DECISION MEMO Jakabe Juniper/Aspen/Meadow Projects Paisley Ranger District, Fremont-Winema National Forests Lake County, Oregon

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1 DECISION MEMO Jakabe Juniper/Aspen/Meadow Projects Paisley Ranger District, Fremont-Winema National Forests Lake County, Oregon Decision I have reviewed the environmental analysis project file and have decided to implement the Jakabe Juniper/Aspen/Meadow Recovery Project located in the Chewaucan Watershed of the Paisley Ranger District, Fremont-Winema National Forests. The center legal description is Townships 36 and 37 South and Ranges 17 and 18 East. The project (approximately 10,000 acres) is in the Jakabe analysis area. The project is a combination of juniper removal, precommercial thinning, aspen release, meadow enhancement treatments, and prescribed burning that will occur where juniper; or in the case of meadows and aspen, other encroaching conifers is the dominant type. Commercial harvest is not planned. The Jakabe analysis area, a part of the Lakeview Sustained-Yield Unit (Sustained Yield Forest Management Act, 1944), is most of the Chewaucan River watershed (Bear Creek, Ben Young Creek, Chewaucan River, Coffeepot Creek, and Swamp Creek subwatersheds) and is located in Lake County, Oregon. Access to the area is by Lake County Road 2-8, which becomes Forest Service Road 33 at the National Forest boundary. The northern edge is approximately four air miles south of the city of Paisley and the southern edge is approximately 20 air miles south of Paisley and 23 air miles north of the town of Lakeview. Background Analysis at the watershed scale was completed for the Chewaucan Watershed in July of Watershed analysis is an intermediate analysis between land management planning and project planning. This analysis identified resource concerns within the watershed, current and desired conditions, and recommended actions to maintain and/or improve resource conditions. An Interdisciplinary Team (IDTeam) was established that same year to address the differences between the current conditions and desired conditions identified in the watershed analysis and to prioritize the recommended actions. Recommendations in the watershed analysis were based on conditions and not site specific. The goal of the IDTeam was to apply these recommendations to specific areas in the watershed and produce an analysis to support site-specific decisions. The Jakabe Restoration Project was added to the Fremont Schedule of Proposed Actions in May of The proposed action for the Jakabe Watershed Restoration Project was completed and sent to the public in May Comments from the public, input from Forest specialists, and resource knowledge was used to analyze and formulate alternatives addressing the concerns in Jakabe. The recommendations consistently referred to the changes in vegetation and hydrologic conditions that have occurred over time because of management practices and policies. Restoring the role of fire to the area and eventually returning to reference or historic conditions is a recurring 1

2 theme, seen as an important part of the desired condition of the area. In many places, however, forested stands need to be treated mechanically before fire can be used safely and effectively. These concepts were the start of the Jakabe Watershed Restoration project. Proposed Action The juniper multi-treatment prescriptions are all designed to start moving the vegetative condition on a trend toward the historical functioning condition. The current condition of the individual stands will dictate how far and how fast each activity can move the stand to the historical condition. However, each treatment will result in a vegetative condition much more resilient to stand replacement mortality from fire, insects or disease. This factor alone, and with continued maintenance treatments will allow the vegetative condition to return to the historic structure and species mix. With fire suppression, the aggressive nature of juniper has resulted in juniper gaining control of many acres and out-competing most of the other vegetation. The conifer pockets have expanded and become more densely stocked, encroaching in aspen stands, along riparian areas, and meadows. The vegetative conditions in the juniper multi-treatments are designed to facilitate effective and economical use of prescribed fire after treatment. The fire use in these areas will be of an intensity that greatly reduces the potential of intense wildfire behavior in these stands for perhaps 5-10 years following prescribed fire. Planned treatments Junipers to be cut All other conifers to be cut Slash treatment Aspen MA-9 # All non-old growth Conifers less than 21 dbh* May be required uplands MA-9 riparian All non-old growth Conifers less than 12 dbh May be required All other areas All non-old growth Conifers less than 12 dbh May be required Meadows MA-9 All non-old growth Conifers less than 21 dbh 18 depth w/ pullback All other areas All non-old growth Conifers less than 12 dbh 18 depth w/ pullback Pine stringers All non-old growth 18 depth w/ pullback All non-old growth Conifers less than 12 dbh 18 depth w/ pullback # MA-9 = Management Area 9, Semiprimitive non-motorized and motorized *dbh = diameter at breast height Juniper meeting old growth characteristics will be retained. 1 1 Old-growth juniper can be based on structural characteristics of the tree, which develop slowly over time. As juniper ages, canopy morphology shifts from cone shaped to rounded top. As age advances the tree may also develop a combination of the following characteristics: broad nonsymmetric tops, deeply furrowed bark, twisted trunks or branches, dead branches and spike tops, large lower limbs, trunks containing narrow strips of cambium (strip-bark), hollow trunks, large trunk diameters relative to tree height, and branches covered with bright yellow green lichen (Letheria sp.). Juniper Woodlands: History, Ecology, and Management June

3 The cutting activity will be followed by prescribed burning. Approximate treatment acres by subshed Ben Approximate Bear Creek Young Chewaucan Coffeepot Swamp treatment acres Scoping and Public Involvement Preliminary scoping was done between the District and North Zone Resource Specialists using the project analysis card to solicit comments concerning the project. The proposed action was mailed as the Jakabe Watershed Restoration Project to people on the District mailing list, May 9, Comments were received from Mary Jo Hedrick, Assistant District Biologist, and Curtis Edwards, Biologist, of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; Mike Anderson, The Wilderness Society; Oregon Natural Resources Council; Mark Gaffney, Audubon Adopt-A-Forest Representative; Erik Ryberg; Bryan Bird, Forest Conservation Council; and Will Hatcher, The Klamath Tribes. Mitigation Measures The Interdisciplinary Team developed the following mitigation measures to manage the effects of treatment on the resources in the area. Any cultural and/or historical resources discovered during the course of the project would require halting work while measures are developed allowing for the mitigation of any adverse effects resulting from implementation. Arborglyphs on any aspen selected for removal will be described and recorded as necessary. Coordinate with district or forest archeologist. Where rock outcrops, cliff, cave and talus habitats are present within treatment areas, retain standing trees to maintain 80% of the shade. Mitigate the effects of proposed activities on nesting goshawks by restricting activities from 4/1-8/15 (no activities may occur within this time period unless the district wildlife biologist has determined that nesting is not occurring) within six post fledging areas (PFA) identified in T.34S.R.17E. Sec. 9-19, 15-16, 21-22, 27-28, T.34S.R.18E. Sec , 31-32, T.35S.R.18E. Sec. 6, and T.36S.R.18E. Sec , 17-18, 20, Prescribed burn prescriptions will be designed to provide for a mosaic of burn and unburned areas where the ratio of burned to unburned area is approximately 60/40%. This is especially critical in shrub habitats as a number of species in shrub and shrub steppe habitats require a mosaic of shrub and grasslands as well as a variety of age classes of shrubs. 3

4 No burning or mechanical activities will occur in goshawk nest stands. Leave areas to retain cover within larger treatment areas will be identified prior to implementation. Active raptor nests found during operations will require an area of at least 300 yards around the nest left untreated until the young have fledged (usually around 7/30 8/15). Any protected, threatened, endangered, or sensitive species not identified in specialists reports discovered during operations will require further evaluation as to the potential effect of the project on the species. Proper mitigation measures will be developed as needed. Mitigatio ns specific to pine root rot areas: No cutting of ponderosa pine will occur unless stand density can be reduced to a level that adequately improves individual tree vigor and any hotter underburning is deferred at least two growing seasons post cutting to allow for trees to respond to their increased growing space. Maximum residual stand level density, including all species, will be 50 Sq. Ft of Basal Area for stands generally greater than 12 DBH, and 30 Sq. ft. of Basal Area for stands generally less than 12 DBH. If Ponderosa pines greater than 12 DBH are cut in any of these areas Borax will be applied to the stumps using standard protocol. Burning will be accomplished so that bark is not scarred to the depth of the cambium. In Ponderosa stands where the maximum residual stand density described above cannot be met, only cool underburning will be done. Protect all pines from bark wounding during falling operations. In MA 5, all pines less than 21 DBH will be felled within 50 of the far edge of the mortality pocket, or if this creates too great a fuel loading no pines are to be cut in the pocket areas and only cool underburning is to be used. If the root rot pocket is also in an aspen area, cut all pines less than 21 DBH within of any aspen. Cooler underburning may be applied under any and all of these situations. Rationale for the Decision This project falls within category 6 of Forest Service Handbook , section Based on an interdisciplinary review, adherence to the standards and guides set forth in the Land and Resource Management Plan Fremont National Forest, as amended, the findings in the Biological Evaluations and Cultural Resources Report of this project, and with the mitigation measures in 4

5 place, no extraordinary circumstances exist that might cause the action to have significant effects; therefore, the action is categorically excluded from documentation in an environmental assessment or in an environmental impact statement (FSH , section 30.3). Based on an environmental analysis, recommendations in the Chewaucan Watershed Ecosystem Analysis at the Watershed Scale, and past experience, the effects of implementing this action will be of limited context and intensity and will result in little or no environmental effects to either the physical or biological components of the environment. I have chosen to implement the proposed action and associated mitigation measures. This is a responsible course of action that will increase the health of the Chewaucan Watershed. It will also reduce the risk of damage to upland communities from wildfire, and by reintroducing fire in the form of prescribed fire, will restore some of the historical functions of wildfire in these communities. This project is consistent with the following goals of the Lakeview Federal Sustained Yield Unit: 1) Sustain and restore a healthy, diverse and resilient forest ecosystem that can accommodate human and natural disturbances. Restoring stand-maintenance fire regimes where they historically occurred. Maintaining and restoring habitat for focal species. Restoring forest conditions that approximate historic species composition and stand ages. 2) Sustain and restore the land's capacity to absorb, store and distribute quality water. Managing upland vegetation to maintain and restore water and moisture absorption, retention and release capacity over time. Maintaining and improving aquatic and riparian habitat for native species. Lowering stream temperature and sediment loads. Improving biophysical structure of soils. Findings Required By Other Laws This project is consistent with the management direction, including standards and guidelines outlined in the Forest Plan. This action also complies with all other laws and regulations relative to land management practices on the Fremont National Forest. Appeal Opportunities and Implementation This decision is not subject to appeal pursuant to Forest Service regulations at 36 CFR 215.8(a)(4). This decision may be implemented immediately. 5

6 Contact Person Questions regarding this decision should be directed to Bill Aney at the Paisley Ranger District, P.O. Box 67, Paisley, Oregon or phone (541) WILLIAM C. ANEY Paisley District Ranger Date The policy of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or political affiliation. Persons believing they have been discriminated against in any Forest Service related activity should write to Chief, Forest Service, USDA, P.O. Box 96090, Washington DC