Regional Ecosystem Office
333 SW 1st
P.O. Box 3623
Portland, Oregon 97208-3623
Phone: 503-808-2165 FAX: 503-808-2163
Memorandum
Date: October 7, 1998
To: Robert W. Williams, Regional Forester, Region 6, Forest Service
From: Donald R. Knowles, Executive Director
Subject: Regional Ecosystem Office Review of the Browns/Round Mountain Late-Successional Reserve Assessment, Deschutes National Forest
Summary
The Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) and the interagency Late-Successional Reserve Work Group have reviewed the Browns/Round Mountain Late-Successional Reserve Assessment (LSRA). The REO finds that the LSRA, as supplemented by documents listed below, provides a sufficient framework and context for future projects and activities within the LSR. Future risk reduction and silvicultural activities described in the supplemented LSRA (with the exception of patch cutting as noted below) that meet LSRA criteria and objectives and that are consistent with the Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) in the Northwest Forest Plan (NFP) are exempted from further project-level REO review. Salvage activities as described on pages C-13 to C-16 of the S&Gs (i.e., removal of down wood or snags after a stand-replacing disturbance, where the disturbed site is greater than 10 acres and canopy closure is less than 40%), were not described sufficiently in the LSRA to allow exemption from 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 the REO review. The REO review focuses on the following:
1. 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. These assessments are subject to REO review. This 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 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 also considers treatment criteria and potential treatment areas for silvicultural, risk-reduction, and salvage activities if addressed in the LSRA. When treatment criteria are clearly described and their relationship to achieving desired late-successional conditions are also clear, subsequent projects and activities within the LSR(s) may be exempted from the further REO review, provided they are consistent with the LSRA criteria and S&Gs. The REO authority for developing criteria to exempt these actions is found in the S&Gs (pages C-12, C-13, and C-18). If such activities are not described in the LSRA and exempted from further review in this memo, they remain subject to future REO review.
Both aspects of this review are described separately below.
Scope of the Assessment and Description of the Assessment Area
The REO reviewed the LSRA in light of the eight subject areas identified in the NFP S&Gs (page C-11) and sought additional information regarding some of these subject areas. Supplemental information submitted as revisions to the LSRA included: (1) a March 16, 1998 letter from the LSRA team clarifying treatments specific to fuel load reduction, tree culturing, thinning, understory removal, patch cuts, and salvage; and (2) an April 28 letter from the LSRA team clarifying the prescription and desired condition in the General Protection Management Strategy Areas.
The LSRA addresses two LSRs on the Bend-Ft. Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest, totaling about 7,500 acres. The LSRs were considered as part of a 46,000 acre watershed assessment in the Browns/Wickiup watershed. The LSRs are in the Deschutes Province. The LSRs were stratified into 12 Management Strategy Areas (MSAs). Desired future conditions differed among MSAs and were based primarily on vegetation potential, needs of different late-successional species, and disturbance risk. Treatment criteria and priorities varied among MSAs.
Review of Projects and Activities
Projects meeting the criteria in the REO memoranda "REO Review Exemption Criteria" (dated April 20, 1995) and "Criteria to Exempt Specific Silvicultural Activities in Late-Successional Reserves and Managed Late-Successional Areas from Regional Ecosystem Office Review" (July 9, 1996 and amended September 30) continue to be exempted from the REO review. In addition, silvicultural and risk reduction activities described in the LSRA, based on assumptions and modifications listed below, that are consistent with NFP S&Gs are exempt from subsequent project-level REO review. Projects described in the document that are not subject to REO review (i.e., activities other than silviculture or salvage) have not been reviewed for consistency with the ROD.
The REO is working with the Research and Monitoring Committee (RMC) to ensure that projects within LSRs, including projects exempted from the REO review, are considered in the development of the effectiveness, implementation, and validation monitoring programs. We also expect the local units to continue their long-standing partnership with key researchers regarding management of late-successional stands, particularly in the area of young-stand management.
Assumptions and Modifications
Coarse Woody Debris and Snags. Sizes of coarse woody debris (CWD) to be retained after treatments were not specified in the LSRA. Based on discussions with team members, the REO assumes that the sizes and quantities of CWD and snags will follow the June 5, 1996 forest-wide document, "Desired Late Successional Reserve Condition" (Gerdes, Maffei, and Booser) referenced in the LSRA.
Patch Cuts. The LSRA describes criteria for "patch cuts" in MSA Numbers 3, 4, and 10. Patch cuts in MSAs 3 and 10 are not exempt from project-level REO review. Projects employing patch cutting in these MSAs should be submitted to REO for project level review. The March 16 letter from the LSRA team clarified the patch cut criteria proposed in MSA 4. It is the REO's understanding that the prescription labeled "patch cutting" in MSA 4 is really more of a tree culturing and understory density reduction treatment, with the objective to retain the ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir overstory and control the competing understory. Applying this prescription in MSA 4, as described in the March 16 letter, is exempt from project level REO review. REO assumes "patch cuts" will not be prescribed in the other MSAs.
Conclusion
Based on documentation found in the LSRA and its subsequent revisions, the REO finds that the LSRA provides a sufficient framework and context for future projects and activities within the LSR. The assessment provides specific criteria to be applied at the individual LSR, MSA, and condition specific or stand level. As identified above, silvicultural and risk reduction activities described in the LSRA which are consistent with the NFP S&Gs and the treatment criteria identified in the assessment and meet the above assumptions, with the noted exceptions, are exempted from project-level REO review.
cc:
REO, RIEC
Sally Collins, Deschutes Forest Supervisor
Walter C. Schloer, Bend-Fort Rock District Ranger
Lisa Freedman, FS-NR
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