Regional Ecosystem Office
Memorandum
Date: August 9, 1996
To: G. Lynn Sprague, Regional Forester, Forest Service, Region 5
From: Donald R. Knowles, Executive Director
Subject: Regional Ecosystem Office Review of Klamath National Forest's Taylor/Carter Meadows Late-Successional Reserve Assessment
Summary
The Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) and the interagency Late-Successional Reserve (LSR) Work Group have reviewed the Taylor/Carter Meadows Late-Successional Reserve Assessment (LSRA). The REO finds that the LSRA provides sufficient framework and context for future projects and activities within the LSR. Future silvicultural treatments and salvage activities (identified in the Implementation Schedule chapter) that meet the criteria and objectives described in the Taylor/Carter Meadows LSRA and which are consistent with the Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) in the Northwest Forest Plan (NFP), are exempted from subsequent project-level REO review.
Basis for the Review
Under the S&Gs for the NFP, a management assessment should be prepared for each large LSR (or group of smaller LSRs) before habitat manipulation activities are designed and implemented. As stated in the S&Gs, these assessments are subject to REO review. REO review focuses on the following:
1. The review considers whether the assessment contains sufficient information and analysis to provide a framework and context for making future decisions on projects and activities. The eight specific subject areas that an assessment should generally include are found in the NFP (S&Gs, page C-11). The REO may find that the assessment contains sufficient information and/or may identify topics or areas for which additional information, detail, or clarity is needed. The findings of the review are provided to the agency or agencies submitting the assessment.
2. The review considers potential treatment criteria and treatment areas addressed in the LSRA. When treatment criteria are clearly described in the LSRA—and their relationship to achieving desired late-successional conditions is also clear—subsequent projects and activities within the LSR(s) may be exempted from REO review, provided they are consistent with the LSRA criteria and NFP S&Gs. REO authority for developing criteria to exempt these actions is found in the S&Gs (pages C-12, C-13, and C-18).
Scope of the Assessment
The Taylor/Carter Meadows LSR is 15,360 acres in the upper South Fork Salmon River sub-watershed within the Klamath National Forest. Elevation ranges from 2,800-7,200 feet. The LSRA identifies current conditions within the LSR and recommends activities to maintain and enhance late-successional and old-growth conditions.
Approximately 73 percent of the LSR is capable of supporting late-successional coniferous forest habitat. The remaining 27 percent supports hardwood vegetation (canyon live oak and Oregon white oak), montane shrub communities, meadow complexes, and non-vegetated areas (rock outcrops and water bodies). Currently, 1/3 of the LSR is in late-successional vegetative condition which includes dense (10 percent of the total LSR) and open (23 percent) areas, 1/4 of the LSR is considered mid-successional (open—7 percent; dense—18 percent), and approximately 14 percent of the LSR is in early-successional condition (pole—12 percent; sapling/seedling—2 percent). The remainder of the LSR is currently comprised of hardwood vegetation, meadow complexes, and non-vegetated areas.
Review of LSR Criteria and Future REO Review of Projects Within the LSR
The REO reviewed the LSRA in light of the eight subject areas from the NFP (S&Gs, page C-11) and found that it provides a sufficient framework and context for making future decisions on projects and activities within the Taylor/Carter Meadows LSR.
The LSRA provides an excellent description of the area and its history. It describes important conditions and processes, disturbance regimes (including fire, insect and disease outbreaks) and historic and current uses and their implications for future management. It also identifies plant and animal species of interest or concern within the LSR, and addresses connectivity within the LSR and between LSRs. The information provided by the high-quality maps and photo documentation greatly facilitated the review.
We looked at the desired conditions identified in the assessment, the types of possible treatments identified, and the criteria for project design and implementation to determine whether REO review of subsequent projects will be required. The document identifies possible treatments which could occur within the LSR to achieve desired conditions. The project location map (Figure 13) identifies the locations where such activities would be considered. The LSRA provides information on habitat conditions and risks, and provides a list of possible treatments to achieve desired conditions and reduce risks. Silvicultural treatments, including manual fire risk reduction, prescribed burning, and salvage (identified on pages 53-61 and Figure 13) that meet the criteria (described in pages 40-52) and are otherwise consistent with the NFP S&Gs, are exempted from future REO review.
The REO is working with the Research and Monitoring Committee to ensure that projects within LSRs, including projects exempted from REO review, are considered in the development of Implementation, Effectiveness, and Validation Monitoring Programs.
Assumptions
The following assumption is inherent in the REO’s finding that the LSR assessment provides a sufficient framework and context for future activities in the LSR and that subsequent silvicultural treatments described in the LSRA are exempted from project-level REO review.
· The forest will leave the largest logs available for coarse woody debris, appropriate for the specific-site conditions.
Conclusions
Based on the documentation in the Taylor/Carter Meadows LSRA, discussions with Forest Service personnel and the interagency LSR Work Group, and the above noted assumption, the REO finds the LSRA provides sufficient context and framework for decisions on projects and activities detailed. In addition, silvicultural and salvage activities described and identified on the project location map (Figure 13) in the LSRA, and which are consistent with the S&Gs and the assumption stated above, are exempted from further REO review.
cc:
Tom Nygren, S.Clauson, Forest Supervisor Klamath NF
RIEC
REO Reps
751/ly