Boise National Forest Land & Resource Management Plan
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United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Boise National Forest Intermountain Region Land & Resource September 2010 Management Plan FYs 2008 and 2009 Monitoring and Evaluation Report Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) crews help carry out important projects that help implement the Forest Plan, such as rehabilitating user-created OHV trails, collecting native grass seed, and replacing trail bridges. They also gain valuable work experience and information about Forest resources and environmental processes. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 I-1 Purpose of Forest Plan Monitoring and Evaluation ........................................................... 1 I-2 Strategy for Forest Plan Monitoring and Evaluation ......................................................... 4 I-3 FYs 2008 and 2009 Forest Plan Monitoring and Evaluation Report Organization ........... 4 II.FYs 2008 and 2009 ANNUAL MONITORING AND EVALUATION REPORT ............ 7 II-1: Five Annual Monitoring Elements Found in Table IV-1 of the Forest Plan .................. 7 1. A quantitative estimate of performance comparing outputs to services with those predicted in the Forest Plan (Forest Plan, p. IV-5) ................................... 7 Threatened, Endangered, Proposed and Candidate Species Objectives .................. 7 Air Quality and Smoke Management Objectives .................................................. 14 Soil, Water, Riparian and Aquatic Resources Goals and Objectives .................... 15 Wildlife Resources Objectives .............................................................................. 17 Vegetation Resources Objectives .......................................................................... 34 Botanical Resources Objectives ............................................................................ 37 Nonnative Plants Objectives .................................................................................. 38 Fire Management Objectives ................................................................................. 40 Timberland Resources Objectives ......................................................................... 43 Rangeland Resources Objectives ........................................................................... 45 Minerals and Geology Resources Objectives ........................................................ 45 Lands and Special Uses Objectives ....................................................................... 45 Facilities and Roads Objectives ............................................................................. 45 Recreation Resources Objectives .......................................................................... 49 Scenic Environment Objectives............................................................................. 51 Heritage Program Objectives................................................................................. 51 Tribal Rights and Interests Objectives ................................................................... 54 Wilderness, Recommended Wilderness, and IRA Objectives ............................... 56 Wild and Scenic River Objectives ......................................................................... 56 Research Natural Areas Objectives ....................................................................... 56 Social and Economic Objectives ........................................................................... 56 2. Documentation of costs associated with carrying out planned management prescriptions as compared with costs (Forest Plan, p. IV-5) .................................... 56 3. Population trends of the management indicator species will be monitored and relationships to habitat changes determined (Forest Plan, p. IV-6) .................. 58 4. Accomplishment of ACS priority subwatershed restoration objectives (Forest Plan, p. IV-6) ................................................................................................ 63 5. Terms and conditions or reasonable and prudent measures that result from consultation under Section (a) of the ESA (Forest Plan, p. IV-6) ..................... 67 II-2: Monitoring Elements Found in Table IV-2 of the Forest Plan with Annual Reporting Requirements .................................................................................. 69 Safety of Administrative Facilities ........................................................................... 70 Safety of Developed Recreation Sites ...................................................................... 71 Protection of Historic Properties .............................................................................. 72 Watershed Restoration and Conservation Activities ................................................ 73 II-3. Summary of Monitoring Elements Found in Table IV-2 of the Forest Plan with Two- and Three-Year Reporting Requirements ............................................................ 86 II-4: Project Level Monitoring that Contributes to Forest Plan Monitoring Requirements ................................................................................................................ 97 III. FUTURE MONITORING AND EVALUATION REPORTS AND SCHEDULE .................................................................................................................... 100 IV. ERRATA .......................................................................................................................... 100 V. FOREST PLAN AMENDMENTS .................................................................................. 100 VI. LIST OF PREPARERS .................................................................................................. 101 CITATIONS ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1: Deposition of Fine Sediment in the Salmon River Watershed, Payette and Boise National Forests, Idaho. Statistical Summary of Interstitial and Surface Sediment Monitoring: 1983 – 2009. Attachment 2: Errata #7 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables Table 1 Boise NF Acres Affected by Large Wildfires: 2003-2009 .................................... 35 Table 2 Timeline for Integrated Vegetation Classification, Mapping & Field Inventory Products .................................................................................................................. 36 Table 3 Acres of Tree Size Class by Canopy Cover in 2003 versus 2008 and % Change . 37 Table 4 Noxious Weed Acres Infested and Treated: 2004 - 2007, by District ................... 40 Table 5 Timber and Related Activities – FY 2004 - 2009 .................................................. 43 Table 6 Allowable Sale Quantity Accomplishment – FY 2004 - 2009 ............................... 44 Table 7 Total Sale Program Quantity Accomplishment – FY 2004 - 2009 ......................... 44 Table 8 Predicted Forest Plan Budget Level v. FY 2009 - 2004 Actual Allocation ............ 57 Table 9 Management Indicator Species for the Boise NF ................................................... 58 Table 10 Comparison of Bull Trout Patch Strata: 2003-2007 .............................................. 60 Table 11 Restoration Completed in ACS Priority Subwatersheds – FY 2004 - 2007 ........... 64 Table 12 Other ACS Restoration Completed in Subwatersheds: FY 2004 - 2007 ............... 75 Table 13 Status of 5 WCIs from 31 IIT Integrator Reaches (Managed and Reference) Monitored on the Boise NF in 2004 and 2005 ........................................................ 87 Table 14 Status of 5 WCIs from 31 IIT Integrator Reaches (Managed and Reference) Monitored on the Boise NF in 2006 and 2007 ....................................................... 87 Figures Figure 1 Location Map - Boise National Forest ...................................................................... 2 Figure 2 Boise National Forest Proclaimed and Administrative Boundaries .......................... 3 Figure 3 Hazardous Fuels Accomplishment: FY 04- FY 07 ................................................ 41 BOISE NATIONAL FOREST LAND AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN FYs 2008 - 2009 MONITORING AND EVALUATION REPORT September 2010 I. INTRODUCTION The Boise National Forest (NF) is located in west central Idaho (Figure 1), north and east of the capital city of Boise. Parts of the Forest are located in Ada, Boise, Elmore, Gem, and Valley Counties. The Forest borders the Sawtooth and Salmon-Challis NFs on the east, and the Payette NF on the north. The Supervisor’s Office is located in Boise. The Forest is comprised of five ranger districts—Mountain Home, Idaho City, Lowman, Emmett, and Cascade—with district offices located in each of those towns. The Forest is an administrative unit of the Intermountain Region (Region 4) of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. In July 2003, the Boise NF completed the revision of their 1990 Land and Resource Management Plan (i.e., Forest Plan). The Record of Decision for the 2003 Forest Plan was signed July 25, 2003. Implementation of the 2003 Forest Plan began September 2003. The revised Forest Plan defines a strategy for the next 10-15 years that manages Forest resources to attain a set of desired resource and social and economic conditions by emphasizing the maintenance or restoration of watershed conditions, species viability, terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and healthy, functioning ecosystems. The 2003 Forest Plan includes direction for the management of National Forest System (NFS) lands within the administrative