Pole Creek Timber Salvage Project Specialist Report. Transportation. Introduction. Regulatory Framework / Management Direction

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1 Pole Creek Timber Salvage Project Specialist Report Transportation Donald Walker P.E. June 13, 2013 Introduction This report describes the effects to the transportation system from the Pole Creek Timber Salvage Project. The potential effects to the transportation system result from log and biomass removal along the Forest Road system during project implementation. A Roads Analysis was also completed as part of this analysis. The Roads Analysis indentified candidate roads for closure or decommissioning.. The following analysis issues were used to described project effects; 1 1. Road Maintenance 2. Road Reconstruction 3. Traffic Volumes 4. Road Mileages and Densities as prescribed by the Pole Creek Timber Salvage Road Analysis. Regulatory Framework / Management Direction The following Forest Plan standards and guidelines apply to the project (Deschutes National Forest Land and Resource management Plan, page 4-71). Transportation System Goal To plan, design, operate, and maintain a safe and economical transportation system providing efficient access for the movement of people and materials involved in the fuse and protection of National Forest Lands. TS-1 Adequate access to and within the Forest will be provided and will include travel by foot, horse, aircraft, watercraft, and motorized vehicles of all types. A process for access and travel management is defined in the Forest Service Handbook on transportation planning. The process will utilize an interdisciplinary approach which considers the standards/guidelines of all resource areas, will involve Forest visitors and interest groups, and will focus on the positive aspects and opportunities provided by access and travel management. The partnership will demonstrate that both resources and people are better accommodated through a spectrum of carefully planned an implemented strategies. TS-8 Roads will be closed through the most economical method that is effective in meeting the management objectives for the area. These include seasonal administrative closures, sign restrictions, barriers, gates, and road obliteration. The preferred method of closing roads will be by obscuring the road entrance to discourage vehicle access. When formal (legal) closures are needed, the orders will be consistent with the Code of Federal Regulations. TS-11 To achieve the Forest's wildlife objectives, open road density must be managed. Density guidelines are not intended to be objectives in themselves, but are means to accomplish wildlife

2 resource objectives. Therefore, open road densities will be evaluated in relation to the needs and sensitivity of site specific wildlife habitats and populations. TS-12 Some management areas include open road density guidelines. If not included in the management area direction, the deer summer range guideline of 2.5 miles per square mile, as an average over the entire implementation unit, is assumed. Guideline densities will be used as thresholds for a further evaluation and will not serve as the basis for assessing conformance with the Forest Plan. Analysis Methods The methods used to conduct the effects analysis are described below: 1. Road Maintenance will be reviewed by Road Maintenance Objective s (RMO s), current year Road Maintenance Plan for the Sisters Ranger District, and road maintenance requirements for timber/stewardship projects. 2. Traffic volume information will be gathered by conducting interviews with Timber Sales Administrators. This is measured in approximate vehicles per day. 3. Road Reconstruction would be measured in miles. 4. Road Mileage and Densities will be conducted by analyzing the entire Pole Creek Fire Timber Salvage project area, including the salvage units with current and proposed road closures and decommissioning recommendation from the Pole Creek Timber Salvage Project Roads Analysis (May, 2013). This is measured in miles and miles/miles 2. Road Maintenance Existing Condition The current road system of the area, more particularly the preliminary haul routes, has had little to no maintenance performed in the last five years. The road system was created in the 1960 s for the purpose of hauling timber products to the local mills and the roads were maintained to facilitate the large amounts of timber haul. According to the current Road Maintenance Objectives (RMO s), a majority of the roads under the listing of Service Life are listed as I - INTERMITTENT TERM SERVICED. This mean the roads in this designation category are used periodically and their service life is not long term. These roads with this designation are typically not on a scheduled cycled road maintenance plan. Many of these roads do not receive scheduled maintenance for years and in some cases, over a period of time, are naturally reincorporated in the surrounding landscape. Another RMO category of Objective Maintenance Level, with a designation of Maintenance Level 1 (closed), meaning at some future date the Forest Service would potentially close the road. This RMO category is defined in the majority of roads within the project area. Actual road closure would be informed through a Roads Analysis and subsequent NEPA analysis. The current RMO s associated with roads within the project area indicated the Forest Service will not fund maintenance except for roads which currently serve high traffic volume destinations such as campgrounds and trailheads. Alternative 1 A no action alternative would have any additional impacts to the roads. A majority of roads within the project area would not receive routine maintenance on a rotational basis. 2

3 Alternative 2 Maintenance would be conducted on 70 miles of roads associated with log haul. The haul roads are preliminary at the time of this report and include the following; Road Length (Miles) Road Length (Miles)

4 Map 1 Preliminary Haul Routes 4

5 Direct effects include; Blading and shaping of the road to provide smoother surface and proper drainage Cleaning of culverts where needed. This practice reduce the chances of water draining directly on the road way. Cleaning of ditches where needed. This practice ensures the ditches along roadways are properly functioning. Logging out and brushing where needed. This practice opens up and self-closing road due to vegetation takeover. Indirect effects include; Reduction of road sediment runoff and erosion. Opening of physically closed roads for the public. Directing water runoff to the appropriate facilities (ditches, catch basins, culverts) as designed. Cumulative Effects Alternative 2 The cumulative effects area is 10,692 acres and the time is over the next 3 years. The largest impact to the area has been the 2012 Pole Creek Fire and covers the entire project area. The fire changed the landscape and hydrology of the area by altering the soils characteristics ability to infiltrate water and the lack of vegetation with its ability to slow the waters velocity. In October of 2012, a 2 year storm event occurred in the area with precipitation above 2 inches over a 24 hour period. The storm resulted in increased channel flow associated with sheet flow was then transferred down road side ditches and culverts and were overwhelmed with water volume.. This resulted in some roads being washed out and sedimentation being deposited on and beyond the road way. This large flow of water was transferred to major creeks and streams. This increased flow and associated debris was transported downstream to major culverts. These major culverts became restricted and overfilled, resulting in in moderate damage to the road. An example of this was the Pole Creek cross at Forest Road The culvert associated with the crossing captured debris and restricted the water capacity. This raised the water level and eventually flowed across Forest Road After the fire was contained the Pole Creek BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) project was implemented to stabilize the weak points in the drainage and road systems in the winter of A sample of treatments includes some of the following; Creations of vented fords across roads with major culverts. Installing armor ford next to culverts to prevent further washouts. 5

6 6 Blading and reshaping the road crown to improve drainage. Cleaning ditch lines and culvert to remove deposited sediment and debris. The SAFR project has been ongoing since 2009 and the actual SAFR boundary does not intersect or occupy the same space as the Pole Creek Fire Timber Salvage Project but both projects use the same major haul routes. Each year during the SAFR project, numerous prescribed areas have been treated for fuels reduction and to encourage stands of healthy trees. The result of these treatments is increased traffic of commercial vehicles that provide equipment mobilization and timber product hauls. Each awarded contract contains language in regards to requirement in road maintenance and some of the major haul routes that would be utilized for the Pole Creek Salvage have had above normal maintenance cycles. With the combination of the fore mentioned projects, maintenance on the major haul routes of has had above the normal maintenance cycle typically found for these types of roads. The Popper project began in the planning stages in 2011for the purpose of reducing fuels and increasing the acreage of healthy sustainable forest. In the fall of 2012 the Pole Creek fire occurred and this resulted in the cancellation of the Popper project. The project is rescheduled for analysis for the Fall of 2013 and the timeline for completion would be Fall, If implemented in the Fall of 2014 the Popper project would increase traffic from commercial vehicles and would have an effect on the amount of maintenance that would be performed on some of the major and minor roads with in the area but would not coincide with the Pole Creek Fire Timber Salvage operations since completion of its operations would be in the Fall of 2014 Alternative 3 Direct and Indirect Effects Alternative 3 is similar to Alternative 2 except that that a smaller amount of trees would be harvested. Alternative 2 would harvest about 13 MMBF ad compared to Alternative 3 which will harvest 6 MMBF of timber. This smaller amount of timber will require less commercial haul which implies that the frequency of the road maintenance would be reduced, but would still be required. Both alternatives will have the same amount of utilized mileage required to extract timber product and transport it to the mills. The road maintenance items for Alternative 3 are the same as described for Alternative 2. Alternative 3 Cumulative Effects The cumulative effects for Alternative 3 are the same as Alternative 2. Road Reconstruction Existing Condition The current conditions of the preliminary haul routes justify the need for road maintenance for facilitating commercial haul. This activity is done under the language of the sales contract and this is required by the contractor to perform. The road maintenance is stated in the form of specifications and drawing details within the contract and is administrated by the timber sales administer. Surveys of the

7 roads to verify the state of condition was partially completed in June, 2013 to verify the state of the roads. A majority of the roads can be done by maintenance, but there are roads that will need to be reconstructed. Surveys suggest that approximately 2.2 miles of road within the realm of preliminary haul routes qualify as road reconstruction. The term reconstruction is defined as a road that is in a condition where routine maintenance cannot be performed and more extensive work would be required to bring the road up to standard for facilitating haul. This is also part of the contract, to be completed by the contractor, in the form of drawing plans and specification for specific work and determined locations. This work would be observed and administer by an engineering representative assign to the project. Work includes; Importing borrow fill to repair major road rutting and washout caused by water runoff. Blading and shaping the road after washout repair. Installing armored rolling dips to dissipate water runoff along road prisms to reduce sediment travel. This is critical along identified ephemerals draws (refer to hydrology report) associated with the road. Possible installations of culverts where required. This work will take place prior to any haul operations. A qualified engineer would compose the drawings and use Federal Highway Standards FP-03 for the specifications. 7

8 Map 2 Preliminary Road Construction 8

9 Alternative 1 No road reconstruction would take place with a no action alternative. There are no future plans for the Forest Service to reconstruct the identified roads. Alternative 2 Direct effects include; Repair of specific haul routes effected by the Pole Creek Fire Reduce sediment and erosion into watershed Indirect effects include; Increase access for high clearance vehicles within the Pole Creek Fire Area. Increase access for Forest Service administrators Decrease erosion and control sediment transfer within the road prism Cumulative effects include; Road segments under consideration for road reconstruction are not within any past or foreseeable projects but area within the Pole Creek Fire Area. Perform such work would reduce erosion and sediment issues in the future. Traffic Volumes Existing Condition The current traffic volumes conditions are light to none through direct observation. Most roads in the project area are Maintenance Level 2 category and are limited to High Clearance Vehicles. Surveys indicate that some of the roads have not received proper maintenance and in some areas roads have been closed due to forest vegetation. Most traffic on the minor roads is used by hunters, people gathering special forest products, and administrative use. Alternative 1 Direct and indirect effects with a no action alternative would have no addition impact to the area. The current volumes involve the recreating public and Forest Service administrative traffic Alternative 2 Direct effects would include; Increased commercial traffic on minor roads involved with salvage units by 2 to 3 trucks per day. Major haul routes would see an increased traffic to state and county roads by 12 to 15 trucks per day. 9

10 The preceding information was concluded pursuant to past experience on other contract sales. An interview with the Sisters Ranger District Timber Sales Administrator in regards to past timber and stewardship contracts was the source of the traffic volume data. Indirect effects include; The increased traffic would possibly impact recreation traffic. The general public might use alternative routes to destination trailheads and campgrounds. Mitigations; The increased traffic from commercial timber haul will have an effect with the interface with regular recreation and administrative traffic in the area. To mitigate this increase commercial traffic, it will be required that during the time of the contract traffic warning signs will be installed along haul routes to warn motorist of the presence of truck traffic. Alternative 2 Cumulative Effects Current ongoing projects that would contribute to traffic volumes include the SAFR project. Activities associated with the SAFR project and its associated fuel reduction units would contribute to traffic volumes in the form of commercial traffic along major haul routes. The estimated time for the SAFR project to be completed is approximately 2019/2020. Currently there are no SAFR project units in the vicinity of the Pole Creek Timber Salvage units. The SAFR would not impact the minor haul routes used in conjunction with the salvage units. The Popper project began in the planning stages in 2011for the purpose of reducing fuels and increasing the acreage of healthy sustainable forest. In the fall of 2012 the Pole Creek fire occurred and this resulted in the cancellation of the Popper project. The project is rescheduled for analysis for the Fall of 2013 and the timeline for completion would be Fall, If implemented in the Fall of 2014 the Popper project would increase traffic from commercial vehicles, but would not coincide with the Pole Creek Fire Timber Salvage operations since completion of operations would be in the Fall of

11 Alternative 3 Direct and Indirect Effects Alternative 3 is the same as Alternative 2 with the exception for the amount of timber volume harvested. Alternative 2 would harvest about 13 MMBF of timber; Alternative 3 would harvest about 6 MMBF of timber. It is assumed that under Alternative 3 traffic volumes from commercial timber haul would be about half the number of commercial vehicles required to haul the timber product compared to Alternative 2. Alternative 3 Cumulative Effects This alternative would have the same past, present and ongoing, and future projects within this area as Alternative 2. Road Mileages and Densities Existing Condition There are approximately 97 miles of Forest Service Roads within the project area boundary. About 6.17 miles of these system roads are closed. The open road density ratio is 90.86miles/16.70miles 2. This equates to an open road density of 5.44miles/miles 2 ( Pole Creek Timber Salvage Roads Analysis, 2013). The Forest Plan guidelines for open road densities are 2.5 miles/miles 2 pursuant to TS-12 of the Deschutes National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. This project will not create any system or temporary roads. Alternative 1 There would no changes to the existing condition. Alternative 2 Direct effects are as follows; Total road mileage would change from miles to miles based on the recommendation contained in the Roads Analysis developed for this project. Open road density would change from 5.44miles/miles 2 to 5.01 miles/miles 2 based on the recommendation contained in the Roads Analysis developed for this project.. 11

12 Exhibit 1 Proposed Recommendations Closed Road Number Current Maintenance Level Objective Maintenance Level Length in Miles HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 1 - BASIC CUSTODIAL CARE (CLOSED) HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 2 - HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 1 - BASIC CUSTODIAL CARE (CLOSED) HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 1 - BASIC CUSTODIAL CARE (CLOSED) HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 2 - HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 2 - HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 1 - BASIC CUSTODIAL CARE (CLOSED) 0.22 Decommission Road Number Current Maintenance Level Objective Maintenance Level Length in Miles HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 2 - HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 2 - HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES

13 Map 3 Road Recommendations (Pole Creek Timber Salvage Project Roads Analysis) 13

14 Indirect effects are as follows: Reduction in the number of road miles allowed by highway legal and OHV vehicles. Changes in future Motorized Vehicle Use Maps. Possible reduction in the amount of money required to maintain open roads. Alternative 2 Cumulative Effects Projects listed in the past project/events category did not contribute to the reduction of road mileage and densities in the project area. A roads analysis was not conducted for the SAFR project. The 2012 Pole Creek Fire required temporary road closures but did not result in any long-term road closures., Both of the proceeding actions did not have a roads analysis complement to each of them, therefore road closures was not implemented. This foreseeable project in the previous planning stage prior to the Pole Creek Fire had a review of the Popper section of the Sky Roads Analysis (2008) to verify the recommendations. This would impact the future of some of the roads within the Pole Creek Timber Salvage Project once the replanning stage was complete including an additional review/iteration of the Sky Roads Analysis. Alternative 3 Direct and Indirect Effects Same as Alternative 2 Alternative 3 Cumulative Effects Same as Alternative 2 Reference Information Pole Creek Timber Salvage Roads (EA) Pole Creek Roadside Danger Tree Project (DM) Roads associated with DM only Road Operational Maintenance Level Miles HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES

15 HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES MODERATE DEGREE OF USER COMFORT SUITABLE FOR PASSENGER CARS HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 3.87 Total Roads associated with EA only Road Operational Maintenance Level Miles HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES BASIC CUSTODIAL CARE (CLOSED) BASIC CUSTODIAL CARE (CLOSED) SUITABLE FOR PASSENGER CARS HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES BASIC CUSTODIAL CARE (CLOSED) HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES

16 HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES MODERATE DEGREE OF USER COMFORT HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 0.28 Total Roads associated with DM and EA Road Operational Maintenance Level Miles HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES SUITABLE FOR PASSENGER CARS HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES MODERATE DEGREE OF USER COMFORT HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES 0.71 Total

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