NEPA Template for White Bark Pine (WBP) Projects 11 March 2014

Transcription

1 NEPA Template for White Bark Pine (WBP) Projects 11 March 2014 Steve Shelly, Regional Botanist & R1 WBP IDT U.S. Forest Service Region 1 Mark Skinner, Regional Botanist U.S. Forest Service Region 6 Aly Piwowar, Assistant Regional Silviculturist U.S. Forest Service Region 6 Tyler Johnson, Botanist U.S. Forest Service Region 4

2 Types of Projects in WBP 17 projects, Regions 1,4, and 6 17 projects, Regions 1,4, and 6, described using these categories: Region Forest Document Type Document Year Project Title Project Type Project Description Acreage Effects Determination (on WBP) Effects Determination (other species) Considerations Comments Located here: O:\NFS\R06\Program\Botany\Whitebark Pine\BEs, EAs, CEs and Template

3 Types of Projects in WBP 17 projects, Regions 1,4, and 6 For WBP Restoration Remove competition for WBP (thin to release) 8 Plant seedlings in wilderness 1 Integrated WBP restoration (thin, burn, plant) 1 Other Primary Purpose Integrated restoration with WBP enhancement 3 Revise LRMP for Scenic and Wild River Designation 1 Fuels management (thin, burn) 1 Fuels management (burn) 1 Range Management (fencing through WBP) 1

4 FS NEPA Process

5 FS NEPA Process Relevant NEPA and ESA documents Categorical Exclusion (NEPA) No effects analysis necessary Biological Evaluation (NEPA) Part of an Environmental Assessment Environmental Assessment (NEPA) FONSI Environmental Impact Statement (NEPA) Significant effects Biological Assessment (ESA) Leads to Biological Opinion by FWS

6 FS NEPA Process FS CEs Timber stand or wildlife habitat improvement No acreage restrictions. May not use herbicides. No more than 1 mile of low standard road construction. Very widely used! Examples: Girdling trees to create snags. Thinning or brush control to improve growth or to reduce fire hazard, including the opening of an existing road to a dense timber stand. Prescribed burning to control understory hardwoods in stands of southern pine. Prescribed burning to reduce natural fuel buildup and improve plant vigor.

7 FS NEPA Process FS CEs Other Vegetation Management CEs Hazardous fuels reduction activities using prescribed fire, and mechanical methods for crushing, piling, thinning, pruning, cutting, chipping, mulching, and mowing Prescribed fire not to exceed 4,500 acres, no herbicides. Limited timber harvest of live trees Very limited acreage Salvage of dead and/or dying trees Limited acreage Removal of insect- or disease-infested trees Limited acreage

8 FS NEPA Process FS CEs

9 FS NEPA Process FS CEs

10 Project Examples BLM Challis Field Office Poverty Flats Whitebark Pine Restoration (CE, pre-commercial thinning) Remove competition for WBP (thin to release, keep plus trees), 228 acres

11 Project Examples BLM Challis Field Office Poverty Flats Whitebark Pine Restoration (CE, pre-commercial thinning) Remove competition for WBP (thin to release, keep plus trees), 228 acres Under the proposed action the subalpine fir (right) would be removed to release the whitebark pine seedlings (left).

12 Project Examples Bridger-Teton NF Grouse Mt. WBP Restoration Project (BE) Integrated WBP Restoration (thin, burn, plant), 633 acres treated

13 Project Examples Effects Analysis Bridger-Teton NF Grouse Mtn. WBP Restoration Project (BE) Integrated WBP Restoration (thin, burn, plant), 633 acres treated

14 Project Examples Bridger-Teton NF Hams Fork Vegetation Project (BE) Integrated Restoration (thin, burn, weeds, WBP), 8,619 acres treated

15 Project Examples Effects Analysis Bridger-Teton NF Hams Fork Vegetation Project (BE) Integrated Restoration (thin, burn, weeds, WBP), 8,619 acres treated

16 Project Examples Effects Analysis Boise NF Big Creek Whitebark Pine Enhancement Project (BA) Remove competition for WBP (thin to release) 1,195 acres

17 NEPA Template Purpose Ensure project design and effects analyses are accurate, appropriate, balanced, and based on best available science so good projects can proceed without appeal or objection Streamline document preparation Scope Provide suitable boilerplate language for common situations FS regions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 BEs and EAs

18 NEPA Template Project design Silvicultural treatments ( target stand ) Fire/fuels management Insects and disease, including WPBR Wildlife grizzly bear and lynx Regeneration Cone-bearing trees Genetically diverse areas Planting Acceptable mortality Protection situations Wilderness

19 NEPA Template Effects analysis Current condition (all geographic scales) Ecological information Direct, indirect, and cumulative effects Address 4 primary threats, and how the project contributes to ameliorating them

20 NEPA Template Based on analyses of beneficial and harmful actions, we may be able to build a No Effects matrix to speed environmental review

21 NEPA Template No Effects Matrix, Fish Example

22 Summary Beneficial impact is the goal for proactive projects! Project is tiered to a restoration strategy Project directly addresses the 4 ecological threats in design and analysis Base the project design and effects analysis on literature (especially for Rx fire and mechanical treatments)

23 Information O:\NFS\R01\Collaboration\WhitebarkPine R1 Whitebark Pine website: and click on Whitebark Pine WBP Document Library and Project Summaries: O:\NFS\R06\Program\Botany\Whitebark Pine\BEs, EAs, CEs and Template

24 Discussion Development of a useful NEPA template Useful effects analysis tools? Other kinds of projects to consider? WBP distribution and condition mapping for planning purposes? Data needs