Summary: The Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) interagency Late-Successional Reserve (LSR) Work Group has concluded its review of the Five Buttes Project within the Davis LSR (RO-227), Crescent Ranger District, Deschutes National Forest (Forest). The Forest proposes to treat approximately 7,797 acres in the 160,000-acre project area to more effectively protect important late-successional habitats by strategically placing fuel treatments on the landscape in coordination with past treatments. The REO, based upon review by the LSR Work Group, concurs with the Forest in its finding of consistency with the Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) under the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP).

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). As required by the NWFP S&Gs (C-11), the Forest prepared a Late-Successional Reserve Assessment (LSRA). The Davis LSRA, which encompasses most of the Five Buttes Project, was recently revised, reviewed and found to be consistent under the NWFP S&Gs (C-11). The Five Buttes Project came before the LSR Workgroup for review because the LSRA did not have specific treatment criteria that addressed the proposed treatments in Five Buttes.

Background and Project Description:

The project area includes predominately mixed conifer forest, but also has mountain hemlock, ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine stands. It contains habitat for wildlife species that rely on large trees and late- and old-structure forest as primary habitat components. Much of this structure and habitat was lost to the 21,000-acre Davis Fire in 2003.

The project area includes the 48,900-acre Davis LSR. Some of the most desired characteristics of stands in this LSR (e.g., fire resistant large ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir) are at risk to loss because the increasing true fir component not only crowds the desired tree species and out-competes them, but also creates a structure that allows ground fires to reach the crowns of larger trees. The Davis LSR Assessment found that the most immediate need within the LSR was to reduce the risk of catastrophic affects of insect activity, disease or wildfire in existing late- and old-structured stands.

To address these issues, the forest is proposing to strategically place fuels treatments on approximately 7,800 acres across the landscape. These fuel treatments will complement with past treatments to create and maintain fuel modifications around identified habitats. Activities are intended to culture large trees, reduce competition between invading understory trees and existing mature overstory trees, and improve overall forest health and resiliency against natural disturbance processes.

Review of the Project: The LSR Work Group reviewed Alternative C of the Five Buttes Project Environmental Impact Statement. Members of the LSR Work Group also met with District staff on May 3, 2007. The Work Group’s review was based on information obtained from these resources.

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

• Treatments are placed on the landscape to alter fuel profiles in strategic locations such that it minimizes the likelihood of loss of valuable late- and old-structure habitat, particularly northern spotted owl home ranges. Treatments tie into existing landscape features, such as lava flows and formerly treated areas to break the fuel continuity between spotted owl habitat and home ranges.

• Fuel profile alteration specifically focuses on reducing the amount of smaller fuels to reduce surface flame lengths, and increasing the crown base heights of the existing tree overstory to reduce the vertical continuity of fuels.

• Future maintenance of treated areas (e.g., underburning and small diameter thinning) is recognized.

• Treated stands will result in a balanced mix of multi-story stands that are more suitable as late- and old-structure habitat conducive to late-successional species, with single story stands that are more resilient and less susceptible to loss from a stand replacement event.

• Treatments will focus on retaining the late and old structure components that are both desirable for late-successional species and adapted to the local fire regimes (e.g., overstory ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir).

Conclusion: Based on the interagency REO LSR Work Group’s review and conclusions, the REO concurs with the Deschutes National Forest’s conclusion that vegetation management activities in the Five Buttes project area on the Crescent Ranger District are consistent with the Northwest Forest Plan.

cc:

Chris Frisbee (Deschutes NF)
Chris Mickle (Deschutes NF)
Joan Kittrell (Deschutes NF)
Jim Stone (Deschutes NF)
Ken Boucher (Deschutes NF)
Kim Mellen-McLean (LSR Workgroup)
Philip Mattson (RO)
KJ Silverman (RO)

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