Humboldt Qational United States Department of Agriculture Forest Land and !Resource Cnanagement Plan This Land and Resource Management Plan has been developed for the Humboldt National Forest. For information pertaining to the development of this plan, details can be provided by: Forest Supervisor Humboldt National Forest 976 Mountain City Highway Elko, NV 89801 A. Applicable Laws and Regulations The principal acts providing direction for developing this Land and Resource Management Plan are: 1. Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act of 1960 2. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 3. Forest Rangeland Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974 4. National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 RPA requires the Forest Service to conduct an assessment or inventory of the Nation's renewable resources and develop a program for use of the resources. The assessment includes the determination of the capability of all National Forest lands to provide various goods and services. It also includes an estimation of future demands for those goods and services. B. Public Review and Appeal If any particular provision of this proposed action, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the proposed action and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. The right to request an administrative appeal of the Regional Forester's decision to approve a Forest Plan is contained in 36 CFR 211.18 (d), which describes the appeal process. Intermediate decisions made during the planning process prior to the approval or disapproval decisions are not reviewable. THIS DOCUMENT PRESENTS A MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT 10 TO 15 YEARS TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents 1 List of Maps, Tables, and Charts iii I. FOREST PLAN INTRODUCTION A. Purpose of the Forest Plan 1-1 B. Relationship of the Forest Plan 1-1 C. Plan Structure 1-2 D. Forest Description 1-3 11. ANALYSIS OF THE MANAGEMENT SITUATION SUMMARY A. Introduction 11-1 B. Physical and Biological Setting 11-1 C. Economic and Social Setting 11-2 D. Resource Elements 11-3 E. Support Elements 11-24 F. Need to Establish or Change Management Direction 11-34 G. Research Needs 11-37 111. PLAN RESPONSES TO ISSUES, CONCERNS, AND OPPORTUNITIES 111-1 IV. FOREST MANAGEMENT DIRECTION A. Introduction 1v-1 B. Forest Multiple-Use Goals and Objectives 1v-1 C. Forest-Wide Standards and Guidelines 1v-17 1. Recreation 1v-18 2. Wildlife and Fish 1v-28 3. Range 1v-32 4. Timber 1v-41 5. Soil and Water 1v-46 6. Minerals 1v-50 7. Rural Community and Human Resources 1v-5a 8. Lands 5v-58 9. Facilities 1v-63 10. Protection 1v-66 11. Wilderness 1v-6 9 D. Projected Budget and Outputs 1v-78 E. Desired Future Condition of the Forest /v-82 F. Management Area Direction 1v-89 1. Mountain City 1v-91 2. Ruby Mountains IV-102 3. Ruby Mountain Recommended Wilderness IV-110 4. East Humboldts IV-113 5. East Humboldt Recommended Wilderness IV-119 6. Soldier Lakes Recommended Wilderness IV-122 i 7. Jarbidge Mountains IV-125 8. Jarbidge Existing and Recommended Wilderness IV-133 9. Mount Moriah IV-137 10. Mount Moriah Recommended Wilderness IV-I 44 11. Schell IV-148 12. Snake IV-156 13. Bristlecone Recommended Wilderness IV-165 14. Ward Mountain IV-170 15. White Pine Iv-178 16. @inn IV-185 17. Grant Recommended Wilderness IV-192 1%. Santa Rosa IV-196 G. Forest Plan Action Schedules IV-204 V. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FOREST PLAN A. Implementation Direction v-I B. Monitoring and Evaluation Program v-I C. Revision and Amendment v-I 5 I ii LIST OF MAPSTTABLES, AND CHARTS I. FOREST PLAN INTRODUCTION Vicinity Map 1-4 11. ANALYSIS OF THE MANAGEMENT SITUATION SUMMARY 11-1 Economic Indicators, Past Trends, and Baseline Projections for Primary Zone of Influence 11-2 11-2 Developed Recreational Facilities 11-3 11-3 Current Capacity for Dispersed Recreation 11-5 11-4 Areas Recommended for Wilderness During RARE I1 11-8 11-5 Selected Management Indicator Species 11-1 1 11-6 Various Population Levels for MIS 11-1 1 11-7 Range Condition Class 11-1 3 11-8 Status of Wild Horse Territories 11-1 4 11-9 Lands Open and Withdrawn to Mineral Activities 11-17 11-10 Active Mines 11-20 11-1 1 Mining Claims 11-21 11-12 Production Value of Locatable Minerals 11-22 11-1 3 Special Land Classifications 11-27 11-1 4 Summary of Special Land Use Permits 11-29 IV-15 Current Outputs, Projected Demand and Supply 11-30 Potential IV. FOREST MANAGEMENT DIRECTION IV-1 Projected Average Annual Outputs for the Forest Plan 1v-7 9 IV-2 Projected Average Annual Activities for the Forest Plan 1v-80 IV-3 Projected Average Annual Costs for the Forest Plan 1v-81 IV-4 Areas Proposed For Instream Flow Quantification in Priority Order 1v-86 A revised Forest Plan Map is included in this packet. iii CHAPTER I FOREST PLAN INTRODUCTION A. Purpose of the Forest Plan The Foresi, Flar, gujdes all natural resource management activities and estab- lishes managenbent standards and guidelines for the Humboldt National Forest,. It describes resource management practices, levels of resource production and management, and the avajlahiljty and suitability of lands for resource nanagenient. The Forest Plan erbodiea the provjsions of the NFMA, the regulations, and other guiding docunsents. The prescrjptjons md star~dardsand guidelines are a :.1etenent of We Flap's oanagement direction; however, the project, out- puts, servjces, and rates of implementation are dependent on the annual bud- geting process. B. Relationship of the Forest Plan to Other Documents Development of the Forest Plan takes place within the framework of Forest Servjce Regional and National planning. The relationship among different planning levels is shown as follows: Congressional Acts National level Forest Service planning through the Regional Guide for the Intermountain Region through Renewable Resource kssessment and Program (RPA) Regional planning level through the Regional Guide for the Intermountain Region Forest level planning through the Humboldt National Forest Lard & Resources Managenlent Flm The RFA Program sets the National directjnn and output levels for the National Forest system lan6s. Jt is based on sujtability and couipatability information from each Forest Service Region. Each Forest Service Region distributes its share of national production targets to each of its Forests. The share each National Forest receives is based on detailed infornlation gathered at the Forest level. The Land and Resource Management Plan validates or provides a basis for changing production levels assigned by the Region. Activities and projects are planned and implettented by the Forest to carry out the direction developed in the Forest Plan. Inforniation froa all the Wational Forests in the Region was used in developing the Intermountain Regional Guide. 1-1 Roadless areas have been reevaluated in this planning process. A recommen- dation for future management of the areas has been made. Congressional legislation will be needed to designate recommended areas as wilderness. Details concerning the roadless area analysis are in Appendix C of the Appendix document. The Forest Plan is the selected alternative of the FEIS and ds based on the various considerations which have been addressed in the FEIS. The planning process and the analysis procedure which were used in developing this Plan, as well as the other alternatives that were considered, are described or referenced in the FEIS. Activities and projects will be tied to the accompanying FEIS as provided for in 40 CFR 1502.20. The local project environmental analysis will use the data and evaluations in the Plan and FEIS as its basis. C. Plan Structure This plan provides the long term direction for managing the Humboldt National Forest. It contains the overall directions and activities which will be required to achieve the desired state of the Forest. Management area maps indicate where the activities will occur. /! The Forest Plan contains management direction for the Humboldt National Forest. The FEIS described the alternatives considered in arriving at that direction and assessed the environmental effects of implementing the Plan and other alternatives. The Forest Plan is organized into five chapters: Chapter I. Forest Plan Introduction Chapter 11. Analysis of the Management Situation Chapter 111. Plan Responses to Issues, Concerns, and Opportunities Chapter IV. Forest Management Direction Chapter V. Implementation of the Forest Plan Details concerning the various subsections and pages are found in the Table of Contents. The chapter titled "Forest Management Direction" deals with the multiple use goals and objectives. It also lists the management practices and standards and guidelines, Forest-wide and for management of specific areas. The "Implementation of the Forest Plan" chapter deals with the means to implement the plan and evaluate and monitor the effects of management practices. All glossary and Appendix references can be found in the separate Appendix document. Maps displaying various resources and associated management activities were included in a map packet enclosed with the draft Plan. A new Plan map reflecting changes made in the Preferred Alternative is enclosed. By studying the map concurrently with the Forest Plan, the reader can better understand the proposed action. 1-2 D. Forest Description The Humboldt National Forest is located in Nevada. The gross area administered by the Forest is 2,680,440 acres. The net National Forest acres within the Administrative Unit are 2,527,929. The Forest makes up 3.6 percent of the State of Nevada. The National Forest lands are located in five counties: Elko, Humboldt, Lincoln, Nye and White Pine The Forest Supervisor is headquartered in Elko, Nevada.