BOISE FOREST COALITION MEETING BOGUS BASIN UPDATE

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1 BOISE FOREST COALITION MEETING BOGUS BASIN UPDATE WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Idaho Department of Fish and Game 600 S. Walnut, Boise, Idaho Trophy Room October 15, 2015 Facilitators, Dick Gardner and Jim Birdsall, reviewed the agenda (Attachment A) and the Boise Forest Coalition (BFC) approved the meeting summary from the September 3, 2015, meeting. Participants introduced themselves. BOGUS BASIN FOREST HEALTH PROJECT PROPOSAL Scott Wagner, Boise National Forest, provided a PowerPoint presentation of the Bogus Basin Forest Health Project (Attachment B). The 2,742-acre project area is located within the Clear-Robie Analysis Area, northeast of Boise, Idaho. The project area has been expanded since the last BFC meeting to include all of the existing roads proposed to be used for vegetation treatments. The project area was expanded to a private land boundary on the west side and to Shafer Creek on the south. The expansion to Shafer Creek will allow burn units with realistic boundaries to be developed. Landownership in the project area includes National Forest System (NFS) lands surrounding 640 acres owned by the Bogus Basin Mountain Resort. NFS lands around the resort are used by the resort under a special use permit. Groomed, Alpine, and Nordic skiing routes and ski lifts occur within the proposed project area. The project area falls within Management Prescription Categories (MPCs) 4.2 and MPC 5.1 emphasizes restoration of forested landscapes 1 ; all of the proposed treatments fall within those guidelines. However, the project area also occurs within a managed recreation area, and treatments must consider effects to recreation. A broad-scale analysis using vegetation inventory data and databases indicates the project area includes four major Potential Vegetation Groups (PVGs): 1, 2, 3, and 4. PVG 1 is the least abundant; PVG 2 the most common, covering approximately 53% of the project area. Few acres of PVG 3 occur in the area in the middle elevations. Most downhill skiing occurs in PVG 4. PVG classifications are based on understory and overstory vegetation. PVG 1 is dry ponderosa pine/xeric Douglas-fir and contains mostly ponderosa pine overstory with grass and sage or bitterbrush understory. PVG 2 contains much more Douglas-fir and the understory changes to ceonothus, snowberry and other species. Plant vegetation in PVG 2 is more varied than in PVG 1. Douglas-fir dominates PVG 4 and the understory is sparse. Brush is short in this PVG because it is limited by snowpack and a shorter growing season. PVG 3 contains a nearly equal mix of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir. Some of the most diverse plant associations occur in PVG 3. A need exists to cut and remove hazard trees and dwarf mistletoe-infected trees for public safety and to restore forest health. Scott displayed several examples of trees infected with dwarf mistletoe, which 1 USDA Forest Service Boise National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. Boise, ID: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Boise National Forest. Bogus Basin Update 1

2 makes these trees susceptible to Douglas-fir beetle infestation. Dead trees will remain standing for 2 10 years, but trees killed by pine beetle will decay more rapidly and can become a public safety issue. Hazardous trees are likely to cause property damage or personal injury from tree failure. Tree failure includes part of the tree falling or the entire tree falling over. Scott displayed several photos of hazard trees, which have the potential for failure and to cause serious damage along trails, roads and facilities. The Forest Service would use a scoring system with four components to determine if a tree needs to be removed for public safety. A need exists to promote alternative species in dwarf mistletoe-infected Douglas-fir stands to interrupt the disease cycle and maintain a healthy forest cover within the forested strips between the ski runs. Healthy trees are important for protecting snow cover and preventing it from being blown off the mountain. Removing this cover significantly changes the character and quality of skiing. Removing infected trees is the only way to remove the infection and protect the remaining healthy trees since dwarf mistletoe grows under the bark. One option is to under plant ponderosa pine to break the cycle of dwarf mistletoe infections since dwarf mistletoe is specific to its host (i.e., one variety infects Douglas-fir and another infects ponderosa pine). Once the infection cycle has been broken, Douglas-fir could again be planted. The proposal will be to remove the most severely damaged trees first. Protecting young seedlings and saplings from skier damage is another concern. A need exists to thin ponderosa pine stands to reduce dwarf mistletoe infection, reduce stand densities, promote ponderosa pine over Douglas-fir, and reduce ladder and crown fuels. Thinning ponderosa pine stands would also reduce the risk of western bark beetle, which is the primary beetle of concern in this area attacking ponderosa pine. The Boise Ridge TSI project was completed in The purpose of this project was to reduce fire risk by treating 820 acres with noncommercial understory thinning. Many of the treated stands remain at high density and are infected with dwarf mistletoe, and most of the residual overstory Douglas-fir trees have dwarf mistletoe. For this project, no trees were cut within a 15- to 50-foot buffer of mountain bike and Nordic trails and within a buffer for riparian areas. The buffer was adopted to meet visual quality objectives and for public safety, allowing the thinning to occur without having to close the trails. Proposed treatments for the Bogus Basin Forest Health Project include commercial thinning on 645 acres, hazard tree mitigation on 725 acres, and sanitation salvage on 774 acres for a total of 2,144 treated acres. Most commercial thinning would occur in ponderosa pine stands. Hazard tree mitigation would be scattered throughout the project area, primarily on inaccessible terrain or where a few scattered trees occur, and would focus on falling hazard trees. If hazard trees are located near a road, they could be removed as part of a timber sale. However, in most cases, hazard trees would be piled and burned or chipped. Larger boles would be left on the ground; some could be used to protect seedlings from skiers. Sanitation salvage would occur in areas with high infection rates of Douglas-fir. These infected trees would be removed, as would dead trees, to stop the infection cycle. Approximately 399 acres are also proposed for follow-up planting, with an alternative species if possible. Ponderosa pine would be the preferred species; lodgepole pine may need to be planted as a temporary replacement species in the higher elevations. Aspen tend to occur on the wetter sides of the project area but do not occur on the higher slopes above 6,000 feet. Aspen regeneration could be appropriate in certain areas. It doesn t get very large but provides temporary tree cover. Subalpine fir is also an option for planting even though no subalpine fir occurs in the project area, even above 6,000 feet. The lack of subalpine fir could be due to higher average summer temperatures. Lodgepole pine would be easier to establish in these areas since it grows in direct sun and can better tolerate heat and drought. Bogus Basin Update 2

3 Follow-up burning of piles and broadcast burning (primarily in the PVG2 stands) is proposed to reduce surface fuels and raise crown base heights. Three types of burning would occur: jackpot burning (248 acres), pile burning (790 acres), and understory burn (1,696 acres). The total footprint of treatment acres is 2,742 acres, which is less than the 3,000-acre limit of the categorical exclusion category. Most of the roads to be used as temporary roads would be constructed on existing road prisms. These roads would need some reconstruction, which would cause some ground disturbance. All of the roads would be decommissioned within 3 years of all project activities. Most of these roads would be returned to a condition better than the current condition. The project also proposes using approximately 9 miles of existing roads that are currently authorized by the special use permit. Those roads would be returned to the current condition, if not improved but would not be decommissioned. Three possible haul routes exist: Going to the north down Harris Creek Road through Horseshoe Bend Bogus Basin Road could be controversial Products from the eastern edge of the project area would go down Grimes Creek and down Highway 21 The Forest Service will be working on a communications plan regarding the potential haul routes. Following Scott s presentation, the following points were made: The primary purpose of the project is to improve forest resiliency and forest health; however, since this project is within a recreation area, it must be designed around recreation needs Maintaining snow cover is important for recreation and water supply Either Scott or another silviculturist would develop the marking guides for the treatments. The marking crew, with direction from the silviculturist and presale forester, would mark trees in the field. The Forest Service would then inspect these areas to ensure marked trees meet vegetation prescriptions. For the sanitation salvage, not all infected trees would be removed at one time in order to maintain some canopy cover. Some openings would be created from removing infected trees, which is where replanting would occur. Under-planting would occur with a species other than Douglas-fir to break the infection cycle Areas where lodgepole pine under-planting is being proposed show little-to-no natural regeneration of Douglas-fir A long-term vegetation management plan would be needed to completely eliminate or effectively manage dwarf mistletoe infection Logging systems proposed include tractor, jammer, and cable yarding Pile burning would occur after significant snow; jackpot burning would occur after colder temperatures occur, and understory burning would occur in spring and fall Scoping is scheduled for November. The remaining timeline is contingent on whether or not this project remains under a CE category, which will be determined after scoping. If this project remains under the CE category, the Decision would be issued in July. Using the material as biomass is not a viable option because of a lack of a local market Bogus Basin Update 3

4 CONSENSUS BFC members agreed to draft a letter to the Boise National Forest with their feedback on the project s purpose and need and the Proposed Action by October 30, The notes below should be reviewed in conjunction with the flipchart notes taken during the meeting (Attachment C). Project Purpose The BFC reviewed the project purpose statement and provided the following feedback: Make statement more concise Incorporate public safety Add wildfire before the word disturbance The BFC generally supported the purpose statement with the above changes. Project Needs The BFC reviewed the needs developed for the project and provided the following feedback: Even if planting occurs over several years, a lot of area would be removed from skiing to protect growing trees The amount of snow that falls each year may vary the runs available after planting, even within the same year Openings within in fenced-off areas should remain to allow skier crossing and tree skiing The second need statement could be changed to promote long-lived seral species within the forested strips between the ski runs since dead trees can be part of a healthy forest Why does the second statement include the words between ski runs? Should this be limited to between ski runs only? The need statements look like actions instead of needs. Their wording should be changed to make them look more like needs and less like actions. The BFC generally supported the project needs with the above changes. Proposed Action The BFC reviewed the Proposed Action and provided the following feedback: Stands should not be replanted too dense to allow for tree skiing Damage to bike trails would need to be repaired to Ridge-to-Rivers trail standards If a tree is felled, the limbs should be removed for skier safety Trees that are felled on ski runs or trails should be removed Work should not occur on weekends and holidays Aspen should be considered when replanting How do these actions affect wildlife? Harvest activities should be limited during migratory bird migration (raptor migration season) If new culverts are installed, they need to be adequately sized A robust public involvement strategy should be developed for transportation and roads Coordinate with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) for reaching out to hunters The BFC endorsed installing public education signage Bogus Basin Update 4

5 Change RR-3 to Time activities, including log haul The ski resort should be notified of when trees are going to be felled so they can inform recreationists The BFC generally supported the Proposed Action with the above changes. Other Comments Members asked to receive documents before the meeting so they had time to read the document and provide meaningful feedback. The IDFG asked if they could forward the draft scoping document to others outside of IDFG. Lynn Oliver will discuss with Randy Hayman. CLOSING The next meeting will be held on November 5; the BFC will review the near-final scoping documents at this meeting. The meeting adjourned at 1:41 P.M. Bogus Basin Update 5

6 ATTACHMENT A AGENDA Bogus Basin Update 6

7 ATTACHMENT B BOGUS BASIN FOREST HEALTH PROJECT POWERPOINT PRESENTATION Bogus Basin Update 7