most but not all trees within a stand. A sparse number of mature trees would be retained throughout the stand for the primary purpose of providing seed to aid in the establishment of a new generation of trees. This treatment would create an influx of light on the forest floor. Compared to clearcuts, patch cuts and overstory removals the amount of light provided to the forest floor through the removal of trees would be less. The retention of overstory trees for the purpose of seed dispersal would increase the chances that those tree species would be regenerated and retained in the future stand. Retention of overstory trees would also provides an important structural component to this stand. Shelterwood Seed Cut (82 acres) involves removal of about half the overstory of a stand. Five stands are proposed to be treated with this prescription. The goal of this prescription in these stand is to establish an adequate number of seedlings that are well distributed throughout the stand. Removing approximately half the tree stems (mainly suppressed and/or poor quality trees) would open the forest canopy and create favorable conditions on the forest floor to establish reproduction. Commercial Thinning (4 acres) is designed to improve species composition, growth and quality of even-aged stands. Commercial thinning would focus on the removal of poor quality and/or low vigor trees while providing an opportunity for residual trees to increase growth rates. This treatment would provide adequate growing space for the highest value trees. Trees targeted for retention would include mature trees that are well distributed throughout the residual stand. Commercial thinning would also facilitate the harvest of timber that would otherwise be lost due to mortality associated with overstocked stand condition, and increase future timber value. Uneven-Aged Management Group Selection (1,150 acres) would result in the creation of openings approximately 1/10 to 2 acres in size within stands for the purpose of releasing advanced reproduction or regenerating new trees. Approximately 20 percent of the acreage of each stand proposed for group selection would be treated. Groups would be created in areas where desirable advanced reproduction could be released from competition or where advance reproduction is currently lacking. Additionally, group locations would target areas containing poor quality, low vigor and/or mature overstory trees. Each future entry into a stand proposed for group selection would potentially involve treating an additional 20 percent of the stand s area. Group selection facilitates regeneration of a broad mix of shade-intolerant, intermediate, and shade-tolerant tree species, and is an appropriate silvicultural treatment for managing softwood, mixedwood or northern hardwoods. Nearly all the species currently represented in the stands would have an opportunity to germinate and grow in these varied light conditions. Much of the advanced reproduction present in areas designated for group selection would remain within each group immediately following treatment. Within groups, small or regeneration-age trees and other woody plants would begin to occupy growing space within groups in about five years following the treatment. Trees around the perimeter of groups would also expand their crowns into the groups within this same period. Province Project Scoping Report 5

8 Single Tree Selection (343 acres) would release advanced reproduction and/or regenerate hardwood or softwood tree species by focusing on the removal of poor quality, low vigor and/or mature trees. Trees substantially affected by physical damage, insects and/or disease would also be among those targeted for removal from the stand. Single-tree selection would improve the quality of shade-tolerant growing stock. Trees exhibiting good quality and favorable health would be retained. Approximately 1/3 of the trees would be removed to create space for residual trees to grow and to provide light for tree seeds to germinate. Trees would be cut from all size classes. Residual stands would contain trees of variable sizes (heights and diameters). Though small gaps would be created, residual trees would restrict and filter sunlight. Trees and other woody plants would begin to occupy growing space created by the individual harvest of trees within about five years following the treatment. There would be a shift in species composition toward shade-tolerant tree species such as American beech, sugar maple, red maple, eastern hemlock and red spruce, and the presence of species considered intolerant of shade (e.g. paper birch, trembling aspen and bigtooth aspen) would decline. Single tree selection would create or maintain an uneven-aged stand condition, as well as stimulate stand regeneration, leading to a diversity of age classes in the stand. Single Tree and Group Selection (90 acres) is proposed in stands where neither group selection nor single tree selection alone would adequately treat the current conditions. Group selection would occur on up to 15% of the acreage and single tree selection would occur throughout the remainder of each stand proposed for treatment. Objectives and effects of this treatment are outlined in the two preceding subsections. Release Treatments Release treatments are non commercial treatments involving the mechanical removal of submerchantable midstory and/or understory trees, and would potentially be implemented in all.. Submerchantable trees include those less than 5.0 inches diameter at breast height (dbh) where dbh is the diameter of a tree at 4.5 feet above the ground. The goal of these treatments is to provide adequate growing space for desirable trees to grow free from competition. Though all tree species are considered desirable, dense midstories and understories of some species (primarily American beech) currently inhibit regeneration of many other species in the project area. Release treatments would include the mechanical cutting or girdling of some or all submerchantable trees within all proposed even-aged regeneration and some group selection treatment areas proposed for commercial timber harvests. Trees specifically targeted for release include desirable seedlings and saplings of northern red oak, eastern white pine, red pine, paper birch, trembling aspen, bigtooth aspen, sugar maple, yellow birch, red spruce, and eastern hemlock. Release treatments would be conducted during, or possibly following the completion of, logging operations. Specific units targeted for release treatments would depend on the vegetative response following the commercial logging operations. One or more release treatment per unit may be implemented, as necessary, to achieve desired conditions. 6 Province Project Scoping Report

9 Timber Stand Improvement (Thinning) The goal of Timber Stand Improvement treatments is to establish oak, pine, quality hardwoods, and softwood regeneration. These pre-commercial treatments would include the mechanical cutting or girdling of selected submerchantable trees. Selected young trees of primarily oak, pine, paper birch and yellow birch would have woody vegetation removed around them. The resulting slash would be either chipped and left on site, or piled and burned. No timber harvest is proposed in TSI treatment areas. Wildlife Openings Creation and expansion of permanent wildlife openings (WLO) are proposed in patch cut units 47, 80 and in a portion of clearcut unit 2. Following timber harvest, stumps and large rocks would be removed from these areas, and residual small trees and shrubs would be piled and burned. These permanent wildlife openings would be maintained in the future through prescribed burning or mowing. Recreation Approximately 0.8 miles of the Weeks Brook hiking trail traverses wet areas which is causing resource damage and impacting trail users. The Proposed Action for this project includes relocating these sections of trail to drier areas, ideally onto one or more skid trails within proposed timber harvest units located adjacent to the trail. Transportation System Management A preliminary transportation analysis for the Province project area included recommendations to reconstruct and maintain 10 Forest roads to restore and improve access for forest management activities. This proposed reconstruction would also include replacing undersized culverts on two Forest Roads to improve watershed conditions (see below). The preliminary transportation analysis also recommended adding (reclassifying) two existing roads to the Forest Transportation System to provide needed short and long-term access to the project area, as well as decommissioning about 0.6 excess miles of Forest Road 301 not needed for forest management access. Upon completion of project activities, previously closed roads would be returned to a closed status by removing waterbars, temporary culverts and bridges. All Forest Roads used for proposed project activities would be maintained during and after use. Province Project Scoping Report 7

10 Proposed transportation system management activities in this project include the following: FS Road Miles Name # Reconstruct Decommission Reclassify Hardwood Hill Province Brook East Province Pond Peaked Hill Middle Brook Hardwood Hill Spur A 317A 0.8 Province Brook Weeks Brook Hardwood Hill Unnamed 0.03 Unnamed Unnamed Unnamed 0.2 Totals Watershed Improvement Older, undersized culverts would be replaced with a larger ones during proposed road maintenance and reconstruction in 2 locations: Weeks Brook Road (FSR 303) at a crossing of an unnamed perennial tributary to Middle Brook; and Hardwood Hill Road (FSR 317) at a crossing of an unnamed intermittent tributary of Weeks Brook. Purpose and Need (for Change) District managers and the interdisciplinary team identified several resource management needs and opportunities to help achieve Forest Plan goals in the Province project area Wildlife Habitat The purpose of managing wildlife habitat conditions in the project area is to increase opportunities for wildlife to sustain or increase their populations. Regional literature and experts indicate that maintaining populations of wildlife and plant species native to northern New England means providing a wide variety of habitats across the landscape, including various forest types, age classes, and non-forested openings. The primary wildlife habitat types that occur on the Forest are associated with northern hardwoods, spruce-fir, mixedwood, and aspen-paper birch. Age classes include regeneration (0 9 years of age), young (10 59 years), and mature (60 + years). All of these forest habitat types (softwoods, northern hardwood, mixedwoods etc.) and structural characteristics (mature forest, pole stands, brushy openings etc.) provide essential habitat for various wildlife species in New England. 8 Province Project Scoping Report

11 The Forest Plan established the following Forest-wide wildlife habitat management goals and objectives: Manage forest composition for the broad habitat types of northern hardwood, mixed hardwood-softwood, and spruce-fir forest, consistent with Ecological Land Type capability. Maintain less common habitat types, such as aspen-birch where ecologically feasible and desirable to provide for native and desired non-native wildlife and plant species. Maintain high quality mature forest and old forest habitats on a majority of the forest. Providing regeneration age forest and open habitats to sustain biological diversity and support species that prefer those habitats. An additional habitat objective in the Forest Plan is to maintain permanent Wildlife Openings within each HMU at existing levels and increase the acreage where possible. In addition, the Forest Plan established habitat composition and age-class goals and objectives for maintaining a diversity of habitats across the Forest on lands allocated to MA 2.1, including various forest types, age classes and non-forested habitats. Habitat Management Units (HMUs) are used as a tool to ensure that there is a connection between Forest landscape-levels goals and objectives and project-level ecological conditions during project development. Within the Province HMU, there is a lack of early-successional forest habitat (where most trees are 0-9 years old) and an overabundance of mature habitat for all forest habitat types. The majority of the HMU is comprised of mixedwood habitat (43%). Approximately 25 percent of the HMU is made up of northern hardwood habitat, and 25 percent is comprised of softwood habitats (spruce-fir and hemlock). Relatively small components of both oak-pine (5%) and aspen/birch (4%) habitat occur within the HMU, and there are 4 permanent wildlife openings (36 acres). Forest Plan goals include having a distribution of wildlife habitat types which closely match ecological site potential over most of the Forest. An analysis of the Province HMU found differences between the current distribution and abundance of forest types and age classes compared to the ecological potential of the area. Potential acres by habitat type and age class were determined from Ecological Land Types found in the HMU, as well as existing habitat of oak, pine and hemlock. Desired wildlife habitat goals the Province HMU include (1) increased regeneration forest habitat for all habitat types, but especially aspen-birch, (2) increased softwood habitat (3) increased stand structure in spruce-fir and hemlock habitat, and (4) increased oak/pine, hemlock and permanent wildlife opening habitat. Proposed vegetation management treatments are needed to help diversify wildlife habitat conditions in the Province HMU. Vegetation The purpose of vegetation management is to accomplish a variety of resource goals and objectives for forest management, wildlife habitat, recreation management, riparian and aquatic habitat and visual quality. Forest vegetation management can also be used to maintain or increase (tree) species diversity and structure within a given area. Monitoring on the WMNF has demonstrated that timber harvesting is the most effective means to manage diversity of vegetation and is consistent with meeting wildlife objectives. In addition, vegetative treatments Province Project Scoping Report 9

12 (ie. shelterwood, overstory removal, thinning, clearcut, group selection and single tree selection) implemented through timber harvest provide a sustainable yield of high quality forest products such as sawtimber. Throughout the project area, there are many hardwood and mixedwood stands where past harvesting and damage from ice storms has resulted in dense understories dominated by shade tolerant species such as American beech and striped maple saplings. During field reviews of the project area, resource specialists identified opportunities to manage forest vegetation to promote desired wildlife habitat and forest health conditions, while providing a sustainable yield of forest products, such as sawtimber, pulpwood, biomass and firewood, for local markets. These opportunities included forest vegetation treatments such as shelterwood, overstory removal, seed tree, clearcut, patch clearcut, thinning, group selection and single-tree selection. The stands proposed for treatment have site-specific objectives to meet desired habitat conditions for wildlife and for the vigor, health and diversity of forest vegetation. Proposed treatments are described in greater detail in the Appendix. Proposed vegetation management activities in this project are needed to improve habitat conditions for wildlife. Wildlife species that depend on early-successional forest for nesting or foraging habitat would benefit from forest openings created through even-aged forest management treatments, such as clearcutting and patch cutting. Species that prefer more mature habitats would benefit from proposed forest management treatments that create or maintain uneven-aged habitat conditions, such as single-tree and group selection. Management of the vegetation is also needed to create a diversity of wildlife habitats and moves stands toward forest community types consistent with land capability. Improved wildlife habitat would increase opportunities for wildlife to sustain or increase their populations and could enhance opportunities for wildlife observations by forest visitors. One of the habitat goals for the Province HMU is to increase forest regeneration habitat across all forest types. Clearcut, patch clearcut, shelterwood harvest, seed tree harvest and in some cases overstory removal harvests would be used to create regeneration forest habitat structure, as defined in the Forest Plan glossary, similar to that created by natural disturbances, such as wind and disease, which commonly occur in the Northeast. These treatments are needed to create openings in the forest canopy to encourage regeneration of a diversity of shade intolerant and intermediate species (ie. paper birch, yellow birch and sugar maple) and to regenerate aspen-birch habitat on certain soil types. Other habitat goals for the Province HMU include converting mixedwood habitat to softwood or aspen-birch habitat, initiating hemlock regeneration within existing dense hemlock stands and providing desirable habitat structures used by wildlife for hiding, nesting or cover at various times of the year. Group selection and single tree selection harvests would be used to remove overtopping and competing hardwoods, which is needed to release existing softwood understory trees and regeneration and improve stand structure in mixedwood and dense softwood stands. Group selection would create gaps in the forest canopy, ranging from about ¼ acre to 2 acre in size, which are needed to encourage regeneration of a greater diversity of shade intolerant, intermediate and tolerant species (ie. paper birch, yellow birch and sugar maple) within the newly created open spaces. Group selection is also used to perpetuate an aspen-birch component as a small inclusion in northern hardwood or spruce-fir habitat. Smaller gaps would be utilized in eastern hemlock and spruce/fir stands where regeneration is desirable or already exists. Smaller groups are appropriate in these forest community types 10 Province Project Scoping Report

13 because these species tolerate shade. Single tree selection would remove a range of tree sizes from a stand, which allows establishment of a new age class and creates desired habitat structures. Another habitat goal in the Province project area is to maintain, or even increase, the existing component of oak/pine habitat. Many of these stands lack openings to provide sunlight to the forest floor, resulting in a species change to more shade-tolerant species such as beech, red maple, striped maple and spruce/hemlock in the understory. Both oak and pine regeneration are disturbance oriented, requiring partial to full sunlight to obtain quick growth necessary to compete with these more shade-tolerant species. Maintaining oak and pine in these stands to meet Forest Plan habitat objectives requires release or introduction of younger trees (regeneration) to promote younger age classes. Single-tree and group selection treatments would open up the forest canopy for sunlight to reach the forest floor, encouraging oak and pine regeneration. When implemented during snow free seasons, these treatments would also provide the soil scarification needed to foster germination of oak acorns, and improve survival of oak and pine seedlings. These treatments are also used to increase other hardwood browse and softwood understory (wildlife cover habitat) within important deer wintering areas. Maintaining a diverse forest, removing diseased trees, and providing growing space for residual trees through vegetation management techniques improves long-term forest health, vigor and resistance to insects and disease. Single tree selection and thinning treatments would remove poorly formed, damaged and overcrowded trees to improve and maintain the health and vigor of mature forest stands. Healthy, vigorous forest stands have improved resiliency to insect and disease attacks, which is an important consideration for minimizing potential impacts from nonnative pests, such as Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and Emerald Ash Borer. Recreation One of the recreation management goals of the Forest Plan is to provide a range of quality recreation opportunities to help meet public demand for motorized, non-motorized, developed and dispersed recreation. Recreation resources located within and immediately adjacent to the Province Project Area include the Corridor 19 Snowmobile Trail, the Weeks Brook and Province Pond Hiking Trails and the Province Pond Shelter. Activities to maintain and improve recreation opportunities within the project area were identified by the project interdisciplinary planning team and have been incorporated into project design. Currently approximately 0.8 miles of the Weeks Brook hiking trail traverses wet areas that are problematic for hikers and trail maintenance. There is a need to relocate this portion of the trail to drier locations in order to reduce resource damage and improve the quality of recreation opportunities on this trail Transportation System The Forest Transportation System is designed to provide safe and efficient transportation that facilitates use and management of the Forest. Forest Plan goals include decommissioning roads not needed to meet management objectives, as well as maintaining the roads needed for use and management to meet Forest standards and the requirements of the Highway Transportation Safety Act. It was determined during Forest Plan revision, that the Forest would use project level transportation analysis in conjunction with environmental analysis to determine the final disposition of the remaining miles of roads on the Forest. Decisions Province Project Scoping Report 11

14 whether to add these roads to the Forest transportation system, or permanently close and decommission them need to be made through project-level NEPA. A preliminary analysis of the existing transportation system in the Province project area was completed to determine the minimum transportation system needed to meet resource and other management objectives of the Forest Plan. There are a number of existing roads in the project area which are not currently included in the Forest Transportation System. Two of these were identified in the preliminary transportation analysis as needed to provide access for current and long-term forest management activities, and are proposed to be maintained or improved, and included in the Forest Transportation System. A portion of one of the existing roads in the project area was identified in the transportation analysis as not needed, and is proposed to be decommissioned. In addition, 10 of the Forest roads within the project need to be maintained and/or reconstructed to standard in order to provide safe and efficient long and short-term forest management access, as well as implement proposed project treatments. Decision to be Made District Ranger Mike Martin is the Responsible Official who will be making a decision whether or not to implement the proposed Province Integrated Resource Management Project. At this time, it is anticipated that the environmental analysis for the proposed will be documented in an Environmental Assessment (EA). Following completion of the EA, the Responsible Official will make a decision whether to implement the proposed activities described above, an alternative design, or not implement any project at this time. It is expected that the decision regarding implementation of this project will be made sometime in summer Province Project Scoping Report