Oak Flats Restoration Project Scoping Notice May 5, 2010

Transcription

1 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Diamond Lake Ranger District, Umpqua National Forest 2020 Toketee Ranger Station Road Idleyld Park, Oregon (541) FAX Oak Flats Restoration Project Scoping Notice May 5, 2010 Dear Interested Party: The Diamond Lake Ranger District of the Umpqua National Forest is starting the planning process on the Oak Flats Restoration Project. We would like to solicit comments and suggestions from you on our preliminary proposed action in the spirit of collaboration. This project has great potential for collaboration from the initial planning stage through project implementation and monitoring. We believe that collaborative planning has many positive benefits for all involved, including enhanced environmental stewardship, increased social capital, improved fact-finding, conflict prevention, better integration, and easier implementation. Once widespread in the Pacific Northwest, oak ecosystems have been dramatically reduced due to urbanization and fire suppression. This decline has been so severe that this habitat has been described as the most imperiled in the region. Although these areas comprise a small land area, they provide an essential niche. Over 140 species of wildlife use Oregon white oak habitat in Oregon and Washington, including species listed as sensitive-critical and sensitive-vulnerable by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The importance of these white oak woodlands necessitates management actions to ensure their continued existence. Oak Flats is located on the Diamond Lake Ranger District, Copeland Creek 6th field watershed, Lower Copeland Creek 7th field watershed, within Late Seral Reserve (LSR) 222. The primary purpose and need for the Oak Flats Restoration Project is to restore and maintain the unique oak/pine savannah vegetation communities and associated wildlife habitats historically promoted and maintained by a low intensity, high frequency, fire regime. This Fire regime is thought to have been maintained with American Indian initiated fires, and fires started by settlers for grazing in the early 1900 s to maintain open areas within Oak Flats. This maintenance promoted open oak/pine habitat, which is the main desired condition for this project (Figure 1). Today, oak savannah habitat has been reduced to small isolated pockets, and open ponderosa pine forest has essentially been eliminated, due to fire suppression beginning in the 1930 s (Figures 2 and 3). These habitats occupy less than 1% of the Late Successional Reserve network and are considered important for maintaining diversity across the landscape. Many of the stands within Oak Flats are now dominated by year old Douglas-fir that is shading out the Oregon white oak, sugar pine, and ponderosa pine (Figure 4). Figure 1 Desired open oak/pine habitat Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

2 Figure 2 - Oak Flats in 1944 Figure 3 - Oak Flats Current Condition Figure 4 - White Oak and Ponderosa Pine Mortality, Current Condition Page 2

3 The 1998 South Cascades Late-Successional Reserve Assessment (SCLSRA), 2001 Copeland-Calf Watershed Analysis (CCWA), 2003 Umpqua National Forest Watershed Restoration Business Plan, and 1990 Umpqua National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP), as amended, were used to set the stage for the Oak Flats Restoration preliminary proposed action. Page 149 of the SCLSRA, under the Meadow and Special Habitat Maintenance heading, states Management activities will be implemented to maintain these openings. Prescribed fire and manual or mechanical clearing are appropriate treatments to curtail tree encroachment. Table 44 identifies up to 400 acres within the Oregon White Oak series in LSR 222 for treatment. Our preliminary proposed action identifies 172 acres of mechanical treatment/prescribed fire, where only trees <24 inches DBH will be harvested, and 156 acres of prescribed fire only. The preliminary proposed action incorporates project design features to reduce/minimize impacts to the soil, water, wildlife, old growth remnant trees, and cultural resources. Proposed timber harvest activities of trees <24 dbh are expected to yield 4 million board feet and potentially generate stewardship funds to help finance the following connected actions: Plant Oregon white oak and sugar pine Control noxious weeds Maintenance underburn to maintain desired conditions Pre-commercial thin to maintain desired tree densities Enhance big game forage opportunities Monitor to see if desired future conditions are being met. The following preliminary proposed action map and associated table outlines unit specific actions proposed to meet the purpose and need of this project. These actions are not set in stone and we welcome comments and suggestions from you, in order to finalize the proposed action to restore and maintain this unique oak/pine savanna habitat. These actions are supported through current scientific research from the Pacific Northwest Research Station in an April 2008 General Technical Report -745, entitled Evaluation of Landscape Alternatives for Managing Oak. The main conclusion from this research study was The window of opportunity for restoring oak and prairie landscapes is small, and aggressive management is needed to maintain or enhance these landscapes. We have also utilized PNW-GTR-666, entitled a Practical Guide to Oak Release to help guide our preliminary proposed actions. We have included this publication for educational purposes and hope you find it interesting. Page 3

4 Unit or FS Road Total Acres or Miles Desired Future Condition Harvest Roads Fire Native Revegetation/Density Management 1A 13.7 Oak/Pine Savanna Volume: 406 mbf skyline and groundbased cut-to-length 0.14 miles of new temporary road 1B 5.3 Oak/Pine Savanna dominant and remnant pine, white oak, and Douglas-fir Volume: 706 mbf skyline and groundbased cut-to-length 0.4 miles of new temporary road.36 miles of a legacy non-system road A (NE) 4A (SW) dominant and remnant pine, incense cedar, and Douglas-fir 12.3 Oak/Pine Savanna 26.9 Oak/Pine Savanna Page 4 Volume: 312 mbf skyline and groundbased cut-to-length Volume: 780 mbf 0.01 miles of new temporary road 0.14 miles of new temporary road 4B 1.9 Oak/Pine Savanna 4C 0.9 Oak/Pine Savanna dominant and remnant pine, white oak, and Douglas-fir Oak/Pine Savanna 7 23 Oak/Pine Savanna Volume: 84 mbf Volume: 487mbf Volume: 677 mbf 0.03 miles of new temporary road 0.33 miles of new temporary road 0.15 miles of new temporary road Initial pile and burn/whipfall followed by maintenance underburn every only in areas of logging disturbance

5 Unit or FS Road Total Acres or Miles Desired Future Condition Harvest Roads Fire dominant and remnant pine Oak/Pine Savanna Open, single or two-storied stand, consisting of dominant and remnant pine, incense cedar, and Douglas-fir Open, single or two-storied stand, consisting of dominant and remnant pine, incense cedar, and Douglas-fir Oak/Pine Savanna Road Open, single or two-storied stand, consisting of dominant and remnant pine, incense cedar, and Douglas-fir Volume: 110 mbf Volume: 287 mbf Volume: 120 mbf skyline 0.9 mi miles of new temporary road 0.02 miles of new temporary road Reconstruction: low water fords, culvert cleanout, rock blankets for plunge pools, and grading Native Revegetation/Density Management - - Page 5

6 Page 6

7 WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK and INVITE YOU ON A FIELD TRIP. We are now seeking your comments on the preliminary proposed action for the Oak Flat Restoration Project. Please join us for a field trip to Oak Flats on Saturday, May 22 from 10am to 2pm. We are meeting in the front parking lot of the North Umpqua Ranger District at 10am and will provide multipassenger vehicles for transportation to Oak Flats. Your RSVP to Rick Abbott for the field trip attendance by May 17, 2010 would be greatly appreciated so we can plan accordingly. If you would like to give us your input on the proposal, join us for the field trip to the project area, or want more information about the project, please contact: Rick Abbott, Team Leader, Diamond Lake Ranger District, Idleyld Park, OR 97447, (541) or s can be sent to: rabbott@fs.fed.us Please submit your scoping comments to the Forest Service no later than June 18th. Thank you and we look forward to collaborating with you on this worthwhile project! Bill Gamble, District Ranger Page 7