Regional Ecosystem Office
333 SW 1st
P.O. Box 3623
Portland, Oregon 97208-3623
Website: www.reo.gov
Phone: 503-808-2165 FAX: 503-808-2163

Memorandum
Date: July 13, 2001
To: Lou Woltering, Forest Supervisor, Six-Rivers National Forest
From: Stephen J. Odell, Executive Director, Regional Ecosystem Office
Subject: Regional Ecosystem Office Field Visit of the Siskiyou Habitat Improvement Project in the Siskiyou Late-Successional Reserve, Smith River National Recreation Area.

This memorandum serves to document the results of a project field-review of the Siskiyou Habitat Improvement Project by the Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) Late-Successional Reserve (LSR) Work Group. This memo is being forwarded directly to you as you requested. The work group reviewed the project during the initial planning stages in 1997 pursuant to Northwest Forest Plan (NFP) Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) at page C-12. Although the project was generally consistent with the previously reviewed Smith River LSR Assessment and its related review exemption letter of November 13, 1996, project review by the REO was conducted because treatments were proposed in stands exceeding the 80-year limitation designated in both the NFP S&Gs and the exemption letter.

The LSR Work Group periodically chooses to conduct field reviews of completed projects, particularly difficult or complex ones, to help the work group correlate their understanding of projects based on written proposals to actual on-the-ground results. This project was selected for such review because it is the only habitat-improvement project reviewed by the work group in stands over 80 years old.

The work group represents REO and includes individuals from various agencies associated with the NFP. Work group members who attended the field visit included Sue Livingston and Bob Progulske (FWS), Terry Fairbanks (FS), and Larry Larsen (BLM). The group wishes to thank the Six Rivers National Forest staff for a valuable tour of the project and their dedicated effort. The following comments are based on that visit and follow-up discussions of the work group and with the Forest staff.

The work group noted that overall the project was well done. There was a thorough analysis completed prior to project implementation. The Forest planning team made a good effort to rank the stands and only treat those they felt could benefit from treatment. The field review and Environmental Assessment revealed innovative marking guides and evidence of close coordination with timber operations staff in layout, marking, and harvesting. As we understand, and as noted in our consistency letter of July 15, 1997, this project was primarily designed to more rapidly develop late-successional habitats, providing both short- and long-term benefits for late-successional related species.

In the July 1997 letter, the project proposal was found to be consistent with overall LSR objectives of the NFP S&Gs, but inconsistent with the 80-year limitation for commercial timber harvest. However, the consistency letter noted that a site-specific forest plan amendment was planned as part of the planning process for this project, and the letter served as documentation of REO's coordination/review of that amendment. Based on discussions with the Forest, the letter also included certain assumptions that REO understood would be met in order to be consistent with the Smith River Late-Successional Reserve Assessment and the NFP.

Two of the assumptions outlined in the July 1997 letter included:

· All snags will be retained except those that need to be felled for operator safety. Post-harvest creation of snags will result in 4 to 10 snags per acre, depending on forest type.

· Retained and supplemented coarse woody debris (CWD) levels will range from 8 to 14 logs per acre. Where additional trees are felled to meet these numbers, trees will be from among the largest planned for cutting, and each tree will count as one log. High levels of CWD are an objective with this entry, since thinning will reduce suppression-related recruitment of CWD for the short- and mid-term and re-entry is not planned.

Although the work group did not take any measurements during the field review, one of the main observations was that snags and especially coarse woody debris (CWD) levels did not appear to be consistent with the 1997 letter. Representatives from the Forest confirmed during the field visit that those levels had not yet been met on this Project. In subsequent discussions, Forest staff has suggested that lower CWD numbers as described in the Forest-wide LSR Assessment should apply to this project. We find this consistent with NFP S&Gs, since the Forest-wide LSRA amended the Smith River LSRA, stating in Chapter 6, "Therefore the Smith River LSR Assessment is amended through this document to include these commercial thinning objectives, stand attributes, treatment standards, and marking guidelines." However, Forest Staff indicated that snags and CWD levels on this Project are not currently within the ranges outlined in the Forest-wide LSR Assessment either.

An element of the project design that appeared to be well met was the residual stocking level of 180 to 220 square feet of basal area. In 1997, this relatively high stocking level seemed to fit the advanced age of the stands, seemed to fit the stands particularly low average tree height/diameter ratio, and would serve to provide a future CWD source. With the benefit of recent research and nearly four additional years of thinning experience in LSRs, members of the work group now feel the stands would have benefitted from even wider-spaced thinning prescriptions and recommend lower basal areas be considered in the future under these conditions. It appears that creating additional snags and CWD to meet project objectives could also help reach desired conditions for these stands.

The work group considers their involvement in this project complete, however if you or your staff wish to have further discussions, please contact Shawne Mohoric (503-808-2175), LSR Work Group leader.

cc:
LSR Work Group, REO,IAC

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