Summary: The Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) interagency Late-Successional Reserve (LSR) Work Group has concluded its review of the documents provided by the Forest regarding proposed activities in LSRs within Alternative 2 of the Eyerly Fire Salvage Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), Deschutes National Forest. The REO, based upon the review by the LSR Work Group, concurs with the Deschutes National Forest in its findings of consistency with the Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) under Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) for the Eyerly Fire Salvage Project.

Basis for the Review: Silviculture, risk reduction and salvage treatments in LSRs are subject to REO review under the NWFP S&Gs (C-12-15).

Background and Project Description: As required by the NWFP S&G (C-11), the Deschutes National Forest prepared a Late-successional Reserve Assessment (LSRA) for the 76,000 acre Metolius LSR. The Metolius LSRA was completed and reviewed by the REO in 1996. The Eyerly Fire burned approximately 17,600 acres of National Forest land in the summer of 2002. Approximately 5,100 of the burned acres were in the LSR which is about 7 percent of the total area (75,762 acres) of the LSR.

The Eyerly Fire affected most habitats, decreasing the amount of some and increasing others. In the former category were old growth forests, including dense stands with big trees that provided nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for the northern spotted owl. There were 65 acres of nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat within the fire perimeter and all were burned.

The FEIS proposes 1,426 acres of fire salvage and reforestation in the LSR land allocation. This represents 28% of the total area salvaged under the preferred alternative. The treatment activities proposed in LSRs are designed to return stands to historic fuel levels to allow the reintroduction of low-intensity landscape fire. The treatments are also designed to protect remaining live trees in mixed-severity burned areas. All LSR treatments are designed to meet LSR objectives and promote the development of late-successional conditions in LSR acres burned in the fire.

Review of the Project: The activities reviewed by the LSR Work Group were those proposed in LSRs under Alternative 2 of the FEIS: Eyerly Fire Salvage Project. The Work Group reviewed Alternative 2 of the FEIS, and other documents provided by the Deschutes National Forest, which included:

1. Eyerly Fire Salvage Project, NWFP S&Gs Associated with LSRs, May 2004
2. Eyerly Fire Salvage Project LSR Requirements: Summary and Conclusions, May 2004
3. Eyerly Fire Salvage Project FEIS.

The Work Group’s review was based on the information within these documents, briefings, and conference calls.

The interagency LSR Work Group review concluded that the proposed treatments in LSRs meet the objectives for managing LSRs. This conclusion was reached in part for the following reasons:

• Treatments that move existing conditions toward desired future conditions were designed using desired habitat conditions derived from the 1995 Metolius LSRA that incorporated scientific study of late-successional forests from a regional and local perspective (C-11,14).
• A combination of local and provincial information and references were used to determine levels and distribution of dead wood within salvage units (C-14-15). Dead wood retention levels in LSR treatment units meet or exceed guidelines specified in the Metolius LSRA.
• Guidelines for dead wood retention leave the most persistent size classes and species; the species composition of the largest dead wood would approximate the original stand (C-14,15). The DECAID tool was considered in the analysis.
• Approximately 3,619 acres (71 percent) of the Eyerly Fire acres within the fire perimeter in LSR would remain in an unsalvaged post-fire condition. An additional 15 percent of each unit would be designated for retention in an unsalvaged condition.
• No live trees are planned for harvest. All trees with live needles visible would be retained (C-14).
• The fire salvage project includes treatments designed to enable restoration of low-intensity fire regimes to reduce the incidence of future catastrophic events and protect existing late-successional forests as described in the NWFP S&Gs (C-12,13).
• Reforestation treatments will increase the restoration rate of late-successional forest habitat by planting trees of desirable species in areas with scarce or absent seed sources. Without such treatments, it is projected that desired stand characteristics for late-successional conditions would not develop or be significantly retarded, with respect to species composition, stocking levels, and ability to sustain low intensity fires.
• Salvage would only occur in openings greater than 10 acres and in areas with less than 40 percent canopy closure (C-14).
• There are no proposed treatment units within suitable northern spotted owl habitat or late-successional forests. The preferred alternative will not result in the degradation of suitable spotted owl habitat or other late-successional conditions (C-13).
• All of the LSR treatments recommended for this project are designed to meet LSR objectives and promote the development of late-successional conditions in LSR acres burned in the fire (C-14).

Conclusion: Based upon the interagency REO LSR Work Group’s review and conclusions, the REO concurs with the Deschutes National Forest’s conclusion that silviculture and salvage activities proposed in the Eyerly Fire Salvage Project are consistent with the Northwest Forest Plan.

cc: Leslie Weldon, Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest
Bill Anthony, District Ranger
Lisa Freedman, FS
Cal Joyner, FS
Dave Owens, Ochoco National Forest
LSR Work Group