Memorandum
Date: September 12, 1996
To: G. Lynn Sprague, Regional Forester, Region 5
From: Donald R. Knowles, Executive Director
Subject: Regional Ecosystem Office Review of Medicine Lake Fuelbreak Project within the Shotgun Managed Late-Successional Area, Modoc National Forest
Summary
The Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) and the interagency Late-Successional Reserve (LSR) Work Group have reviewed the Medicine Lake Fuelbreak proposal. The REO finds that the proposed project is consistent with the Northwest Forest Plan Record of Decision (ROD) standards and guidelines and objectives for management within Managed Late-Successional Areas (MLSAs).
Background
This project proposes creation of a shaded fuelbreak 200 feet wide along the west and south boundaries of a private 40 acre tract and housing development near the southeast corner of Medicine Lake. The tract is adjacent to, and immediately downslope from, the 9,063-acre Shotgun MLSA. The vegetation in this area consists predominantly of dense lodgepole pine stands. Tree size classes range from 11 to 24 inches mean diameter at breast height, and canopy closure ranges from 40 and 100 percent. Existing fuels on the site include dead and suppressed lodgepole, and both large and small down woody debris dating primarily to the Columbus Day storm of 1962. The length of the proposed fuelbreak is about one-half mile long and 15 acres in size.
The proposed treatment will reduce slash and ladder fuels and permit suppression efforts to take place in this area, protecting the MLSA from fires coming from the residence tract, and vice versa. The treatment would hand-pile existing dead and down fuels that are less than 8 inches in diameter and no longer than 10 feet in length, and eliminate ladder fuels by thinning small aggregations of trees less than 8 inches in diameter. Slash will then be piled and burned. No road construction will occur, no Riparian Reserves are involved, and operations will not take place between January 1 and August 15, 1997, because of owl and bald eagle concerns. Canopy cover of the treated stand will remain above 40 percent, thereby remaining as foraging and dispersal habitat for northern spotted owls. Existing woody debris larger than 8 inches in diameter will remain. The treatment will improve growth on remaining trees.
Documents submitted for review included the transmittal letter, an initial MLSA assessment, and a project description and map.
Rationale for Consistency Findings
MLSAs are similar to LSRs but were identified for certain owl activity centers on the eastside where regular and frequent fire occurs. The ROD provides for silvicultural treatments and fire hazard reduction treatments within MLSAs under certain conditions to help prevent stand loss from catastrophic events such as high intensity, high severity fires (ROD C-23).
The proposed treatments would not remove trees or woody debris more than 8 inches in diameter. The stands will continue to provide foraging and dispersal habitat after treatments. The treatments will decrease the likelihood of a wildfire crossing or crowning within the fuelbreak and will provide fire suppression crews with a more defensible place within which to build fireline. This will thereby decrease the fire risk to the MLSA, and increase the likelihood the MLSA will continue to function as habitat for the northern spotted owl and other late-successional forest related species.
Conclusion
Based on our review of the documentation, the REO finds the Medicine Lake Fuelbreak Project proposal to be consistent with the MLSA standards and guidelines. The project reduces the fire risk to adjacent late-successional stands while not impeding the development of late-successional conditions.
cc:
REO Reps, RIEC
Tom Nygren
Steve Clauson, R-5
Modoc NF
Doublehead District Ranger
782/ly