United States Department of Agriculture Prescott National Forest Service Forest Land and Southwestern Region November 1986 Resource Includes Amendments 1- 12 Management Plan

2004 Republish

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Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction ...... 1 Purpose of the Forest Plan ...... 1 Organization of the Forest Plan...... 2

Chapter 2 • Public Issues, Management Concerns and Opportunities ...... 3 Overview...... 3 Issues...... 3 Water Quality and Quantity, Watershed Condition, and Soil Productivity ...... 3 Water Quality ...... 3 Water Quantity ...... 3 Watershed Condition...... 4 Soil Productivity ...... 4 Range Management ...... 4 Firewood Management ...... 5 Enhance the Quality of the Recreation Experience...... 5 Construct, Operate, and Maintain Transportation and Other Facilities...... 6 Transportation ...... 6 Facilities...... 6 Prevent Unauthorized Forest Use and Activities ...... 7 Public Information ...... 7 Maintain or Improve Fish and Wildlife Habitats ...... 7 Adjust Landownership as Needed to Support Resource Management Goals...... 7

Chapter 3 • Summary of the Management Situation...... 9 Overview...... 9 Conclusion ...... 10

Chapter 4 • Management Direction...... 11 Overview...... 11 Mission...... 11 Desired Future Conditions ...... 11 Goals ...... 11 General...... 11 Range ...... 12 Environmental Eductation/Interpretive Services ...... 12 Recreation ...... 12 Visual Resources...... 12 Wilderness...... 13

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan i Contents

Timber...... 13 Wildlife and Fish Habitat...... 13 Minerals ...... 13 Soil and Water...... 13 Riparian...... 14 Air Quality ...... 14 Fire Management ...... 14 Law Enforcement...... 14 Lands and Special Uses ...... 14 Facilities...... 14 Land Management Planning ...... 14 Human Resources ...... 15 Vegetation Management ...... 15 Objectives ...... 15 Management Prescriptions...... 15 Management Area Description ...... 16 Analysis Area...... 16 Management Emphasis ...... 16 Program Element ...... 16 Management Information Handbook (MIH) Activity Code ...... 16 Applicable Analysis Areas ...... 16 Standards and Guidelines...... 16 How to Apply Prescriptions...... 17 Management Prescriptions Applicable to All Management Areas Except Wilderness...... 17 Standards and Guidelines...... 17 Heritage Resources ...... 21 Visual Quality ...... 24 Recreation Administration ...... 25 Wildlife ...... 27 Range Management ...... 32 Timber Management...... 36 Soil, Water and Air...... 38 Minerals ...... 41 Human and Community Development ...... 42 Lands...... 42 Land Management Planning ...... 46 Facilities...... 46 Fire Management ...... 51 Law Enforcement...... 51 Insect and Disease Management...... 52 ii Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Contents

Management Areas...... 53 Management Area 1, Checkerboard Lands — Gross Acres: 116,351...... 53 Management Area 2, Woodland — Gross Acres: 486,769 ...... 55 Management Area 3, Chaparral — Gross Acres: 294,363...... 58 Management Area 4, Pine — Gross Acres: 146,335...... 61 Management Area 5, Desert Grasslands — Gross Acres: 256,655...... 64 Management Area 6, Wilderness — Gross Acres: 90,589...... 67 Management Area 7, Recreation — Gross Acres: 2,544 ...... 70 Management Area 8, Kaibab Administered Lands — Gross Acres: 913...... 72

Chapter 5. Monitoring Plan ...... 73 Glossary ...... 89 Appendix A. Analysis Area Index ...... 123 B. Description of Range Management Levels ...... 125 C. Description of Road and Trail Maintenance Levels...... 129 D. Forest Plan Outputs Per Year – 1986-1995 Average ...... 131 E. Wilderness — Granite Mountain Wilderness ...... 133 F. Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines...... 137 Standards...... 137 Guidelines ...... 138 G. Northern Goshawk Standards and Guidelines...... 145 Applicability ...... 145 Standards...... 145 Guidelines ...... 146 Vegetation Management ...... 147 H. Old Growth Standards and Guidelines...... 151 Standards...... 151 Guidelines ...... 151 I. Grazing Management Standards and Guidelines...... 155 Standards...... 155 Guidelines ...... 155 J. Grapevine Botanical Area...... 157 Standards and Guidelines for Grapevine Botanical Area...... 157 K. Prescott Basin Area...... 158

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan iii Contents

List of Tables Table 1. Range Management Use Levels...... 4 Table 2. Total average annual firewood harvest – 1986-1995...... 5 Table 3. Long-term road operations and maintenance needs (miles)...... 6 Table 4. Wildlife and fish user days (WFUDs) per year – 1986-1995...... 7 Table 5. Landownership Managment...... 8 Table 6. Comparison of Forest Plan key outputs with supply otential and projected demand ...... 9 Table 7. Visual quality objectives ...... 24 Table 8. ROS Classes...... 26 Table 9. Pinyon/juniper diameter classes (stump height)...... 29 Table 10. Management intensity level ...... 33 Table 11. Recreation acquisition composite...... 46 Table 12. Roads projected for construction or reconstruction during the decade indicated.47 Table 13. Road obliteration – 1986-1995...... 48 Allowable Use Guide (Percent) by Range Condition and Management Strategy* ...... 156

iv Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Chapter 1. Introduction

Purpose of the Forest Plan This plan defines the direction for managing the Prescott National Forest for the next 10-15 years.

The plan provides for integrated multiple use and sustained yield of goods and services from the forest in a way that maximizes long-term net public benefits in an environmentally sound manner.

The Forest Plan replaces all previous resource management plans prepared for the forest. All subsequent activities affecting these lands, including budget proposals, will be based on the Forest Plan (36 CRF 219.10 (e)). In addition, all permits, contracts, and other instruments for the use and occupancy of these National Forest System lands must be consistent with the Forest Plan (36 CFR 219.10 (e)).

The planning principles in the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) regulations (36 CFR 219.1 (b)) were integrated throughout the process. These principles are:

1. Establishment of goals and objectives for multiple-use and sustained-yield management of renewable resources without impairment of the productivity of the land; 2. Consideration of the relative values of all renewable resources, including the relationship of nonrenewable resources, such as minerals, to renewable resources; 3. Recognition that the national forests are ecosystems and management for goods and services requires an awareness and consideration of the interrelationships among plants, animals, soil, water, air and other environmental factors within such ecosystems; 4. Protection and, where appropriate, improvement of the quality of renewable resources; 5. Preservation of important historic, cultural and natural aspects of our national heritage; 6. Protection and preservation of the inherent right of freedom of American Indians to believe, express and exercise their traditional religions; 7. Provisions for the safe use and enjoyment of forest resources by the public; 8. Protection, through ecologically compatible means, of all forest and rangeland resources from depredations by forest and rangeland pests; 9. Coordination with the land and resource planning efforts of other Federal agencies, State and local governments and Indian tribes; 10. Use of a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to ensure coordination and integration of planning activities for multiple-use management; 11. Early and frequent public participation; 12. Establishment of quantitative and qualitative standards and guidelines for land and resource planning and management; 13. Management of National Forest System lands in a manner that is sensitive to economic efficiency; and 14. Responsiveness to changing conditions of land and other resources and to changing social and economic demands of the American people. Land management prescriptions and standards and guidelines are a statement of the plan’s management direction. Objectives by resource program area are expressed as annual outputs in a table located in Appendix D of this document. These output levels assume full funding is received in all resource program areas. Individual project schedules are maintained separately from the Forest Plan as supporting documentation for current and future programs and budgets. Annual

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 1 Chapter 1 • Introduction

estimates of individual program outputs and costs for each year covered by the Forest Plan are summarized in the “Prescott National Forest Plan Implementation Spreadsheets.” These documents are updated at least once every year and are available for review at the forest supervisor’s office.

Organization of the Forest Plan Chapter 2 of the Forest Plan describes the major issues and concerns and how the plan responds to those issues and concerns. Chapter 3 summarizes the analysis of the management situation (AMS). It depicts the current levels of goods and services produced, and projects supply and expected future use of the forest’s resources. Chapter 4 details the mission, goals, objectives, proposed vicinity and timing of management practices; projects the conditions of the forest by the end of the fifth period from implementation of the plan; and describes management direction and prescription, and associated resource management standards and guidelines. A management area map keyed to the prescriptions in Chapter 4 is included with the EIS/Plan package. Chapter 5 is the monitoring plan. The Glossary defines terms used in the plan and in the associated EIS. Supplemental information can be found in the appendices.

2 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Chapter 2 • Public Issues, Management Concerns and Opportunities

Overview Local issues and concerns have been identified for the Prescott National Forest. The Forest Plan and alternatives are designed to respond to these issues as well as the Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) Program objectives assigned to the forest in the Regional Guide.

Issues, concerns and opportunities were identified from the Regional Guide and from comments solicited from the public and Forest Service employees. Comments were received in response to a number of public involvement workshops and from an information brochure and response form mailed to the public.

Comments received were analyzed in a scoping process to determine the most relevant issues and concerns. Results of the analysis were compared and consolidated into those issues or concerns that were: (1) specifically relevant to the forest; (2) of widespread concern to the public; (3) within the forest supervisor’s authority to resolve; (4) long-term in duration; and (5) within the forest’s physical and biological capability.

Issues The following information describes the major issues and opportunities that were selected to be addressed in the planning process and how the Forest Plan responds to each issue. Percent changes compare pre-1986 management levels with Forest Plan management levels The percentage of which the Forest Plan meets the future demands is displayed for most issues.

Water Quality and Quantity, Watershed Condition, and Soil Productivity Land uses and geologic conditions have created unacceptable soil erosion. Some current uses are resulting in decreasing long-term soil productivity. Unacceptable watershed conditions are adversely affecting quantity and quality of water produced and distribution of flow.

Water Quality Management under the Forest Plan will improve water quality by reducing sediment and turbidity. Improved streamflow characteristics will lower water temperatures and increase dissolved oxygen concentrations. Localized nitrate ion concentrations will exceed State standards during winter flood flows downslope from extensive chaparral treatments. These concentrations will be short term and will be diluted to be within State standards before reaching the management boundary. No uses of the water will be impaired because of this nitrate increase.

Water Quantity Total average annual water yield: 1986-1995,133,000 acre feet. That is a 1.5 percent increase from pre-1986 management levels.

The demand for water use for the first period is estimated to exceed the forest maximum capability of 158,000 acre feet.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 3 Chapter 2 • Public Issues, Management Concerns and Opportunities

Watershed Condition Unsatisfactory watershed condition acres: 1986-1995, 390,000 acres. That is a 20 percent decrease from pre-1986 management levels.

Soil Productivity Average annual soil loss trend, accelerated erosion (change from pre-1986 levels): 1986-1995, a 19 percent decrease.

Balancing livestock use with capacity, generally higher levels of range management on important areas, direct watershed treatment, increased levels of road and trail maintenance, and increased management of off-highway vehicle use will result in increased ground cover and a significant reduction in soil loss.

These actions will lead to increased long-term productivity of all related resources.

Range Management Adverse impacts to watershed condition and conflicts with other resources exist because permitted use under pre-1986 management exceeds grazing capacity, primarily on 29 grazing allotments (out of 62 allotments).

Table 1. Range Management Use Levels

Average Annual Range Management Intensity Levels***

Permitted Use Capacity MAcres by end of the Period 1986-1995 (MAUMS) (MAUMS) 1986-1995 1986-1995 A B C 4 D E 185 170 0 375 621 28 0 235 *-8.0% +0.5% **0 -72 -46 +28 -237 +235 *Change from 1985 **Change from 1985 (MAcs.) ***See Appendix B for definitions

The projected future demand is estimated to be equal to 240,000 AUMs. Reduction in permitted livestock use or management changes on approximately 29 allotments, a moderate increase in investments and improved management will result in balancing use with capacity in the first period (1986-1955). Once this balance is obtained, ground cover will improve and soil loss will be reduced in those areas currently overstocked. Plant and animal diversity, watershed condition and water quality will also improve.

Both livestock and wildlife needs are considered when additional forage becomes available through investments in structural and nonstructural habitat improvements.

4 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 2 • Public Issues, Management Concerns and Opportunities

Firewood Management Demand is expected to exceed forest’s production capability for sustained yield of pinyon/juniper firewood from currently accessible lands.

Table 2. Total average annual firewood harvest – 1986-1995

Type of Firewood MBF Change from 1983 Timber Sale By-Products 42 -36% Pinyon/juniper Green 1,994 -17% Pinyon/juniper Dead 1,365 -68% Total 3,401 -49% Note: 1MBF = 2 cords

The projected future use is estimated to be 6,653 MBF per year for the first period.

This Forest Plan has a substantial reduction in the amount of dead firewood collected from the forest. The firewood program will maintain volumes harvested within the sustained yield base, but will fall short of meeting future needs.

New roads will be required to access firewood in areas which currently have low road densities.

Enhance the Quality of the Recreation Experience Maintenance and reconstruction activities at the developed recreation areas are currently insufficient to ensure continued utility of the sites. As the sites deteriorate, visitor satisfaction decreases. Law enforcement and litter patrols are not provided with sufficient frequency to reduce the accumulation of trash at heavily used dispersed recreation areas or to reduce conflicts between forest users. Trail maintenance activities will be focused on the most highly used trails.

The service level for developed and dispersed recreation is currently less than standard. This results in deteriorating facilities and reduced visitor satisfaction.

The Forest Plan provides sufficient maintenance and reconstruction dollars to maintain the capacity of the existing developed recreation sites. Under Forest Plan management, the average annual recreation visitor days (RVDs) are projected to be 1,805,000, an increase of 452,000 RVDs from when the plan was first written in 1986. Visitor contacts and litter control activities will be intensified, resulting in increased visitor satisfaction. Interpretive, informational and educational contacts will also increase above past levels. All recreation services will be provided at the standard service level, to improve visitor satisfaction. However, campground and picnic areas in the vicinity of Prescott will continue to be crowded on weekends as new facilities are not expected to keep up with demand.

Under the Forest Plan, law enforcement, litter control, visitor contact and trail maintenance activities will increase over past practice levels.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 5 Chapter 2 • Public Issues, Management Concerns and Opportunities

Construct, Operate, and Maintain Transportation and Other Facilities

Transportation Forest roads and trails are in poor condition from inadequate maintenance and reconstruction. A disinvestment is occurring in roads and trails. Road and trail signs are inadequate. Legal rights-of- way across private lands are lacking. Road and trail densities need adjustment.

Table 3. Long-term road operations and maintenance needs (miles)

Presently Proposed Proposed Maintenance Present Close and Others Others F.S. Level* Situation Obliterate Jurisdiction Jurisdiction System

1 642 387 25 34 120 2 1,735 275 222 166 1,168 3 415 2 292 306 297 4 66 0 58 90 17 5 64 0 49 50 10 Totals 2,922 664 646 646 1,612 *Refer to Appendix C for maintenance level definitions Note: The total miles of “others jurisdiction” does not change, but the level of maintenance changes. This is due to Yavapai County upgrades and private road deterioration. Mileage changes over time due to deletions, additions and inventory corrections.

There are 758 miles of trail on the forest transportation system. One third of forest system trails are reviewed annually for maintenance needs.

The Forest Plan is expected to meet general public and management concerns.

Facilities Buildings and utility systems lack adequate maintenance to protect the investment.

Annual facility maintenance construction and reconstruction is not meeting established standards to protect the forest’s investments. In some cases health and safety requirements are violated. Rehabilitation costs will continue to be higher. Construction and rehabilitation of backlog projects will not be completed in the foreseeable future.

The Forest Plan assumes budgets for facilities will not increase above 1986 levels. Therefore, conditions will remain essentially the same as described above. There will be no resolution of the issue.

Water systems will be tested to meet Forest Service and Arizona State requirements. Sanitary surveys will be completed on all water and waste water systems.

6 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 2 • Public Issues, Management Concerns and Opportunities

Prevent Unauthorized Forest Use and Activities Enforcement is inconsistent and insufficient to protect public and forest resources. The forest is experiencing increased vandalism, firewood theft, occupancy trespass and resource damages.

The Forest Plan will have generally improved enforcement of Federal regulations for recreation, range, firewood and wildlife activities through higher management levels. Wilderness management will be increased in all wildernesses. Lands and minerals activities will have approximately the 1986 level of enforcement. The Cooperative Law Program with Yavapai County will also remain at the 1986 level.

Public Information Some confusion exists among the public about the Forest Service mission.

The proposed plan will provide additional recreation and information services for improved communications with the public. Existing staff will spend increased time in meeting public information and interpretation needs for their respective activities. Training will be provided to improve staff capabilities to interpret Forest Service mission, forest themes, management issues and resources.

Maintain or Improve Fish and Wildlife Habitats Maintenance and improvement of habitat is not adequate to meet public demands for consumptive and nonconsumptive wildlife benefits.

The overall effect of the Forest Plan will be an improvement of wildlife habitat from current action. Species requiring early to mid-successional stages will gradually decrease over time but at a significantly slower rate than current projections. Increases in late successional species would correspondingly increase. Threatened and endangered species habitat enhancement will increase over the current levels and recovery of species will be accomplished at a higher rate. The Arizona Wildlife and Fisheries Comprehensive Plan goals will be met at a high level.

Table 4. Wildlife and fish user days (WFUDs) per year – 1986-1995

Forest Plan Management Change From 1986 178,813 +4%

The Forest Plan will have 668,000 acres allocated to wildlife emphasis prescriptions.

Adjust Landownership as Needed to Support Resource Management Goals Isolated parcels of private land within the forest create problems with occupancy trespass and need for facilities such as utilities and roads crossing the forest. Road right-of-way acquisition for access is not adequate to support resource management goals.

The Forest Plan will not reflect any significant change of land adjustment management from pre- plan levels. Occupancy trespass will increase at a faster rate than resolution can be obtained. Land

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 7 Chapter 2 • Public Issues, Management Concerns and Opportunities

exchange proposals will not always be processed in a timely manner. Right-of-way acquisition actions will continue to be insufficient to guarantee future recreation, timber and administration access. Landline location and maintenance will not keep up with the needs for avoiding occupancy trespass. The Forest Plan includes standards for acquisition of private parcels, as well as standards and a map depicting the revised base for exchange.

Table 5. Landownership Management

1986-1995 Right-of-way Acquisition 0.5 miles per year Landline Location 28 miles per year Landline Maintenance 1 mile per year

8 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Chapter 3 • Summary of the Management Situation

Overview An analysis of the management situation (AMS) was prepared and documented on September 1985 as a means of determining the productive capacity of the forest to supply various goods and services. A copy of the AMS is filed at the forest supervisor’s office in Prescott, AZ and the Regional Office in Albuquerque, NM.

This chapter summarizes the AMS. It depicts the current (1985) goods and services produced and projected supply and expected future use of the forest’s resources. The potential supply is defined by various benchmarks or supply inventories. Projected demand and potential supply are described in Chapter 3 of the Forest Plan Environmental Impact Statement.

Supply and projected future demand for various forest goods and services have been analyzed to identify necessary improvements, resolve current public issues, and prevent conflicts. The goal of the plan is to identify the level and type of forest uses that would help meet projected future use while enhancing or maintaining resources in a cost effective and integrated resource manner.

Table 6. Comparison of Forest Plan key outputs with supply potential and projected demand

Projected Future Forest Plan Potential Supply Average Demand Resource Annual Output Unit of 1986- 2026- 1986- 2026- 1986- 2026- Measure 1995 2035 1995 2035 1995 2035 Sawtimber MBF 933 2,564 6,794 6,437 1,000 2,800 (ASQ) Products MBF 267 846 1,352 1,728 275 900 (ASQ) Firewood MBF 3,401 3,559 5,349 5,665 6,720 6,740 Grazing MAUMS 170 188 176 240 201 240 Capacity Permitted MAUMS 185 178 191 240 176 240 Livestock Use Recreation MRVDs 567 947 573 1,090 582 2,200 Developed Recreation MRVDs 799 1,314 799 2,500 799 2,500 Dispersed Recreation MRVDs 37 74 37 74 37 74 Wilderness Recreation MWFUDs 179 168 183 174 234 800 Wildlife Water Yield MAcFt 133 142 136 158 136 158 Unsatisfactory Watershed MAcres 390 4 344 0 344 0 Condition

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 9 Chapter 3 • Summary of the Management Situation

Conclusion The benchmark analysis shows that the forest has the capability of supplying timber and products to meet projected future demand. The amount scheduled for harvest in the Forest Plan will meet the projected future demand for sawtimber, but will not meet demand for products in 1986-1995.

Projected future demand for firewood is estimated to remain the same as that harvested in 1983 and 1984. This exceeds supply potential, which is based on sustained yield level. The proposed plan will not meet the projected future demand.

Developed and dispersed recreation will not meet the projected future demand of standard service level recreation visitor days.

Vegetative diversity will progress toward older age classes, resulting in less consumptive use of wildlife. Administrative limits on consumptive use of big game animals will continue. Nonconsumptive use will increase, but will not offset the decline in consumptive use. The overall wildlife use trend will be downward.

The projected future demand for grazing capacity is expected to remain equal to or greater than the capacity of the forest to produce forage. Therefore, projected future demand of capacity and permitted use is displayed as being the same as the supply potential after Period 2 (1996-2005).

Soil erosion will diminish and watershed function will improve. Runoff will be characterized by improved production and less frequent flooding.

10 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Overview This chapter is a guide to future management direction for the Prescott National Forest. It provides the desired management goals and objectives to supply long-term management continuity. It lists the specific management goals of each resource and the activities necessary to accomplish these goals.

Mission A mission is a guiding principle toward which all activities focus and contribute. The mission of the Prescott National Forest is to provide multiple use and sustained yield of goods and services in a way that maximizes long-term net public benefits consistent with resource integration, environmental quality and management considerations.

Desired Future Conditions The Prescott National Forest is attempting to achieve a management situation that can respond to local or national demands for wood products, livestock production, water yield and a wide mix of recreation opportunities, including wildlife-related uses. The goal is to produce these outputs and opportunities on a sustained basis while maintaining air, soil and water resources at or above minimum local, State or Federal standards. Levels of output and use opportunities would be adjusted so they are within long-term supply potentials and to ensure that impacts on heritage, wildlife and vegetation resources can be mitigated to protect these resources for future management options. Activities related to mineral development and public utility needs would be permitted within the framework of existing laws and environmental concerns.

The cost for each activity in aggregate is the amount required to implement the Prescott Forest Plan. Actual annual budgets approved through the agency’s budget process may be different from that which is indicated as necessary for carrying out the intent of the Forest Plan. It is for this reason that short-term objectives must be flexible enough to accommodate variation, while long- term objectives must be rigid enough to guide the development of the annual budget request to ensure implementation of Forest Plan direction.

Goals A goal is defined as a “concise statement of condition that describes a desired condition to be achieved sometime in the future. It is normally expressed in broad terms and is timeless in that it has no specific date by which it is to be completed.” (36 CFR 219.3.) The goals necessary to achieve the mission of the Prescott National Forest Plan, by resource activity follow.

General The forest is managed with a primary emphasis on healthy, robust environments with productive soils, clean air and water, and diverse populations of flora and fauna. Public information, education and interpretation of forest resources, ecosystems and management are provided.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 11 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Range Provide forage to grazing and browsing animals to the extent benefits are relatively commensurate with costs without impairing land productivity, in accordance with management area objectives.

Cooperate with other agencies and private range landowners to reduce impacts of livestock grazing.

Identify and manage areas that contain threatened and endangered species of plants.

Environmental Education/Interpretive Services Information, environmental education and interpretive services are available forestwide to communicate the Forest Service role and mission, forest themes, management actions and ecosystem concepts, and to enhance forest user understanding and enjoyment.

Forest information, education and interpretation present resources and management information within a holistic, ecosystem context. Landscape ecology is stressed, with specific interpretive messages focusing on the interdependency of land, peoples, systems and processes.

The forest provides for full integration of interpretive services with other Forest Service resources, disciplines, facilities, programs and personal services.

Public contact staff supports forest law enforcement officials through internal and external communication to reduce infractions and improve public understanding and support of public land stewardship responsibilities.

Volunteers and partnerships are used to provide increased public contact.

Recreation Recreation users enjoy a full spectrum of experiences and benefits in appropriately managed facilities and other forest settings.

Heritage resources represent an opportunity for research, education, understanding and enjoyment that enhances their stewardship and protection.

The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) is the framework for recreation planning.

All recreation sites are managed at a capacity of use level that ensures that the natural resources will be maintained at a desirable condition over the expected life of the project and/or activity.

Visual Resources The visual landscape appears natural within the context of indigenous vegetation and landforms or modified within the goals of the current Forest Service Scenic (Visual) Management System.

Special concerns for preservation of visual resources are a priority in primary recreation areas and in areas of high visual concern.

Visual quality is managed to reflect existing and future uses of the landscape unit.

12 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Wilderness Natural agents of ecological change will be allowed to operate freely in wilderness. All other uses allowed in wilderness will be managed to preserve the wilderness character and value.

Allow lightning-caused wildfire to play a more natural role.

Timber Provide for nondeclining sustained yield of timber.

Establish improved balance in age class distribution through silvicultural prescribed stand management. Focus on reducing constraining components of stand strata. Protect existing old growth stands.

Improve stand productivity through management.

Provide green and dead firewood and other forest products on a sustained yield basis.

Timber harvest will be used as a tool to accomplish multiple resource objectives when it is identified as the optimum method through site-specific environmental analysis.

Wildlife and Fish Habitat Manage for a diverse, well distributed pattern of habitats for wildlife populations and fish species in cooperation with states and other agencies.

Cooperate with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to meet or exceed management goals and objectives in the Arizona Cold Water Fisheries Strategic Plan.

Maintain and/or improve habitat for threatened or endangered species and work toward the eventual recovery and delisting of species through recovery plan implementation.

Integrate wildlife habitat management activities into all resource practices through intensive coordination.

Support the goals and objectives of the Arizona Wildlife and Fisheries Comprehensive Plan, as approved by the Southwestern Regional Forester and Director of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Minerals Administer the mineral laws and regulations to minimize surface resource impacts while supporting sound energy and minerals exploration and development.

Pursue reclamation of past and present mined lands.

Soil and Water Protect and improve the soil resource.

Provide for long-term quality waterflow needs through improved management technology.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 13 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Avoid adverse impacts to the public, Government facilities and all uses in flood plains and wetlands.

Restore all lands to satisfactory watershed condition.

Riparian Give riparian-dependent resources preference over other resources.

Improve all riparian areas and maintain in satisfactory condition.

Air Quality Minimize air pollution from land management activities through application and timing of improved management practices.

Fire Management Provide for fire management support services necessary to sustain resource yields while protecting improvements and investments, and providing for public safety.

In as much as possible, return fire to its natural role in the ecosystem.

Law Enforcement Improve the forest’s law enforcement program by taking an aggressive posture that emphasizes good public education, better employee training, more employee field presence, increased line manager accountability, and increased public assistance.

Lands and Special Uses Conduct landownership adjustment, right-of-way acquisition, landline location and special uses programs to promote efficient management.

Facilities Maintain a transportation system to support resource goals.

Construct, maintain and regulate use of Forest Service facilities to protect natural resources, correct safety hazards, reduce disinvestments, and support management activities.

Ensure adequate information exists at all facilities to provide visitor orientation, information and interpretation.

Incorporate interpretive site plans in the planning and development of capital investment projects.

Land Management Planning Ensure interdisciplinary input and coordination for implementing, monitoring and updating the Forest Plan.

14 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Human Resources Manage human resource programs to provide employment and economic development opportunities while meeting natural resource goals.

Vegetation Management Utilize NEPA procedures to establish project objectives, locations and methods. Documentation of decisions will include the rationale for these items.

Vegetation management projects are subjected to environmental analysis according to NEPA regulations. This is analysis specific and contains documentation for the: (1) project objectives; (2) site selection process; and (3) treatment method selection rationale.

Examine the feasibility of prescribing fire under naturally occurring conditions.

Objectives An objective is defined as “a concise, time specific statement of measurable planned results that respond to pre-established goals. An objective forms the basis for further planning to define the precise steps to be taken and the resources to be used in achieving identified goals” (36 CFR 219.3). Forest objectives are quantitative. They are time-oriented outputs that are associated with a given budget level. The objectives need to be achieved to accomplish goals.

Standards and guidelines to achieve the objectives are found in the management prescriptions section in Chapter 4. Objectives by resource program area are expressed as annual outputs in a table located in Appendix D of this document. These output levels assume full funding is received in all resource program areas. Individual project schedules are maintained separately from the Forest Plan as supporting documentation for current and future programs and budgets. Annual estimates of individual program output and costs for each year covered by the Forest Plan are summarized in the “Prescott National Forest Plan Implementation Spreadsheets.” These documents are updated at least once every year, and are available for review at the forest supervisor’s office in Prescott, AZ.

Management Prescriptions The mission, goals and objectives for the Prescott National Forest are attained through applying groups of management activities to specific units of land. Groups of management activities are called “prescriptions” and the land units are called “management areas.” This portion of the Forest Plan describes the linkage between prescriptions and management areas.

Management prescriptions are combinations of management practices, activities and standards, and guidelines designed to achieve specific multiple-use goals and objectives. Management prescriptions include all the necessary mitigation and resource coordination measures required by law, regulations and policies. Different management prescriptions were developed to emphasize individual resource potentials, continue current management, manage at a reduced intensity, and address public issues and management concerns. The FORPLAN model assigned the prescriptions to specific analysis areas while maximizing present net value within the limits of the constraints used to meet the goals and objectives of the alternatives considered. Thus, the most cost-efficient prescriptions that meet the objectives were chosen for each alternative.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 15 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

All prescriptions developed for the Forest Plan integrate a number of resource and support activities and produce a variety of outputs when applied to a management area. Each prescription is broken into the categories listed below.

Management Area Description This is a brief description of the physical, biological and administrative characteristics of the management area to which the prescription applies.

Analysis Area Analysis areas are used to predict the response of identified land areas to various management activities. Analysis areas on the Prescott National Forest are noncontiguous groupings of capability areas. The capability areas can be defined and delineated on maps and can be identified on the ground. Data was generated for each analysis area for the purpose of estimating the capacity to provide goods, services and or resource uses for each prescription. See Appendix A for a listing and brief description of analysis areas.

Management Emphasis This is a statement regarding the resource management emphasis for the prescription.

Program Element This is an individual resource program area of responsibility which, in combination with other elements, comprises the directed mission of the Forest Service to fulfill statutory or executive requirements.

Management Information Handbook (MIH) Activity Code This is a list of resource management activities applicable to management practices. These activities are grouped into resource or support elements and are identified by an alpha/numeric code, such as A01 or D03. Each activity has a unique code, title and unit of measure for the work performed. An index of codes is provided in the Management Information Handbook FSH 1309.11a.

Applicable Analysis Areas This is a list of areas where each activity is applicable within the management area.

Standards and Guidelines A description of standards and guidelines sets forth:

1. Specific policies that apply to activities in each prescription; 2. Timing and intensity of planned activities; and 3. Mitigation measures and coordination requirements needed to protect resources and the environment.

16 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

How to Apply Prescriptions In applying management practices or activities, the area involved must first be located on the capability area map. The area must be field checked to determine the applicable standards and guidelines to be met and the suitability of applying the practices or activities at that specific location. Practices or activities are monitored in accordance with Chapter 5, Monitoring Plan, to ensure compliance with costs, outputs and standards and guidelines.

If the proposed practices or activities are not adequately covered by the Forest Plan, an environmental analysis must be conducted to evaluate the proposal and alternatives to it, as well as to coordinate the selected practices or activities with applicable standards and guidelines for the area. Additional management constraints not covered by the standards and guidelines in the Forest Plan are determined during this analysis.

If the practices or activities in the Forest Plan are not appropriate for a specific site because of land suitability or other conflicts with standards and guidelines, the planned action is redesigned or relocated. Major unforeseen practices or activities which cannot be changed and which conflict with the Forest Plan may result in an amendment or revision to the Forest Plan. Amendments or revisions are accomplished by the forest supervisor after appropriate public notification (36 CFR 219.10 (f)).

Management Prescriptions Applicable to All Management Areas Except Wilderness The following standards and guidelines apply forestwide. Where there is a need for more specific or restrictive management direction, that direction is shown in the management area standards and guidelines later in this chapter.

Standards and Guidelines

Environmental Education/Interpretive Services (EE/IS) The Forest EE/IS (Environmental Education and Interpretive Services) Plan provides design and production standards for all interpretive media. These standards will be reviewed and updated as needed, based on project monitoring results.

All plans for interpretive related facilities, programs and recreational development will follow standards set forth in the Forest EE/IS Plan.

All interpretive funding requests will be accompanied by a completed interpretive plan for the site or program requested, identifying themes, objectives and audience.

The official forest visitor map will provide written visitor information regarding access policy for roads, trails and cross-country travel.

Training for both forest employees and volunteers in interpretation and public contact will be given a high priority.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 17 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Developed Recreation Maintain and operate developed sites at the standard service level.

Maintain all facilities in a safe and operable condition.

No new recreation residence sites will be established.

Incorporate fuels and vegetative management planning into project and landscape planning for developed recreation areas. Include a description of a desired future condition that will provide for public safety and for maintenance and enhancement of vegetation health and visual quality.

No improvements will be constructed within inventoried potential recreation sites that will detract from the future value of those sites for recreation development.

In developed recreation sites and in areas within a quarter mile, utilize prescribed fire when recreation and visual resource objectives can be met. Burning prescriptions will limit predicted flame height to 3 feet or less to ensure tree crowns are protected from scorch. Along the primary access routes to developed recreation sites and within an area 132 feet from centerline, utilize prescribed fire when recreation and visual resource objectives can be met. Burning prescriptions will limit predicted flame height to 3 feet or less to ensure tree crowns are protected from scorch. Interpretive information will be available at these sites and at the district office while effects of burning are evident.

In foreground areas adjacent to developed recreation areas, all primary travel routes, and secondary travel routes where at least one-quarter of the users have a major concern for the scenic qualities, the following will apply:

1. Log landings will be located outside these areas. 2. The skidding of logs will be done on dry or frozen ground using equipment or methods that keep soil disturbance to a minimum. 3. Cut tree and other vegetation as near ground level as possible and direct the cutface away from the area being viewed, without sacrificing safety. 4. Require 100 percent slash treatment in developed recreation areas and within 66 feet of roads. 5. Complete slash treatment within 1 year following closure of the cutting unit or other slash-creating activity. The edges of clearcuts and juniper type conversions will be irregular and feathered through the use of shelterwood and selection cutting methods.

Chaparral conversions will have irregular edges and will include randomly selected clumps on ridgetops and high points.

Dispersed Recreation An annual operation and maintenance plan will be prepared for heavily used dispersed recreation areas.

Manage dispersed recreation areas at the standard service level.

18 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Through printed material, advise back-country users that all water must be treated if intended for human consumption, and that water sources are not dependable.

Maintain dispersed recreation facilities (fencing, gates, signs, etc.) in a safe and operable condition.

Replace or remove improvements where they no longer serve the intended purpose and/or when they present a public health or safety hazard.

The access policy for the forest is described below:

The one-half inch scale forest visitor map is adopted as the official access policy map for the forest.

Motor vehicles are allowed only on forest roads indicated on the forest visitor map and signed on the ground. Where discrepancies occur, on-the-ground signing will prevail.

Trail access is restricted to nonmotorized use except where indicated on the forest visitor map and signed on the ground. Where discrepancies occur, on the ground signing will prevail.

Cross-country travel by any vehicle is prohibited, with the following exceptions:

• Special areas designated for cross-country travel

• Persons with a valid permit to perform: ƒ Big game retrieval (direct ingress/egress with animal down) ƒ Firewood retrieval (direct ingress/egress with valid permit) outside of the Prescott Basin Area ƒ Approved resource management activities (employees/permittees)

• Any Federal, State or local officer, or member of an organized rescue or fire- fighting force in the performance of an official duty

• Vehicle ingress and egress to a campsite within 300 feet of a road (however, no ingress or egress to a campsite is permitted by motor vehicles from trails), outside of the Prescott Basin Area

Within the Prescott Basin area (see Appendix K), vehicular cross-country travel is restricted to 50 feet from a Forest Development Road for firewood retrieval and day use recreation.

Vehicles are prohibited within all wilderness areas.

Horse use is allowed on roads and trails and for cross-country travel. Horse travel use within developed recreation areas is prohibited except in the Groom Creek Horsecamp Campground.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 19 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Access restrictions for roads, trails or cross-country travel may be yearlong or temporary to reduce erosion potential, protect roads, protect cultural sites, and to provide opportunities for recreation in a setting without vehicular disturbance.

Annually review and update the access policy for the forest. Access policy changes for specific roads, trails or cross-country travel require NEPA compliance with full public participation during this process. The official access policy map shall be updated to reflect any changes in access policy for specific roads, trails or cross-country travel. Monitor use of roads, trails and cross-country travel to determine the effectiveness of the forest access policy. Actively seek public participation in the access monitoring process.

The following criteria are used to evaluate the need for future access restrictions:

1. High erosion hazard areas likely to be or being damaged by off-highway vehicle (OHV) use 2. Slopes exceeding 40 percent where high probability for damage exists 3. Meadows likely to be or being damaged 4. Areas where the Visual Quality Objectives of Preservation, Retention or Partial Retention are jeopardized 5. Areas where user conflicts must be resolved to ensure public safety 6. Where habitat for threatened, endangered or sensitive species is jeopardized 7. Areas important to wildlife reproduction (e.g., fawning or nesting areas) where disturbance is causing or is likely to cause significant stress and reduction of reproductive success 8. Riparian areas that are jeopardized or damaged

Law enforcement, in support of the access policy, focuses on minimizing resource damage and user conflicts. Regulatory signing is appropriate to inform the public and assist law enforcement activity.

Implement access restrictions to prevent unauthorized reopening of closed or obliterated roads.

Implement appropriate measures to ensure that significant long-term resource damage does not occur.

Manage the General Crook Trail and associated historic sites and side trails for potential Congressional designation as a National Historic Trail.

Incorporate fuels and vegetation management planning into project and landscape planning for high-use, dispersed recreation areas. Include a description of a desired future condition that will provide for public safety and for maintenance and enhancement of vegetation health and visual quality. Also include planning for high-use roads and trails to provide for public safety, vegetation health and enhancement of vistas and viewpoints.

20 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Heritage Resources The heritage resources program on the Prescott National Forest will consist of the following activities: Inventory, protection, study/evaluation, interpretation and preservation. In support of the above activities, the forest will comply with the National Historic Preservation Act, Executive Order 11593, the Archaeological Resourced Protection Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the Programmatic Agreement regarding cultural resources protection and responsibilities executed by the New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPO), the advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region.

Where the programmatic agreement does not specify standards, those in the Forest Service Manual and Handbook will apply.

During the conduct of undertakings, the preferred management option for heritage resources listed on, nominated to, eligible for, or potentially eligible for the National Register is avoidance and preservation in place, leading to a “no effect” finding. Exceptions may occur in specific cases where consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) indicates that data recovery or other treatment to minimize or mitigate effects is acceptable and appropriate.

When resource management conflicts occur, the values of preservation of heritage resources will be weighed against the values of the proposed land use. In assessing the priority for preservation of heritage resources, give consideration to the following:

1. Listing on or eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. 2. Adequacy of present methods of investigation and data recovery to realize the current research potential of the cultural resources. 3. Likelihood that the heritage resources will have greater importance for addressing future research questions than current ones. 4. Presence of heritage values other than research potential (e.g., association with significant historical persons or events, traditional cultural or religious values, or unique interpretive values), where those values are fully realized only when the heritage resources exist undisturbed in their original context(s). 5. Likelihood of disturbing historic or prehistoric burials. 6. Significance based primarily on architectural character and integrity of the setting. 7. Importance of preservation in place relative to the objectives of the State Historic Preservation Plan. 8. Site densities that make data recovery economically infeasible, or require unattainable operating conditions.

Where preservation in place is important under these conditions, give serious consideration to such options as project redesign, relocation or cancellation. The procedure specified in 36 CFR 800 and the programmatic agreement will be followed in reaching a management decision.

Assure that the heritage resource management program contributes to a better understanding of the nature and importance of forest cultural resources and aids in development of a better framework for management. Work toward completion of studies needed to provide this understanding and management framework by using study evaluation units, which can provide a

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 21 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

focus and context for heritage resource work. Study evaluation units will be used to help prioritize and tie together inventory, evaluation, National Register nominations, stabilization and interpretive efforts.

A prioritized list of study evaluation units is included in the Implementation Schedule for Heritage Resources Management, which will be maintained separately from the Forest Plan. This schedule specifically includes the following:

1. A priority listing for heritage resource studies by evaluation unit 2. A priority listing of areas to inventory for the purpose of expanding the existing knowledge base 3. A priority listing of properties for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places 4. An inspection schedule of specific heritage sites 5. A priority listing of stabilization projects 6. A priority listing of sites needing maintenance plans 7. A priority listing of heritage resource interpretive projects

The implementation schedule will be updated as necessary, based upon new information and findings, and will provide the basis for current and long-term program planning.

Update the forest’s Heritage Resources Overview and Planning Assessment in FY 1995 to incorporate new information and findings.

Plan and conduct forest undertakings in compliance with the procedures set forth in 36 CFR 800 and the programmatic agreement. The area of an undertaking’s potential environmental impact will be inventoried for heritage resources. The inventory strategy will be determined by the programmatic agreement, Forest Service Handbook, and consultation with the Arizona SHPO. American Indian groups will be consulted as appropriate.

When NEPA scoping or other information suggests the likelihood that heritage resources having religious or traditional cultural values for living communities of American Indian tribes may be present, these communities or tribes will be consulted concerning the location and importance of those resources and alternatives for protecting them.

Heritage resources management will be coordinated to the extent feasible with the State Cultural Resource Plan and planning activities of the State Historic Preservation Officer, and with other State and Federal agencies. This will include periodic meetings, data sharing, coordination on National Register nominations, interpretation, site protection, and participation in the State heritage resources planning process.

In addition to inventories for proposed undertakings, conduct inventories to expand existing knowledge about the nature, location and management needs of forest heritage resources. Areas rated as highest priority for survey will be those that are: (1) important components of Study Evaluation Units; (2) expected to have high site densities; (3) important to understanding the historic or prehistoric occupation of the forest; and/or (4) known or thought to be threatened by looting, impacts of visitor use or other forces.

A prioritized list of inventory areas is included in the Implementation Schedule for Heritage Resource Management.

22 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

In consultation with the SHPO, evaluate heritage resources for eligibility for the National Register. Sites not yet evaluated will be considered potentially eligible and will be managed as if eligible until evaluated.

A prioritized list of National Register nominations is included in the Implementation Schedule for Heritage Resources Management.

An inspection schedule is also included in the Implementation Schedule for Heritage Resources Management.

Heritage resources known to have sustained damage that threatens loss of scientific data, architectural integrity, interpretive potential, or other values will be stabilized as part of an ongoing stabilization program. The forest will maintain a list of heritage resources needing stabilization work, consisting of 5 sites that are the highest priority for stabilization, 35 sites (if identifiable) that have sustained severe damage, and up to 60 additional sites that have sustained less severe damage.

Stabilization may include architectural stabilization, backfilling, drainage and erosion control measures, data recovery, fencing, and other actions needed to halt or slow deterioration.

Priorities for stabilization are included in the Implementation Schedule for Heritage Resources Management.

Implement other site protection measures as necessary, including signing, administrative closure, road closure, withdrawal from mineral entry, patrolling and law enforcement activities. Parties known to have damaged heritage resources willfully or through negligence will be held legally and financially liable for the costs of stabilization and repair.

Inspect heritage resources identified for avoidance in undertakings to ensure that boundaries are properly marked and protection measures are implemented. Follow the standards in the Forest Service Manual.

In each forest contract, permit or lease that has the potential to affect heritage resources, include a clause specifying site protection responsibilities and liability for damage. If damage to a heritage resource is found, follow the procedures in the Forest Service Manual and Handbook.

Develop and implement maintenance plans as needed to help ensure preservation of structures listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Priorities for development of maintenance plans are shown in the Implementation Schedule for Heritage Resources Management.

Expand opportunities for forest visitors to learn about the past. Use an integrated approach aimed at providing a variety of interpretive opportunites and experience levels. Emphasize respect for the past and site protection while facilitating visitor access to and enjoyment of selected heritage resources. This will include opportunities for appreciation, education and participation.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 23 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

The following goals will guide interpretation of heritage resources on the Prescott National Forest:

• Strengthen heritage resources protection through increased public awareness and understanding. • Serve people by providing opportunities for diverse audiences to discover and enjoy heritage resources on national forest lands. • Contribute to an appreciation of the Nation’s cultural heritage and its relevance to present day life and peoples. • Enhance recreational experiences for forest visitors through quality interpretive programs and materials.

A prioritized list of heritage resources interpretive projects is included in the Implementation Schedule for Heritage Resources Management.

Heritage resource work for permits involving ground disturbance will be provided by the applicant.

Visual Quality Visual quality levels as inventoried and mapped serve as the visual quality objectives (VQOs) for the forest.

Table 7. Visual quality objectives VQO Acres Preservation 132,401 Retention 52,466 Partial Retention 210,069 Modification 637,961 Maximum Modification 229,902

Analyze each project in the field to determine if the elements and levels that comprise the existing VQOs are accurate and reflect current conditions and uses. Raise VQOs to the next higher scenic level if appropriate, and determine if this new VQO level reflects increased or anticipated public use and/or future management intentions for the area. Changes to inventoried VQOs require project-level NEPA analysis and a decision by the forest supervisor. The changes will be mapped and tracked for trend assessment during the first decade of Forest Plan implementation.

In ponderosa pine foregrounds, manage for diversity varying from openings to multistoried stands, with some overmature yellow-barked ponderosa pine trees in open, park-like stands. Group selection within the front 200 feet of the foreground should not exceed 1 acre and the shapes should be designed to achieve the characteristics of natural openings.

In retention and partial retention VQO middle ground and background distance zones, create or maintain a diversified texture of the forested landscape in relation to the existing landscape character type. All improvements, permanent structures, vegetation manipulation, ground-

24 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

disturbing activities and/or construction will be compatible with the visual quality objective for the area.

By the end of the second decade (1996-2005), develop viewshed corridor implementation plans for all high-use areas, water bodies, primary travel routes and all secondary routes where three- quarters of the users have major concern for scenic qualities.

Conduct vegetation management planning for visual quality to enhance and assist in long-term survival of aspen stands and other interesting vegetation features. Implementation would occur after analysis of applicable environmental factors is performed.

Complete visual absorption capability and existing visual condition mapping for the forest by the end of the first decade (1986-1995).

By the end of the first decade (1986-1995), inventory and list in priority order all areas not meeting VQOs that need rehabilitation.

Manage developed recreation site perimeters (within 330 feet) for the visual quality objective of retention.

Design and construct improvements and permanent structures in foreground areas with natural- appearing materials. Improvements, permanent structures, vegetation manipulation and ground- disturbing activities will be compatible with the natural landscape.

Place timber markings on the side opposite the viewer along all roads and travel ways where practical.

In mixed conifer foregrounds, maintain a variety of species, age classes and size classes through the use of various silvicultural prescriptions and stand marking guides.

Dispose of all activity slash in the first 200 feet of Sensitivity Level 1 foregrounds.

In pinyon/juniper foregrounds, retain or create diversity in pinyon/juniper stands by emphasizing open stands of mature trees (12 inches DBH or more) with a variety of other size classes. A minimum of 40 percent of the existing canopy should be retained. Openings and cutting practices should be compatible with visual quality and other objectives identified in the project environmental analysis.

Retain a mix of noncommercial species (oak, locust, etc.) in foreground areas, whenever these species are present.

Recreation Administration The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) as inventoried will be adopted as the forest objectives.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 25 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Table 8. ROS Classes Class Acres Primitive 74,532 Semiprimitive Nonmotorized 18,581 Semiprimitive Motorized 530,674 Roaded Natural Appearing 625,950 Rural 12,137 Urban 12

These ROS objectives shall be changed if, as a result of an environmental analysis and subsequent forest supervisor decision, a different ROS class would better achieve the management objectives and goals for an area. These changes will be mapped and tracked for trend assessment during the first decade of Forest Plan implementation (1986-1995).

Changes in ROS inventory acreage shall conform to the following guidelines during any given time period (10 years):

• Primitive (P) – No change • Semiprimitive Nonmotorized (SPNM) – No change in wilderness, + or – 10 percent on all other management areas. • Semiprimitive Motorized (SPM) – Change of + or – 10 percent • Roaded Natural Appearing (RNA) – Change of + 15 percent or – 10 percent. • Rural (R) – Change of + or – 5 percent. • Urban Class – No change.

A forest recreation opportunity guide (ROG) will be prepared during the first decade (1986- 1995).

Prohibit all camping for a period in excess of 14 days within a 30 consecutive day period within the national forest.

The following criteria will form the primary basis for determining if a land exchange proposal involving recreation residence tracts is in the public interest:

1. The proposed recreation residence site is not located in an environmentally sensitive and/or high public use area. 2. There is no likelihood that the area will be needed for a higher public use in the future. 3. Considering the length of history of occupation and interest of development of the site, there are no significant public resource values remaining that should be kept for overall public enjoyment. 4. Based on the relative number of residences, the relative level of development and condition of the improvements, etc., there is no likelihood that the site might be “recovered” and restored to near natural state through attrition over time at little or nominal cost to the Forest Service.

26 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

5. Conveyance of the site into private ownership will not increase the need for law enforcement, solid waste disposal services, and/or other services already involving both Forest Service and local government agencies. 6. Assuming that the land will be subject to State, county and local government zoning and other requirements for occupation and development of private lands, the local government does not object to exchange of the site into private ownership. 7. Conveyance of the site into private ownership will not cause unacceptable environmental effects that would not be controlled by local zoning and other requirements governing occupation and development of private land, such as pollution to surface and ground water resources on the national forest. 8. Conveyance of the site into private ownership will not require a change of management of the surrounding National Forest System land. 9. Conveyance of the site will not create any right-of-way or road management problems for the Forest Service, or otherwise effectively block access to remaining National Forest System land, that cannot be solved by reservation of right-of-way to the U.S. 10. Conveyance of the site will not obligate the Forest Service to additional management/development costs. 11. Conveyance of the site into private ownership will simplify and improve efficiency of national forest administration.

Wildlife All water developments will consider small game and nongame needs and escape devices.

All fencing will be to wildlife standards and consider local species needs.

Whenever conflicts between wildlife species exist, when designing structural and nonstructural improvements, give priority to threatened and endangered species, sensitive species, emphasis species and comprehensive plan goals, in that order.

Maintenance of existing wildlife structures will be prioritized in the following manner: threatened and endangered species, sensitive species, emphasis species and comprehensive plan goals.

Structural maintenance will conform to the appropriate Forest Service Handbook.

Monitoring Baseline data will be collected for the first 2 years of Forest Plan implementation and will be used to refine the current habitat capability model.

Wildlife project objectives will specify what species and habitat requirements are being met.

Environmental analyses where wildlife benefits are a primary project objective will specify:

1. The excepted effects on indicator species and emphasis species 2. The expected effects on wildlife diversity

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 27 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

3. The expected effects on populations of nonemphasis species

During the Forest Plan review and revision process, establish indicator species/plant associations with full public involvement.

Encourage non-Forest Service expert involvement in development and implementation of wildlife monitoring plans.

All revegetation projects will have site-specific development of seeding mixtures. Native, introduced, naturalized and hybrid species will be considered on their merits to meet site objectives. Where feasible, preference will be given to native species.

Predator control will conform to applicable State and Federal laws.

Habitat management for Federally listed species will take precedence over unlisted species. Habitat management for endangered species will take precedence over threatened species. Habitat management for sensitive species will take precedence over nonsensitive species.

Habitat components and capabilities will be updated every 10 years.

All forest projects will be reviewed for threatened and endangered species.

Continue to survey for threatened and endangered species.

Formal and informal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be implemented whenever the need is identified.

All approved recovery plans will be implemented.

Prescott National Forest will continue cooperative efforts in the development of State strategies and comprehensive plans.

Prescott National Forest will continue cooperative efforts and coordination on proposed projects with appropriate agencies.

The following areas are designated essential habitat for spike dace (Meda fulgida): 1103Y050, 1104Y026, 1103Y075, 1J04Y000, 1G03Y075, 1H03Y050, 1H03Y000 (less the Hell Canyon portion).

The following capability area is designated essential habitat for bald eagle (Halliaetus leucocephalus): 5L07Y025.

No harvest activity will take place within 150 feet of any undifferentiated raptor nest.

• Mexican Spotted Owl – Refer to Appendix F for standards and guidelines. • Northern Goshawk – Refer to Appendix G for standards and guidelines. • Cooper’s Hawk – 15 acres of unharvested area around nests. • Sharp-shinned hawk and osprey – 10 acres of unharvested area around active nests. • Bald eagle – a 300-foot unharvested buffer zone around winter roost.

28 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Roosts and active nest sites will be protected by prohibiting any road development within close proximity (100 feet) of any unharvested or buffer zone.

Cooperate with Arizona Game and Fish Department to develop implementation plans for the Arizona Cold Water Fisheries Strategic Plan.

Exceed goals of the Arizona Comprehensive Wildlife Plan and Arizona Strategic Plan within management area emphasis and prescriptions and as additional funding or other opportunities present themselves.

Support the goals and objectives of the Arizona Wildlife and Fisheries Comprehensive Plan as approved by the Southwestern Regional Forester and the Director of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Interdisciplinary planning, coordination and design will be conducted on all proposed forest projects.

Nonstructural habitat improvement in ponderosa pine (MAs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 only):

• Clearcuts will not exceed 40 acres except as provided in the Southwestern Regional Guide. • A maximum of 35 percent of an area shall be in natural or created openings as defined in the Southwestern Regional Guide. • Natural or created openings will no longer be considered openings when the crown cover exceeds 35 percent and the stocking level is greater than 150 trees per acre. Created opening will not be closer than 330 feet and will be spatially located to enhance wildlife.

Old Growth Refer to Appendix H for standards and guidelines and for structural attributes of old growth.

Openings will not exceed 40 acres and will be irregularly shaped, utilizing topographic characteristics to enhance the edge effect and wildlife security requirements.

Openings will be designed so that hiding cover is available within 600 feet.

Openings will not exceed 40 percent of the habitat type within any management area. These openings will be dispersed so that they are no closer than 660 feet apart.

The following table defines structural stages of pinyon/juniper woodlands.

Table 9. Pinyon/juniper diameter classes (stump height) Stems 1.1- 5.1- 7.1- 9.1- 11.1- 13.1- 17.1- 20.1- 0-1.1 28.1 per Acre 5.0 7.0 9.0 11.0 13.0 17.0 20.0 28.0 1-10 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4a 4a 11-20 1 1 1 3a 4a 4a 5 5 5 5 21-40 1 1 1 3b 4b 4b 5 5 5 5 41-80 1 3a 3a 3b 4b 4c 5 5 5 81-120 1 3b 3b 3c 4c 4c 5 5 121-200 2 3c 3c 3c 4c 4c 5

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 29 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Stems 1.1- 5.1- 7.1- 9.1- 11.1- 13.1- 17.1- 20.1- 0-1.1 28.1 per Acre 5.0 7.0 9.0 11.0 13.0 17.0 20.0 28.0 201-350 2 3c 3c 3c 351-500 2 3c 3c 501-700 2 3c 701- 2 1,000 1,001- 2 2,000 2,000+ 2 1=Opening; 2=Seedling; 3a=Sapling 10-40% Canopy; 3b=Sapling 41-70% Canopy; 3c=Sapling 71%+; 4a=Mature 10-40% Canopy; 4b=Mature 40-71% Canopy; 4c=Mature 71+ Canopy; 5=Old Growth

A minimum of 75 snags per 100 acres will be retained, as well as with appropriate replacements.

Screening cover will be left along all wildlife waters, travel ways and forest access roads.

Monarch alligator junipers will be marked as wildlife trees and preserved as roosts and snag replacements.

Areas of poor watershed condition will be considered high priority for firewood harvest. Close, revegetate and drain access routes used for firewood harvests. Limit access to periods when soil conditions are such that permanent soil damage will not result.

Riparian Areas (MAs 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 only) Management projects within riparian areas will be in accordance with legal requirements regarding flood plains, wetlands, wild and scenic rivers, cultural and other resources and will be in accordance with standards and guidelines identified in the Southwestern Regional Guide.

Projects impacting riparian areas will be designed to protect the productivity and diversity of riparian-dependent resources. Emphasize protection of soil, water, vegetation, wildlife and fish resources.

Riparian-dependent resources will have preference over other resources. Other resource uses and activities may occur to the extent that they support the objective of riparian enhancement.

No discretionary vegetation manipulation will occur within 200 feet of identified riparian capability area boundaries except where the objective is to enhance downstream productivity.

Riparian projects will be developed on a site-specific basis and in accordance with the Southwestern Regional Guidelines and Riparian Handbook.

Meet the following riparian standards in the Southwestern Regional Guide for 80 percent of riparian areas by the year 2030:

• Maintain at least 80 percent of the potential overstory crown closure of obligate riparian species.

30 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

• Manage resources to create or maintain at least three age classes of woody riparian species with at least 10 percent of the woody plant cover in sprouts, seedlings and saplings where site potential exists. • Maintain at least 80 percent of the potential stream shading along perennial cold-water streams. • Maintain adequate emergent vegetation to ensure compliance with the goals of the strategic plan. • Maintain 80 percent of spawning gravel surface free of occlusive inorganic sediment. • Maintain at least 80 percent of streambank linear distance in stable condition. • Retain snags in riparian areas that are not a safety hazard.

Nonstructural Wildlife Habitat Improvements Determine the need to rehabilitate riparian areas through seeding and planting woody species in areas that are in poor condition.

Rehabilitate areas in poor condition where natural processes are ineffective within the planning horizon (1986-2035).

Cooperate with Arizona Game and Fish Department on population control of aquatic plants and undesirable fish species. Permit fish stocking to meet State fisheries management goals.

Structural Wildlife Habitat Improvements Construct adequate exclosures to protect key riparian areas from livestock grazing where rest rotation or time control grazing fails to provide adequate protection to the riparian areas.

Maintain riparian communities by providing water for wildlife and livestock away from sensitive areas.

Establish representative administrative exclosures the first decade to determine riparian vegetation potential on representative streams.

Cover Requirements The following cover standards and guidelines will apply in areas where threatened and endangered habitat requirements do not conflict. Habitat requirements for threatened and endangered species will take precedence over cover requirements for other species.

Design watershed improvement structures where possible to provide water for wildlife.

Grassland and Desert Shrub (MAs 2, 3 and 5 only) A minimum of 10 percent of the shrub crown closure will be maintained for wildlife cover on all project areas.

Cover will be retained around wildlife waters, travel ways and forest access roads.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 31 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Chaparral (MAs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 only) Chaparral treatment shall not exceed 1,500 acres on any single project, where consistent with natural fire control lines.

A minimum of 30 percent of any project area will be retained to meet wildlife cover requirements (30-year-old trees with 70 percent crown density).

No burning out of islands is authorized except where identified hazards exist, for firebreak purposes or to enhance wildlife diversity.

Treatment areas will be revegetated in grasses to prevent excessive soil loss and provide additional wildlife forage.

Project areas will be designed to maximize habitat edge.

Wildlife security cover will be retained around wildlife waters, travel ways and forest access roads.

Range Management

Range Administration Manage livestock grazing to achieve soil and water protection objectives. Make use of cost effective range improvements and management techniques.

Manage to bring all grazing allotments to satisfactory management by the end of the first decade (1986-1995). Satisfactory management occurs on allotments where management actions are proceeding according to a schedule (allotment management plan), which leads to fair or better range condition with an upward trend. Acres of satisfactory management are the total full capacity acres for a complete allotment within a management area being operated satisfactorily. Acres of unsatisfactory managed range are the total full capacity acres for complete allotments within a management area being operated unsatisfactorily.

First priority for range program efforts will be given to bringing problem allotments to satisfactory management and stocking.

Document the rational for a management decision on problem allotments with an environmental assessment unless other types of documentation are deemed appropriate as a result of the scoping process and public involvement.

Control livestock grazing through management and/or fencing to allow for and favor adequate establishment of riparian vegetation and elimination of overuse.

Negotiated agreements with permittees will be the primary method of achieving needed permit adjustments. Range inventories (including contracting) will be used as necessary for data to document needed adjustments, especially when negotiated agreements cannot be reached.

When negotiations fail to produce a consensus on livestock numbers and management methods, grazing numbers will be adjusted to existing capacity.

32 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

No adjustments will be undertaken that allow for prolonged maintenance of unsatisfactory watershed conditions or degradation of wildlife habitat.

Adjust livestock numbers using the most expedient and defensible means available to accurately assess range capacity.

Increased stocking will be permitted only as demonstrated capacity is created and management capability is proven. Any increased number must allow for protecting or enhancing long-term productivity of the land under the multiple-use concept. See FSH 2209.21 for further guidelines.

Refer to Appendix I for additional standards and guidelines.

Update range analysis and development of management plans to R-3 Range Allotment Analysis Handbook Standards on 69 allotments. Updating intervals are dependent on management intensity identified within each management area. Table 10 shows the guidelines that will be used after capacity and permitted use are equal:

Table 10. Management intensity level B C D E Allotment Maintain at Maintain at Maintain at Maintain at Analysis Least a 25- Least a 20-yr. Least a 10-yr. Least a 5-yr. Reanalysis yr. Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Production Average 15-yr. Average 12-yr. cycle Average 9-yr. cycle Average 6-yr. Utilization Studies cycle cycle

Allotment 50% per year 70% per year 100% per year 100% per year Inspections

Management Plans Average every Average 10 years Average 5 years Average 5 years and Updates 15 years

Permit Annually Annually Annually Annually Administration to Include Operating Plans

Conduct production/utilization studies at an interval commensurate with the assigned grazing intensity level to facilitate capacity determination, monitoring and control. Proper use will be monitored in or adjacent to riparian areas.

Conduct annual allotment inspections to regional standards as set forth in FSH 2209.21.

Management of acres prescribed may be managed to a higher intensity where the permittee elects to incur additional expenses and where provisions for the appropriate level of monitoring can be made.

Time Controlled Grazing Utilize Region 3 Supplement 123 to FSM 2231.61 or its replacement to guide the establishment of time controlled grazing.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 33 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Livestock will be utilized to achieve soil and water protection objectives when:

1. The ability of livestock to achieve these objectives has been substantiated by verifiable monitoring and/or independent research; 2. Use of livestock is the most cost-effective means of achieving these objectives; and 3. Use of livestock will not lead to unacceptable levels of conflict with other resources or management area direction.

Time controlled grazing proposals will be analyzed with a full range of alternative methods for meeting resource and management area objectives and/or dealing with resource conflict issues. Alternatives will consider conventional systems and the existing methods with correct stocking.

Assemble and utilize available information from research and monitoring to develop the projections for time controlled grazing proposals.

Design monitoring to assess accomplishment of management area and time controlled grazing proposal objectives. Make monitoring results available to the public.

Cooperative Range Management Forest officers will advise prospective permittees of condition and trend of grazing allotments referencing the best available information. Any proposed stocking or management changes will be identified to prospective permittees.

Cooperation with other agencies is encouraged to promote more rapid improvement in management and range condition.

Range Improvement Utilize FSM 2241.11 to develop priorities for use of Range Betterment Funds. Focus on problem allotments, without precluding opportunities to prevent problems or improve productivity on other allotments. A full range of alternatives will be evaluated through the NEPA process.

Construct and replace structural range improvements as needed to manage at prescribed levels on a 50-year cycle. If a more cost-effective alternative to replacement is available, it may be implemented. Priority for expenditure of funds for new structural range improvements will be determined by range analysis and the allotment management plan system.

Ensure permittee maintenance of existing structural improvements on an annual basis to ensure full life of projects.

Permittee investment will be encouraged by giving priority to projects that contain at least equal value contributions by the grazing permittee.

Allow additional investment in nonstructural range improvements contingent upon receipt of funding above the level programmed. Sources for this additional funding would include increased Range Betterment Fund availability, extra appropriations, or contributions from permittees above the projected level.

34 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Control insect or disease outbreaks when they become epidemic by mechanical, biological or chemical methods. Method utilized will be determined through the NEPA process and cost analysis.

Range Riparian Protection Eliminate yearlong grazing in riparian areas.

Implement grazing systems and/or methods that will advance the ecological objectives for riparian dependent resources, and require sufficient recovery rest to meet the physiological needs of the plants and plant associations.

Riparian areas within a watershed will be managed at an intensity commensurate with that typical of the rest of the watershed.

Complete an inventory and survey of riparian areas within the first 2 years.

Proper allowable use within riparian areas will not exceed 20 percent on woody species.

Salting within a quarter mile of riparian areas for the purpose of management of livestock is prohibited. This includes the use of salt to gather livestock.

Resource Protection and Mitigation Meet threatened and endangered species requirements in all range or grazing activities.

Livestock will be excluded from Granite Basin Lake, Lynx Lake and Horsethief Lake.

Encourage nonuse for resource protection purposes when adverse range conditions are prevalent.

Unauthorized livestock on National Forest System lands may be impounded and disposed of by forest officers. Enforce grazing regulations found in 36 CFR and Title 18 USC dealing with livestock management.

Control noxious weeds on rangelands to prevent significant population buildups.

Pesticides will be applied in accordance with their respective labels, State and Federal laws, and the requirements developed in project environmental documentation.

Allow appropriate predator control measures where livestock losses are documented and exceed the cost of control.

Range Forage Improvement Permittee investment will be encouraged by giving priority to projects that contain at least equal value contributions by the grazing permittee.

When using pesticides, avoid direct application to water. Do not mix or load chemicals near streams or wet areas.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 35 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Timber Management Note: These timber S&Gs apply to all management areas except MA 5 and MA 6

All timber sales will be planned utilizing integrated resource management (IRM).

Inventory timber lands every 10 years. Maintain a continuous 10-year timber harvest schedule. Review the classification of unsuitable timber every 10 years.

Continue to complete compartment examinations to regional standards to provide data for detailed stand prescriptions and to monitor Forest Plan results.

Priorities of stands for timber management treatment will be based on silvicultural examinations, stand diagnosis and environmental analyses for project areas.

Protect regeneration areas from browsing and trampling damage by livestock until stands are established, using such means as fencing, adjustments in season of use, reducing cattle numbers and other methods that protect seedlings.

Monitor reforestation sites 1, 3 and 5 years after planting to ensure adequate stocking. Planting will be preceded by site preparation. Planting may be by machine, auger, hand tools or a combination of these.

Use natural regeneration on all timber harvest areas where possible. If natural regeneration is unsuccessful, artificial regeneration will be used.

Evaluate for reforestation potential lands classified as suitable but which are currently unstocked or understocked. Artificially reforest these lands if environmentally and economically feasible.

After fire or harvest, assure regeneration by natural or artificial means to meet regional standards.

Site preparation can be accomplished by chemical, mechanical or prescribed fire methods as best suits the site to be treated. Site preparation method will be determined through the NEPA process and cost analysis.

The forest will be managed primarily using uneven-aged silvicultural systems. The need for using other management systems will be evaluated during the Integrated Resource Management (IRM) process.

Uneven-aged management will be used in specific cases where landscape and resource objectives are not efficiently met with even-aged management. These cases would include development of old growth characteristics, visual quality needs and/or wildlife habitat requirements. Other departures from even-aged management must be silviculturally prescribed to meet management area objectives and will be subject to comparison with even-aged treatments as well as alternative forms of uneven-aged treatments.

Complete sale planning, design and layout. Appraise, advertise open bids, and make sale awards on sales scheduled for 1986-1995.

Minimum harvest volumes will normally be 500 board feet or 2 cords per acre. This may be modified, depending on the needs of other resources and management area direction.

36 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

The minimum re-entry period will be 20 years. The maximum re-entry period will be 40 years.

Minimum sawtimber size will be 9 inches DBH.

Rotation of regenerated stands will be 90 to 240 years for ponderosa pine.

Use intermediate cuts in immature stands to maintain growing stock levels (GSL) of 40 to 90 square feet per acre unless other stocking is prescribed in detailed stand prescriptions to meet management objectives.

Use sanitation and salvage cutting practices on unsuitable timber when this does not conflict with wildlife objectives.

Limit tractor/crawler logging equipment to slopes less than 40 percent.

Openings created through harvest of timber or firewood will not exceed 40 acres in size.

Stands on tentatively suitable acres that are mixed conifer (based upon silvicultural examination and habitat typing data) will not normally be harvested unless project NEPA documentation indicates otherwise.

Plan, design and construct or reconstruct a road system that optimizes safety, economical access and resource protection.

On all commercial timber sales of ponderosa pine, require removal of all unutilized portions of the main bole larger than 4 inches diameter inside bark to reduce the possibility of ips beetle infestation.

The following silvicultural prescriptions for shelterwood cuts will apply:

• Seed cut to approximately 30 GSL. • Prepare site during seed cut at age 90 to 240 years. • Remove all overstory that will not blend in with the 0- to 40-year-age classes. • Zero to three commercial (intermediate) cuts to maintain growth, thermal cover and hiding cover.

Forest products such as Christmas trees, posts, poles and vigas will be available from suitable and unsuitable lands if removal does not conflict with other resource objectives.

Salvage harvesting operations will be prescribed as needed to meet conditions imposed by wildfires, insect and disease infestations, blowdown or other catastrophes, and will not be subject to a 40-acre size limitation.

Administer commercial timber sales, firewood sales, permits for forest products and miscellaneous forest product sales. This activity includes accountability, financial management, field inspections, and contract interpretation and enforcement.

Close all local roads not essential for management needs upon completion of sale and firewood activities.

Environmental analysis for timber/firewood sales will:

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 37 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

1. Establish harvest objectives; 2. Establish access alternatives which disclose soil loss and stability figures for each; 3. Establish why non-timber values are needed; 4. Demonstrate why timber harvest is the best means of meeting the objectives; and 5. Explore other means of meeting objectives.

Provide for public information on the availability of firewood and the limits of its supply.

Complement enforcement of county leash laws through public education and use of permit requirements for firewood harvest.

Firewood harvest planning will include provisions for road closure. Funding will be collected or programmed as required to effect closures of temporary roads.

The forest will continue the present firewood season as established (yearlong, subject to weather conditions).

Firewood harvest from areas requiring structural measures to control erosion will focus on long- term stability of the soil and not the production of wood fiber or range forage.

Maintain cone collection programs to meet artificial reforestation needs by seed zone.

Continue selection of superior tree and seed areas as needed for testing of genetic improvement.

Detect and monitor insect and disease activities. Control if necessary to protect resources or uses. The method of control utilized will be determined through the NEPA process and cost analysis.

Soil, Water and Air Conduct a terrestrial ecosystem inventory to standards of the R-3 Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey Procedure at Level III by the end of the first decade (1986-1995) with the assistance of the Arizona Zone Crew. Inventory 500,000 to 600,000 acres per decade to obtain or update information, and to characterize soil and water resources for land and resource management planning.

Complete watershed condition inventory and analysis for NFS watersheds in priority order.

Develop plans for soil and water resources that will stabilize soil and control streamflows. By 1996, prepare plans for each of the 13 watersheds and subwatersheds on the forest, in priority order.

Prepare risk analyses, utilizing assumptions as appropriate for watershed plans where insufficient scientific data exists.

Continue special soil and water resource studies at Battle Flat to monitor the effects of water yield improvement work.

Plan and conduct moisture and temperature regime and other studies to upgrade soil classification data and improve soil interpretation.

38 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Implement water yield improvement plans by treating 13,255 acres of chaparral per decade between 1986 and 2035. Treat chaparral in accordance with the following guidelines:

• No more than 70 percent of any contiguous stand will be treated at one time. • Cleared spaces between untreated blocks will not exceed a quarter mile across. • Application of herbicides will be in accordance with EPA registered labels. • Risk analyses will be completed for substances used where scientific certainty is inadequate or where inadequate data is available on human health or environmental consequences. • Treatments will be less than 20 percent of a fifth-code watershed within a decade.

Implement watershed condition improvement plans to stabilize soils and improve streamflow characteristics. Conform treatments to the following guidelines:

• Measures will be implemented on portions of the watersheds that are in unsatisfactory condition. • Causes of unsatisfactory conditions will be corrected. • Grazing use will be balanced with respect to range capacity prior to and after the implementation of watershed improvements. • Firewood harvest from areas requiring structural measures to control erosion will focus upon long-term stability of the soil and not the production of wood fiber or range forage.

Administer all prepared watershed plans in coordination with Federal, State and local governments.

Obtain water rights for developments that provide water for forest uses.

Prepare resource inventory reports to summarize inventories and facilitate preparation of watershed management plans.

Maintain forest water rights by: (1) updating inventories of water use rights and requirements; (2) participating in adjudications; and (3) managing acquired rights for protection of the beneficial uses that are stated in the right.

Minimize impacts to soil and water resources in all ground-disturbing activities. Where disturbance cannot be avoided, provide stabilization and revegetation as part of the project.

Documentation of environmental analyses for ground-disturbing activities will include discussion of expected effects on water quality, describe specific mitigation measures that will be taken, and describe water quality monitoring that will be conducted as part of the projects.

Select treatment methods for plant control or revegetation projects according to the following criteria:

1. Mechanical methods may be used: • On slopes less than 40 percent; • On soils with moderate or high revegetation potential; and • When they will not adversely affect stream channels.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 39 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

2. Chemical treatments may be applied: • On soils with moderate or high revegetation potential; • On areas that would benefit from selective control of plant species; • On areas where the chemicals will not violate State water quality law; and • On areas outside legislative municipal watershed and human habitation. 3. Fire treatment may be used: • Where the fire will not pose a threat to human safety or surrounding property; • Preferably on slopes less than 40 percent; • On soils with moderate or high revegetation potential or leaving 40 percent vegetative cover on low revegetation potential sites; • On areas with suitable fuel types; and • On areas where the proper vegetative response can be expected. 4. Biological controls may be used: • On areas with suitable host types, and • On areas that would benefit from selective control of plant species. 5. Hand treatment should be used on areas where the other methods: • Would disturb fragile soils on steep slopes; or • Would cause other unacceptable impacts; or • Would pose threats to human health or safety; or • Would be too costly. Through the use of best management practices, the adverse effect of planned activities will be mitigated and site productivity maintained. These practices are determined (after problem assessment, examination of alternatives and appropriate review by local or State agencies and public participation) to be the most effective practicable means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollutants generated by nonpoint sources to levels compatible with water quality goals. Use these practices for activities affecting the forest and grassland resource, including the following:

1. Installation of water control structures and/or interseed on unsatisfactory condition ranges where revegetation potential is moderately high to high on slopes less than 40 percent. 2. Designation of stream courses within timber sales to protect watershed values. This protection will include controls on skidding within riparian areas and along or across designated stream courses. 3. Rehabilitation to minimize loss of site productivity following activities or wildfire. Maintain watershed structures when discounted benefits of watershed protection exceed discounted costs of maintenance.

Maintain all watershed improvements in a safe and operable condition.

Maintain high quality visual conditions. The form, line, texture and color of characteristic landscapes will be clearly distinguishable when viewed as middle ground. Cultural resources and

40 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

ecosystems will remain unmodified by air pollutants. Determine baseline information and the background condition of the above air quality related values and specify limits of acceptable change that will affirmatively protect these values in Class I areas.

Perform prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit application reviews to determine the potential effect increased emissions from major stationary sources will have on air quality related values (AQRV) of National Forest Class I areas. Impacts of air pollution generating activities will be predicted using current modeling techniques.

Assist and coordinate with the State in developing and applying air quality and smoke management standards.

Minerals Undertake mineral examinations and contest actions on claims where occupancy and/or development is not in keeping with the mining laws.

Locate borrow areas and quarries where they will serve long-term needs. Unless project level analysis indicates an alternate use, borrow pits will be returned to characteristic landscape form and vegetative cover at the end of the project, and quarries will be returned to characteristic form and cover as much as possible.

Inventory and designate sources for common variety minerals such as sand and gravel for private, city, county, State and other Federal use. Sources will be designated through the NEPA process and will consider the economics of choice.

Provide common variety mineral materials for local, county, State and forest roads on the forest or that provide access to the forest. Material will be made available for other roads only upon adequate documentation that other sources are not available and visual quality impacts are of an acceptable level.

Require special stipulations for oil and gas leases only where needed for special resource protection.

Recommend oil and gas leasing without surface occupancy for all developed recreation sites and electronic sites.

Require a reclamation bond adequate to cover the reclamation cost in all plans of operation approved under the 36 CFR 228 regulations.

Cooperate with the State to inventory and mitigate hazardous abandoned mine workings.

Mineral material will be made available for personal and commercial use when it has been determined through an environmental analysis that it will not be in substantial conflict with other resources or activities.

Revegetation plans will be prepared for all new mineral material sources. Existing pits that have not been utilized as a source for mineral materials for 2 years will require a revegetation plan before approval will be granted to new permittees. Visual impact assessments will accompany all new mineral material pit proposals.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 41 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Human and Community Development Continue to maintain the forest human resource program as dictated by budget and economics.

Maintain and expand opportunities for enrollees (volunteers and other human resource program participants.)

Lands Authorizations for special uses may be issued to qualified applicants when the proposed use: (a) fulfills a demonstrated special need without unduly infringing on the use by the general public; (b) is in accordance with an approved implementation plan (where called for) and will not cause adverse impacts on the national forest and its resources which cannot be fully mitigated; (c) does not serve a function that can be provided by private enterprise off national forest lands; and (d) is complimentary to Forest Service and management area objectives, programs and purposes.

Respond to applications for new permits, amendments, documents and leases within 30 days of receipt. Administer all existing permits.

Review special use permit fees as per FSM 2715.25.

Utility corridors may be authorized after an environmental analysis is conducted (first) on unclassified areas and (second) on avoidance areas. A corridor plan will be prepared during the second decade to consider future needs.

Requests for utility corridors will be coordinated to locate needed facilities within existing corridors where feasible. Design and construction practices will meet the standards defined in “National Forest Landscape Management, Volume 2, Chapter 2,” USDA Handbook 478.

Require Rural Electrification Administration (REA) specifications for raptor protection on permitted power lines during construction and reconstruction.

Require burial of new utility lines in all foreground areas of retention or partial retention VQO areas along State and Federal highways, unless an environmental analysis indicates that it would be unfeasible.

Requests for authorization to construct or reconstruct any structure or facility must be accompanied by three sets of professionally prepared plans or three sets of plans which reflect professional standards.

New construction and reconstruction must meet or exceed all applicable codes.

Efforts will be made to consolidate new electronic site proposals on currently approved sites. Recommendations to the Regional Forester on undesignated electronic site classifications will be made after a comprehensive environmental analysis indicates such occupancy will not compromise other national forest management objectives.

Continue to maintain the following electronic sites for public, private and other agency use: Hickey Mountain, Mingus Mountain, South Mingus Mountain, Towers Mountain, Horsethief, Sierra Prieta, Tonto Mountain, Alto Divide, Mount Francis, Wolverton Mountain, Spruce

42 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Mountain, Mount Davis, Mount Elliott, Mount Union, Mount Tritle, Squaw Peak, Hyde Mountain, Wildflower and Onion Mountain.

Use will be limited to these sites except in cases where national defense and/or public safety may be adversely affected.

Electronic sites will be managed to the following standards:

1. Maximize joint use of existing buildings. 2. Lot plans as presently established will be eliminated. Sites will be allocated on a total required facility basis. 3. Maintenance of individual site roads and trails will be carried out jointly through cooperative maintenance payments proportionate to the amount of use or will be maintained by the users. 4. Clearing of vegetation will be limited to that which poses a hazard to facilities and operational efficiency. 5. Commercial broadcasting and constant carriers will be allowed where compatible. These sites must be physically separated from land mobile and microwave sites. Any potential electromagnetic interference must be resolved before construction can proceed. Microwave corridors will be protected. 6. VHF transmitters will be permitted if frequencies are compatible with those of previous users. (Authorize only specified frequencies and not wide-range bands on 2700-10 Technical Data Sheets.) 7. All new and replacement towers must be self supporting. 8. New towers and tower additions will not be authorized if they adversely affect the fire tower lookouts line of sight. 9. All utility lines will be placed underground. 10. Any prospective permittee desiring a site shall furnish detailed plans of buildings and antenna support structures to the district ranger for approval. All towers will meet Electronic Industries Association standard RS-222-C (structural standards for steel antenna towers). These plans will show the relationship of the proposed building and antenna to other facilities in the area, along with manufacturer’s specifications for equipment to be used. 11. All sites will conform to VQOs and forest color standards. All structures will be colored to blend with the background.

Additionally, the following guidelines will be applied to electronic site permits:

• Encourage formation of user improvement associations and administer sites in cooperation with associations. • Incorporate site operation technical standards in permits developed by user groups after being reviewed and recommended by the forest supervisor. • Implement cooperatively-developed site management standards for each site to provide for frequency and power separation.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 43 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Grant permits or easements for road and utility access to interior private land only if other practical routes are unavailable on private land and impact on the forest is acceptable as a result.

Roads needed for private land access, special uses or mineral activities will be built and maintained by the permittee on permanent locations, to the minimum standards for the intended use, and will be closed, drained and revegetated after use.

On lands identified for exchange, prohibit encumbrances and investment, which will reduce future disposal opportunities.

Allow only one access road for subdivision access unless natural features dictate otherwise and where there is no suitable private land alternative or where additional access is needed for public safety.

Pursue mineral withdrawals on potential and existing electronic sites. Electronic site withdrawals will be completed by the end of 2005.

Maintain land status records by updating as changes occur.

Locate and post land survey monuments and property lines according to the following priority:

1. Resource management projects 2. Encroachments and title claims 3. Potential trespass prevention 4. Other areas

Complete the entire forest by the end of 2035.

Survey and post an average of 28 miles of national forest land lines per year in conformance with national standards during the first time period. Priorities are as follows:

1. Where proposed projects are adjacent to private land 2. Areas of known and potential trespass 3. Backlog

Locate and post all land lines needed for outputs at least 2 years in advance of resource output production years.

Surface-disturbing resource projects will require a search for and protection of land monuments.

Request BLM resurveys where section corners have not been brasscapped. The highest priority is in complex land patterns where development is taking place.

Update the land line location atlas as additional corners are found and the boundary is posted.

Continue to take action on unauthorized occupancy.

Review land classification and determine the need for land adjustment to meet management objectives of providing for community expansion and logical boundary adjustment.

44 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Respond to land exchange proposals as presented. Seek to acquire all private holdings meeting one or more of the following criteria:

1. Lands within designated wilderness 2. Lands that contain vital threatened and endangered species habitat or vital wildlife habitat (i.e. eagle nesting sites) 3. Lands needed for developed and dispersed recreation 4. Wetlands, riparian areas and other water-oriented lands 5. Lands that contain unique, natural or cultural values 6. Lands that will improve public land management, meet specific administrative needs, or benefit other national forest programs 7. Lands that provide needed access, protect public lands from fire or trespass, or prevent damage to forest land resources 8. Lands that need rehabilitation or stabilization to restore their productivity 9. Lands that are needed to consolidate public land ownership or meet research needs 10. Lands that are needed to meet programs prescribed or endorsed by acts or reports of Congress or the Department of Agriculture 11. Inholdings that contain needed rights-of-way and will contribute to the forest resource management base

Lands offered by the United States in land exchange are tentatively classified as base-in- exchange. Because local and physical conditions may change during the life of this Forest Plan, those lands classified in this plan and any others that may be considered will generally meet one or more of the following criteria and those in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) regulations:

1. Lands needed to meet the needs of expanding communities 2. Isolated tracts or scattered parcels that cannot be efficiently managed 3. Provide for consolidation of public lands 4. Improve management, benefit specific resources, or increase management efficiency 5. Meet overriding public needs

The acquisition programs will be achieved through purchase, exchange and donation authorities. The purchase program centers around the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (L&WCFA) that designates lands within the following categories that are eligible for acquisition utilizing L&WCFA funds:

1. Congressionally designated areas 2. Wilderness 3. Threatened and endangered species habitat 4. Recreation acquisition composites and inholdings

The basic goals of the composite program are to provide for lands needed for:

1. Construction of public recreation facilities,

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 45 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

2. Dispersed recreation and open space, 3. Protection of public recreation resources, and 4. Prevention of private usurpation of public resources and facilities on nearby public land.

Table 11 shows the approved and proposed Forest L&WCFA composites:

Table 11. Recreation acquisition composite Acres Approved 1980 Estimated Date Composite Value (Million Approved Proposed as Desirable Net Acres for Acquisition Remaining Dollars) Upper Verde 5/22/81 1,775 1,775 $4.5 Pine Mountain Proposed 47.82 47.82 None Lower Verde Proposed 94.07 94.07 None

Essentially all of the lands identified for acquisition with L&WCFA funds are also eligible for acquisition by exchange or donations, and will be acquired by these authorities when the opportunity arises and when appropriate.

The donation authorities are applicable for any of the lands that meet the acquisition criteria.

Acquire rights-of-way as needed to meet resource outputs or resolve legal status deficiencies. Priority for rights-of-way acquisition are as follows:

1. Administration of national forest lands 2. Public access to national forest lands 3. Timber harvest

Review the forest base map annually and update on an 8-year interval to maintain accuracy.

Land Management Planning Develop and maintain a forest plan and forest database in compliance with NFMA and NEPA.

Facilities Provide for forest-wide transportation planning, preconstruction engineering and construction engineering on arterial roads, collector roads, local roads, bridges and major culverts.

Review and update the Prescott National Forest Road Management Plan annually to ensure that the transportation system meets the needs and management intent of the respective management areas.

Roads needed to provide sole access to private land, special uses or mineral activities will be built on permanent locations and maintained by the permittee to minimum standards for the intended use and will be closed, drained and revegetated after use.

Local terminal roads will be constructed with a 12-foot width unless environmental and economic analyses show a difference is justified.

46 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Design roads so that straight alignment does not exceed one-half mile.

Emphasize relocating roads out of canyon bottoms during construction and reconstruction activities.

Construct or reconstruct arterial roads, collector roads, local roads, bridges and major culverts to ensure user safety and to a level commensurate with the use and need.

Prohibit road construction on unstable soils and slopes greater than 40 percent if it cannot be done in a manner that maintains or enhances water quality (sediment or chemical) and quantity objectives.

Table 12. Roads projected for construction or reconstruction during the decade indicated. Road No. Miles Decade 374 1.0 1986-1995 374 3.7 1986-1995 670 6.0 1986-1995 9 12.8 1986-1995 52A 3.8 1986-1995 323 1.0 1986-1995 52.4 10.4 1986-1995 705 17.0 1996-2005 52 26.8 1996-2005 261 4.5 1996-2005 732 9.0 1996-2005 670.2 6.5 2006-2015 373 4.0 2006-2015 259 5.0 2016-2025 52C 3.1 2026-2035 95 8.1 2026-2035 197 4.8 2026-2035 259 5.0 2036-2045 259 5.0 2036-2045 259 5.0 2036-2045

Maintain arterial, collector and local roads, bridges and major culverts to ensure user safety and to a level commensurate with existing road standards.

Require user maintenance on roads that serve non-forest facilities and property.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 47 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Solidify jurisdictional responsibility for roads by issuing USDA easements to the State and counties. Cooperate with the counties to determine roads for which they should obtain ROWs. Acquire ROWs for forest roads. Continue cooperative agreements with local, State and Federal agencies.

Clearing of vegetation along rights-of-way and around facilities and special use sites will be limited to that which poses a hazard to the facility and operational efficiency. Methods will include mechanical, hand and herbicide methods, using selection criteria in F03.

Maintain a transportation system inventory for all forest roads. Operate and maintain the road system according to prescribed maintenance levels. Public safety, resource protection and seasonal use will be emphasized, with user comfort being a secondary consideration.

Accommodate user traffic by a designated system of roads and trails. A signing system will be designed with positive emphasis and informational signs at termini.

All roads and trails shown on the “official access policy” map overlay will be signed.

The Federal signing direction contained in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices will be used.

The regional signing policy will be used, with special attention given to compliance with the “Guide for Traffic Control Devices on Forest Development Roads.”

Forest informational and directional signs and route markers will conform to FSH 7109.31 and FSH 7109.11 (Signs Handbook).

Particular attention will be given to the regional policy of vertical signing for roads not suitable for passenger cars and horizontal signing for roads suitable for passenger cars.

Only the minimum number of signs should be used to guide, regulate and warn the user.

The sign policy for trails will be positive, indicating permitted activities.

Required forest signing will be completed by the end of Fiscal Year 1991.

Close, obliterate or restore those roads and travel ways identified for such action through the integrated resource management process with full public involvement. Closure will be effected by physical barriers and/or signing. See Table 13 for the schedule of road closures.

Table 13. Road obliteration – 1986-1995 Priority No. Map Name Miles 1 Prescott 6.05 2 Groom Creek 29.28 3 Iron Springs 22.10 4 Hickey Mountain 15.95 5 Prescott Valley N 0.00 6 Prescott Valley S 4.00

48 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

7 Poland Junction 32.15 8 Wilhoit 20.60 9 Chino Valley S 0.00 10 Jerome Canyon 5.40 11 Mt. Josh 15.10 12 Skull Valley 6.95 13 Sheridan Mountain SE 5.85 14 Smith Mesa 10.60 Total 174.03

The inventory of roads to be closed is maintained on an overlay of the official access policy map.

Federal regulations and closures will be minimized to those considered absolutely necessary to meet management requirements. Once designated and approved, the regulations will be enforced.

The following road control options are used on the Prescott National Forest:

Roads where use is discouraged – There are roads where maintenance level 3 cannot or will not be attained due to low standards. Also, there may be instances where single-lane roads can accommodate commercial haul to the extent mixed traffic (recreation and general forest) would increase traffic hazards, but not to the extent the hazard would be unacceptable.

Roads with user restrictions without formal order Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) – This is used in temporary situations where public use restrictions are needed for high safety hazards where closure devices are ineffective, such as for road construction, logging operations or road damage. Road closed wording can be used only in an advisory way (for example, “Road Closed For Logging Operations”).

CFR closure – Used where consequences to the public user, road investments or forest resources are significant. Closure will be by barricade, gate or physical structure. The closure procedure is described in 36 CFR 261.

Roads put to bed – Used where management prescribes inactivation of the road for short-term or intermittent use, or when the road is no longer needed and is maintained in an inactive state until the roadbed is obliterated naturally or by mechanical measures. Barriers will consist of native materials to block or obscure the road entrance.

Road obliteration – The objective of obliteration is to return the road to natural resource production. R-3 Supplement 22, FSM 7705.13 specifies the actions necessary to obliterate a road. These include removal of drainage devices, reshaping to provide natural drainage, revegetating the road and blocking to restrict traffic.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 49 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

As of August 1989, Chino Valley district had 362 roads to be closed, totaling 363 miles. Bradshaw District had 354 roads totaling 248 miles, and Verde district had 82 roads totaling 53 miles. The forest totals are 798 roads to be closed, totaling 664 miles. These roads will be closed on an opportunity basis. This means that when equipment is in the area for other projects and the road is scheduled for machine obliteration, an effort will be made to include the road obliteration. Some projects are on a road scheduled for obliteration or closure. In these cases, the road closure will be part of the project plan. Approximately 174 miles of roads are scheduled for closure in 1986-1995.

Maintain a transportation system inventory for all forest trails. Operate and maintain the trail system according to prescribed maintenance levels.

Provide for preconstruction and construction engineering for the forest trail system.

Construct and reconstruct trails to develop a desirable system for the protection, management and enjoyment of the Prescott National Forest.

Determine FA&O facilities needed by evaluating each forest unit’s space needs based upon the organization’s workforce needs.

Provide appropriate access for people with all types of disabilities when constructing or reconstructing facilities.

Incorporate interpretive site plans into the planning and development of recreation capital investment projects. The site narrative for each project will include the interpretive themes and objectives for each site (specific vista points, trails, trailheads, parking areas, etc.) at which interpretation is planned.

Provide for establishing facilities necessary for the administration of national forest lands. Construct/reconstruct FA&O facilities to support management and administration activities. Major projects occurring in the first decade (1986-1995) are the Bradshaw district office and the air tanker base.

Maintain potable water systems in a safe condition in accordance with Arizona State regulations.

Maintain facilities to ensure health and safety of the public and employees.

Maintain administrative facilities in a safe condition to minimize disinvestment.

Perform dam construction, inventory, inspection and O&M planning as per FSM 7500 and FSH 7509.11 (includes recreation, special use and resource improvement dams).

Provide utility systems (water and sewer) to support facilities.

Priority will be given to high-risk areas concerning health and safety.

Operate and maintain the intraforest electronic communication system so that it is compatible with the intraregional system. This system includes microwave, radio, telephone, etc.

50 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Fire Management Continue fire management planning (i.e., budget analysis, preattack, prevention, smoke management, mobilization, fire management area plans, etc.).

Fire prevention activities including smoking, campfire and powersaw restrictions, hoot owl shifts, and area closures will be implemented according to the Prescott fire prevention plan.

Provide for wildfire detection.

Protect life and property from wildfire.

Train and maintain forces held in reserve for support to initial attack or as reinforcements on escaped fires (Hotshot crews and special equipment).

Maintain fire support services (dispatch, cache, communications, etc.).

Continue fuels management inventory through the preattack planning process.

Treat activity created fuels to meet initial attack objectives. Firewood utilization is a major emphasis to reduce forest residues.

Activity and natural fuels are treated by lopping and scattering, crushing, smashing, chipping and prescribed broadcast burning.

The maximum number of fires larger than 10 acres will not exceed the forest’s capability to manage up to a limit of 5,000 acres of prescribed live fire at any one time.

Firebreaks are constructed and maintained by mechanical treatment and/or prescribed fire.

Maintain agreements with cooperating agencies.

Examine the possibility of prescribing fire to more readily relate to naturally occurring fire periods.

Law Enforcement Provide an increased, visible presence of forest officers to facilitate law enforcement, deter violations, provide information to the public, and monitor resource conditions. Consideration should be given to weekend and off-hour patrols as identified by citizen complaints, employee monitoring, etc.

Establish a volunteer forest watch program (similar to Neighborhood Crime Watch, Adopt-A- Trail, etc.) to improve monitoring of law enforcement violations and resource conditions. Volunteers should meet regularly and be provided with adequate training to understand the enforceable regulations regarding resource damage. Volunteer agreements should include wording that stipulates their agreement to testify in court and includes an appropriate reimbursement agreement for their expenses when testifying.

Enhance law enforcement effectiveness by providing training for forest employees to enforce laws and educate the public on forest use regulations. Ensure that all supervisor’s office, district

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 51 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

permanent and temporary field-going field employees and other public contact employees get an annual review of law enforcement regulations and responsibilities.

Give high priority to public education programs and actions to prevent resource damage and intense user conflicts. Law enforcement actions (patrols, violation issuance, etc.) will be given the highest priority where irreversible damage to resources or intense user conflicts may result.

Develop a systematic means of responding to public complaints dealing with law enforcement matters. Utilize the standard Forest Service “Incident Report” and/or other effective means to ensure accurate recording of complaints and an effective Forest Service response. All violations and incidents will be tracked using the existing Law Enforcement Management Reporting System (LEMARS). Annual reports will be developed and maintained for public information and for reprioritizing future law enforcement efforts (patrol times, places, days, etc.).

The forest supervisor’s office will conduct a minimum of two law enforcement activity reviews per year. Adjustments to the law enforcement program will be determined as part of the review action plan developed from review findings.

Develop and distribute public education materials with emphasis on topics concerning off- highway vehicle use/regulations, law enforcement procedures/violation reporting, and firewood permits/regulations.

Prioritize law enforcement efforts with respect to times and places where violations are likely to occur, and focus efforts on priority situations.

Cooperate and coordinate with other law enforcement agencies to provide protection for forest resources and users. Increase interagency communication to enhance joint and individual law enforcement responsibilities.

Initiate search and rescue operations as a supportive service under the jurisdiction of the County Sheriff whenever the need arises.

Insect and Disease Management Detect and monitor insect and disease activities. Control if necessary to protect resources or uses. The method of control to be utilized will be determined through the NEPA process and cost analysis.

52 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Areas

Management Area 1, Checkerboard Lands — Gross Acres: 116,351

Description These lands are checkerboarded with private lands. There are 52,050 acres of national forest land and 64,301 acres of private land. The entire management area is in the Chino Valley Ranger District. The predominant vegetation types are pinyon/juniper and juniper. There are 127.4 miles of roads, for a road density of 0.7 mile per square mile. There are 1.9 miles of trails.

Management Emphasis The emphasis will be on wildlife management and improving watershed conditions in the pinyon/juniper and juniper vegetation types. Range management will generally be at the current level. The managed timber will receive treatment for wildlife enhancement. Green firewood will be harvested from pinyon/juniper and juniper lands as a result of wildlife project work. Dead and down firewood will be available from pinyon/juniper, juniper and timber slash. Dispersed recreation will be emphasized along frequently traveled roads.

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 0 Acres Retention 0 Acres Partial Retention 0 Acres Modification 45,169 Acres Max. Modification 6,881 Acres

TOTAL 52,050 Acres

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable Analysis (exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Area(s) and guidelines) Range High Chaparral Manage the following to Level C: High Pinyon/Juniper Chaparral – 103 acres; Management Intensity Accessible P/J – 4,039 acres; inaccessible P/J – 3,423 acres. Juniper

Pine Manage the following to Level B: Suitable Pine – 811 acres; Pinyon/Juniper Unsuitable P/J – 33,841 acres.

Pine Manage the following to Level 4: Unsuitable Pine – 493 acres.

Lands classified as full capacity rangelands total 43,710 acres, of which 10,951 acres are in unsatisfactory condition in 1986.

All Unsatisfactory condition rangelands will be treated through implementation of approved allotment management plans. Treatment will include:

1. Structural or non structural range improcements

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 53 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable Analysis (exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Area(s) and guidelines) necessary to implement or maintain prescribed intensity levels.

2. Adjusting stocking levels as necessary to maintain the management emphasis.

Timber Sawtimber Timber will be harvested only on slopes less than 40 percent.

Lands Designate new base-in-exchange land as depicted on the land ownership map.

Protection Do no t allow fires to spread to lands of other ownership without prior permission from the landowner. Develop fire management area plans that will complement management area objectives

Protect life and property.

The maximum average annual burned area is 2 percent of the prescribed area.

The maximum fire size objective is 200 acres. Size objectives are based on continuous area of high intensity burns.

Fires which exceed or are expected to exceed the size objective are considered escaped and appropriate response is determined by an escaped fire situation analysis (EFSA). The EFSA will consider at least the following:

1. The resource management emphasis of threatened analysis areas.

2. Suppression costs will be commensurate with resources protected.

3. Effects on air quality, aesthetics, soil and watersheds.

4. Social acceptance of acreage burned.

5. Current availability of suppression resources.

6. Impacts on cultural resources. Each EFSA will consider all types of suppression strategies.

54 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Area 2, Woodland — Gross Acres: 486,769

Description There are 455,532 acres of national forest land and 31,237 acres of private land. A total of 433,632 acres (89 percent) of the management area are in the Chino Valley Ranger District; 37,817 acres (8 percent) are in the Verde District; and 13,484 acres (3 percent) are in the Bradshaw District. Some 885 acres (0.2 percent) are in the Cave Creek District of the Tonto National Forest and are administered by the Prescott National Forest. The predominant vegetation is pinyon/juniper and juniper with some inclusions of chaparral. This area supports the bulk of the forest firewood program. Nine hundred and thirty-four acres of ponderosa pine are managed for commercial timber production in this area. There are 713.7 miles of road, for a road density of 0.9 mile per square mile. There are 150.35 miles of trails.

Management Emphasis In the predominant vegetation types of pinyon/juniper and juniper, the emphasis will be on wildlife management and on improving and maintaining watershed condition. Range management will generally be at the current level, except in the desert shrub-grass vegetation areas where Level E management will be used. Treatments in the 934 acres of managed timber will complement the emphasis on wildlife habitat management and provide firewood from logging slash. The high chaparral lands will receive extensive treatment to improve water yield after the first decade. Dispersed recreation will be managed to maintain environmental quality and reduce conflicts between forest users. Improve all riparian areas and maintain in satisfactory condition. This management area is an emphasis area for interpretation. Interpretation efforts will be focused on high-use roads, trail, sites and areas.

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 181 Acres Retention 14,408 Acres Partial Retention 85,420 Acres Modification 307,205 Acres Max. Modification 48,318 Acres

TOTAL 455,532 Acres

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Analysis Area(s) and guidelines)

Range Pine, Low Chaparral, Manage the following to Management Intensity Level B: Suitable Pinyon/Juniper and Pine – 707 acres; Low Chaparral – 1,030 acres; Unsuitable Riparian P/J – 143,390 acres.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 55 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Analysis Area(s) and guidelines)

High Chaparral, Manage the following to Level C: High Chaparral – 37,736 acres; Pinyon/Juniper, and Juniper Suitable P/J – 69,539 acres; Juniper – 112,341 acres.

Pine Manage the following to Level 4: Unsuitable Pine – 229 acres.

Desert Shrub/ Grassland Manage the following to Level E: Desert Shrub/ Grasslands – 10,008 acres.

Lands classified as full capacity rangelands total 380,406 acres, of which 117,857 acres are in unsatisfactory condition (in 1986).

All Unsatisfactory condition rangelands will be treated through implementation of approved allotment management plans. Treatment will include:

1. Structural or nonstructural range improvements necessary to implement or maintain prescribed intensity levels.

2. Adjusting stocking levels as necessary to maintain the management emphasis.

High Chaparral, Low Nonstructural range improvement will be accomplished as a priority Chaparral, Pinyon/Juniper for limited nonstructural funds. A total of 7,547 acres are needed in decade one.

Timber Timber will be harvested only on slopes less than 40 percent.

Lands New water diversions from the Verde River between Section 5, Township 17 North, Range 1 West, and Section 32, Township 17 North, Range 3 East, Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, will only be allowed when authorized by Federal law.

Right-of-way and Special Use Permits for new utilities within the viewshed of the Verde River mainstem from Section 5, Township 17 North, Range 1 West to Section 32, Township 17 North, Range 3 East, Gila and Salt River Base Meridian will be discouraged. Where no reasonable alternative exists, additional or new facilities will be restricted to existing right-of-ways. Where new right-of- ways are indicated, scenic, recreational, fish and wildlife values must be evaluated in the selection process.

Protection Develop fire management plans to complement management area objectives.

Do not allow fires to spread to lands of other ownership.

The maximum average annual burned area is 2 percent of the prescribed area.

The maximum fire size objective is 200 acres for high intensity fires. Size objectives are based on continuous area of high intensity burns.

The initial response objective is to economically confine all fires.

Fires which exceed or are expected to exceed the size objective are considered escaped and appropriate response is determined by an

56 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Analysis Area(s) and guidelines)

Escaped Fire Situation Analysis (EFSA). The EFSA will consider at least the following:

1. The resource management emphasis of threatened analysis areas.

2. Suppression costs will be commensurate with resources protected.

3. Effects on air quality, aesthetics, soil and watersheds.

4. Social acceptance of acreage burned.

5. Current availability of suppression resources.

Impacts on cultural resources.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 57 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Area 3, Chaparral — Gross Acres: 294,363

Description There are 278,380 acres of national forest land and 15,883 acres of private land. 220,186 acres (75 percent) are in the Bradshaw Ranger District, 63,151 acres (21 percent) are in the Verde district, and 11,026 acres (4 percent) are in the Chino Valley district. The predominant vegetation is chaparral with interspersed stands of pinyon/juniper and juniper. Generally, the chaparral lands are adjacent to commercial timber lands and other high-value resource areas. The 2,028 acres of ponderosa pine in this area will be managed as commercial timber. The area has 100 acres of developed recreation (Powell Springs Campground). There are 291.4 miles of road, for a road density of 0.6 mile per square mile. There are 201.8 miles of trails.

Management Emphasis In the high chaparral vegetation areas, the emphasis will be to increase water yield. Watershed condition will be improved and maintained on the majority of the chaparral acres. Range management will be at Level E in the chaparral, desert shrub and grassland. The remaining range acres will be managed at the current level or below. Wildlife management is emphasized in the ponderosa pine, pinyon/juniper, chaparral and juniper areas. There will be some green and dead firewood harvested in the P/J type. Fire management will be emphasized in the chaparral lands that are adjacent to high value resource areas, private land inholdings and communities such as Prescott and Crown King. Improve all riparian areas and maintain in satisfactory condition.

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 86 Acres Retention 8,358 Acres Partial Retention 48,964 Acres Modification 134,697 Acres Max. Modification 86,375 Acres

TOTAL 278,480 Acres

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Analysis Area(s) and guidelines)

Special . Grapevine Creek shall be designated and managed as a botanical Emphasis area for its exemplary scientific values. Management standards and Areas guidelines, as well as the area’s boundary, are shown in Appendix J

Range Pine, Low Manage the following to Management Intensity Level B: Suitable Chaparral, Pinyon/ Juniper Pine – 2,028 acres; Low and Riparian Chaparral – 6,481 acres; Unsuitable P/J - 10,594 acres; and Riparian – 3,001 acres.

High Chaparral, Manage the following to Level C: High Chaparral – 57,886 acres; Pinyon/Juniper, and Juniper Suitable P/J – 3,453 acres; and Juniper – 21,740 acres.

58 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Analysis Area(s) and guidelines)

Pine Manage the following to Level 4: Unsuitable Pine – 2,085 acres.

High Chaparral, Low Manage the following to Level E: High Chaparral – 85,906 acres; Chaparral and Desert Shrub/ Low Chaparral – 2,809 acres; Desert Shrub/Grassland – 588 acres. Grassland Lands classified as full capacity rangelands total 196,861 acres, of which 137,126 acres are in unsatisfactory condition (in 1986).

All Unsatisfactory condition rangelands will be treated through implementation of approved allotment management plans. Treatment will include:

1. Structural or nonstructural range improvements necessary to implement or maintain prescribed intensity levels.

2. Adjusting stocking levels as necessary to maintain the management emphasis.

Nonstructural range improvement will be accomplished as a priority for limited nonstructural funds. A total of 2,222 acres are needed in 1986-1995.

Timber Timber will be harvested only on slopes less than 40.percent

Watershed . Continue operation and maintenance of the Battle Flat pilot application project

Protection . Do not allow fires to spread to lands of other ownership.

Develop fire management plans to complement management area objectives.

The maximum average annual burned area is 2 percent of the prescribed area.

The maximum fire size objective is 200 acres for high intensity fires.

Size objectives are based on continuous area of high intensity burns.

The initial response objective is to economically confine all fires.

Fires which exceed or are expected to exceed the size objective are considered escaped and appropriate response is determined by an Escaped Fire Situation Analysis (EFSA). The EFSA will consider at least the following:

1. The resource management emphasis of threatened analysis areas.

2. Suppression costs will be commensurate with resources protected.

3. Effects on air quality, aesthetics, soil and watersheds.

4. Social acceptance of acreage burned.

5. Current availability of suppression resources.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 59 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide standards Element Analysis Area(s) and guidelines)

6. Impacts on cultural resources.

EFSAs will consider all suppression strategies.

Activity-created fuels will be treated to a level that maximum loss objectives can be met by the existing protection organization at the 65th percentile rate of spread.

60 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Area 4, Pine — Gross Acres: 146,335

Description There are 130,350 acres of national forest land and 15,883 acres of private land. 92,890 acres (63 percent) are in the Bradshaw Ranger District, 37,729 acres (26 percent) are in the Chino Valley District and 15,716 acres (11 percent) are in the Verde district. Since the predominant vegetation is ponderosa pine, this area supports the bulk of the forest commercial timber program. The 30,653 acres of ponderosa pine are managed for commercial timber production in this area. Chaparral and pinyon/juniper vegetation types are interspersed with the pine. The area includes the majority of the forest recreation use with campgrounds, picnic sites, summer home areas, private organizational camps and recreational special uses. Several communities are within or adjacent to this area (Prescott, Groom Creek, Walker and Crown King). There are 340 miles of roads, for a road density of 1.5 miles per square mile. There are 111 miles of trails.

The area has 3,002 acres of developed recreation sites, including the following Forest Service campgrounds and other public developed recreation sites: Hilltop, Indian Creek, Potato Patch, Mingus Mountain, Kentuck Springs, Granite Basin, Lynx Lake, White Spar, Wolf Creek (Upper and Lower); Hazlett Hollow, Turney Gulch, and Playground.

Management Emphasis On 30,653 acres of ponderosa pine, timber management will produce commercial wood products using treatments that complement the emphasis on wildlife and dispersed recreation management. The timber treatments will produce a variety of growing stock levels and age classes. Firewood will be obtained from timber slash, and from green and dead pinyon/juniper. The range resource will generally be managed at the current level or below throughout the area, but with an emphasis on improving and maintaining watershed condition. Public and permitted developed recreation facilities will be managed to provide quality recreational experiences and to maintain environmental quality. Dispersed recreation will be managed to maintain environmental quality and reduce conflicts between forest users. Water yield will be emphasized in the high chaparral vegetation type. Fire management will be emphasized throughout the area to protect high value resources and facilities on both Federal lands and private land in-holdings. Improve all riparian areas and maintain in satisfactory condition. This management area is an emphasis area for interpretation. Interpretation efforts will be focused on high-use roads, trails, sites and areas.

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 78 Acres Retention 12,981 Acres Partial Retention 35,682 Acres Modification 68,811 Acres Max. Modification 12,798 Acres

TOTAL 130,350 Acres

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 61 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

Recreation, All The existing recreation residence permits within the designated Developed Horsethief Basin, Miller Creek, Hickey Mountain and Mingus Mountain Recreation Residence Areas will continue in effect through the existing permit term unless revoked, terminated or relinquished. An Analysis of Recreation Resident Use Continuance will be carried out 10 years prior to permit termination to evaluate if continuance may be justifiable.

Range Pine, Low Manage the following to Management Intensity Level B: Chaparral, Pinyon/ Juniper, and Suitable Pine – 3,2059 acres; Low Chaparral – 833 acres; Riparian Suitable P/J – 10,880 acres.

High Chaparral, Manage the following to Level C: High Chaparral – 57,886 Pinyon/juniper, and Juniper acres; Suitable P/J – 3,453 acres; and Juniper – 21,740 acres.

Pine Manage the following to Level 4: Unsuitable Pine – 2,085 acres.

High Chaparral, Low Chaparral Manage the following to Level E: High Chaparral – 85,906 and Desert Shrub/Grassland acres; Low Chaparral – 2,809 acres; Desert Shrub / Grasslands – 588 acres.

Lands classified as full capacity rangelands total 196,861 acres, of which 137,126 acres are in unsatisfactory condition (in 1986).

All Unsatisfactory condition rangelands will be treated through implementation of approved allotment management plans. Treatment will include:

1. Structural or nonstructural range improvements necessary to implement or maintain prescribed intensity levels.

2. Adjusting stocking levels as necessary to maintain the management emphasis.

Nonstructural range improvement will be accomplished as a priority for limited nonstructural funds. A total of 2,222 acres are needed in 1986-1995.

All For the first 5 decades (1986-2035), 400 acres of artificial reforestation (planting) will be done each decade in order to achieve the desired stocking level in areas which are currently understocked. This will be in addition to any planting that is done in areas following regeneration harvests.

Soils, Water Ensure that fences around the Prescott Municipal Watershed are and Air maintained.

Lands Use of the Wildflower Electronic Site will be limited to national defense and/or public safety agencies.

Protection Suppression emphasis is to minimize fire fighting costs on low- intensity fires (less than 200 btu/ft/sec) and minimize acreage

62 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

burned by high-intensity fires (200+ btu/ft/sec).

Do not allow fires to spread to lands of other ownership.

The maximum average annual burned area is 0.1 percent of the prescribed area.

The maximum fire size objective is 20 acres for contiguous high intensity fires.

Direct attack and control all high-intensity fires.

Economically contain low-intensity fires.

Fires which exceed or are expected to exceed the size objective are considered escaped and appropriate response is determined by an Escaped Fire Situation Analysis (EFSA). The EFSA will consider at least the following:

1. Resource management emphasis of threatened analysis areas.

2. Suppression costs will be commensurate with resources protected.

3. Effects on air quality, aesthetics, soil and watersheds.

4. Social acceptance of acreage burned.

5. Current availability of suppression resources.

6. Resource loss potential is generally high.

7. Timber regeneration.

8. Impacts on cultural resources.

Activity-created fuels will be treated to a level that maximum loss objectives can be met by the existing protection organization at the 65th percentile rate of spread (NFDRS).

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 63 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Area 5, Desert Grasslands — Gross Acres: 256,655

Description There are 227,288 acres of national forest land, 28,275 acres of private land and 1,092 acres of State land. 181,420 acres (71 percent) are in the Verde Ranger District and 75,235 (29 percent) are in the Bradshaw District. The predominant vegetation is juniper, but the area is distinguished by desert shrub vegetation and open grass savannas. There are 386 miles of roads, for a road density of 1.0 mile per square mile. There are 49 miles of trails.

Management Emphasis Range and watershed management will be emphasized with Level Emanagement in the grass and desert shrub vegetation type. Green and dead firewood will be harvested from the juniper vegetation types with emphasis on enhancement of wildlife habitat. Dispersed recreation will be managed to maintain environmental quality and reduce user conflicts. Improve all riparian areas and maintain in satisfactory condition. This management area is an emphasis area for interpretation. Interpretation efforts will be focused on high-use roads, trails, sites and areas.

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 16,451 Acres Retention 14,786 Acres Partial Retention 39,444 Acres Modification 81,630 Acres Max. Modification 74,977 Acres

TOTAL 227,288 Acres

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

Wildlife All Cooperate with the Arizona State Natural Area Advisory Council in the study of Little Ash Creek as a State Natural Area.

All Close 121 acres of Little Ash Creek to OHV use to facilitate study of this site as part of the State Natural Area System.

Range High Chaparral, Manage the following to Management Intensity Level B: High Pinyon/Juniper, Riparian Chaparral – 89 acres; Unsuitable P/J – 8,660 acres; and Riparian 5,203 acres

High Chaparral, Manage the following to Level C: High Chaparral – 13,508 Pinyon/Juniper, and Juniper acres; Suitable P/J – 2,817 acres; Juniper – 79,901 acres.

Pine Manage the following to Level 4: Unsuitable – 94 acres

Low Chaparral and Desert Manage the following to Level E: Low Chaparral – 17,497

64 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

Shrub/Grassland acres; and Desert Shrub/Grassland – 66,027 acres.

Riparian lands will be managed at a level commensurate with the remainder of the contributing watershed.

Lands classified as full capacity rangelands total 193,796 acres, of which 97,396 acres are in unsatisfactory condition (in 1986).

All Unsatisfactory condition rangelands will be treated through implementation of approved allotment management plans. Treatment will include:

1. Structural or nonstructural range improvements necessary to implement or maintain prescribed intensity levels.

2. Adjusting stocking levels as necessary to maintain prescribed intensity levels

High Chaparral, Low Nonstructural range improvement will be accomplished as a Chaparral, Pinyon/Juniper, priority for limited nonstructural funds. 1,653 acres are needed Juniper, Desert in decade one. Shrub/Grassland

Protection Do not allow fires to spread to lands of other ownership.

The maximum average annual burned area is 2 percent of the prescribed area.

The maximum fire size objective is 200 acres for contiguous high intensity fires.

Size objectives are based on continuous area of high-intensity burn.

The initial response objective is to economically confine all fires.

Fires which exceed or are expected to exceed the size objective are considered escaped and appropriate response is determined by an Escaped Fire Situation Analysis (EFSA). The EFSA will consider at least the following:

1. Resource management emphasis of threatened analysis areas.

2. Suppression costs will be commensurate with resources protected.

3. Effects on air quality, aesthetics, soil and watersheds.

4. Social acceptance of acreage burned.

5. Current availability of suppression resources.

6. Impacts on cultural resources.

Each EFSA will consider all suppression strategies

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 65 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

Activity-created fuels will be treated to a level that maximum loss objectives can be met by the existing protection organization at the 65th percentile rate of spread (NFDRS).

66 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Area 6, Wilderness — Gross Acres: 90,589

Description There are 90,488 acres of national forest land and 101 acres of private land included in this management area. Of those 18,039 acres (20 percent ) are in the Chino Valley Ranger District, 35,316 acres (39 percent) are in the Bradshaw district and 25,832 acres (29 percent) are in the Verde district. A total of 11,301 acres (12 percent) are in the Tonto National Forest, in the Pine Creek Wilderness (this area is attached to the Prescott National Forest for purposes of planning). Similarly, Sycamore Wilderness is attached to the Coconino National Forest for planning purposes and, therefore, is not included in this management area. However, the Prescott National Forest manages the Prescott National Forest portions of these two wildernesses. There are 6,690 acres of the Sycamore Wilderness on the Chino Valley district. There are 128.8 miles of trails. The individual wilderness areas and acreages by district are listed below. The acreage for Cedar Bench Wilderness Area includes an overlap of 630 acres with the Verde Wild and Scenic River area.

Ranger District Wilderness Area Acres*

Chino Valley Juniper Mountain 7,554 Apache Creek 5,628 Woodchute (Chino portion) 4,857

Verde Woodchute (Verde portion) 1,066 Cedar Bench 16,005 Pine Mountain (Prescott NF portion) 8,761

Cave Creek (Tonto NF) Pine Mountain (Tonto NF portion) 11,301

Bradshaw Granite Mountain 9,799 Castle Creek 25,517

*Acres used for forest planning analysis. In some cases the acres differ from the approximate acres listed in the establishing legislation and on page 19 in the DEIS.

Management Emphasis Improve all riparian areas and maintain in satisfactory condition.

Manage the wilderness resource to ensure its character and values are dominant and enduring. Refer to Appendix E for direction specific to an individual wilderness (at present, only Granite Mountain Wilderness is included in this appendix).

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 67 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 90,589 Acres Retention 0 Acres Partial Retention 0 Acres Modification 0 Acres Max. Modification 0 Acres

TOTAL 90,589 Acres

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

Special The Gap Creek drainage, because of its exemplary riparian Emphasis character, will be evaluated for potential as a Research Natural Areas Area. This evaluation will work within the constraints of wilderness regulations and legal requirements imposed by the presence of Gila trout habitat.

Recreation Where the wilderness resource or its values are jeopardized in spite of management strategies, restrict or exclude recreation use.

Wilderness All Prepare and publish brochures for each wilderness in the first decade to be reviewed annually and updated as needed.

Manage all wildernesses at the standard service level.

Visitor use impacts will be monitored and managed. Identify impact parameters, measurement procedures, evaluation and rating criteria by the end of the first decade (1986-1995) for each wilderness.

The forest will continue to provide interpretation regarding wilderness ethics, values and opportunities to the public in the form of written, verbal and personal contact.

Provide no-trace, low impact camping, trip planning and visitor use information on the written portion of wilderness maps.

Where agency or applicant objectives can be met outside of designated wilderness, permits will not be issued in wilderness.

All, except Granite Mountain Maximum group size will be limited to 25 persons. (See Appendix E)

All Maintain wilderness boundaries posting in those areas where intrusion is likely to occur.

Areas degraded as a result of man’s activities that cannot be rehabilitated naturally will be seeded with native plant species to establish satisfactory ground cover to protect wilderness resource values.

Through printed material, advise wilderness users that all water must be treated if intended for human consumption, and that

68 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

water sources are not reliable.

Require the use of certified weed-free feeds for livestock in wilderness.

Wildlife All Habitat components and capabilities will be updated every 10 years.

Facilities All No potable water systems will be developed

All Update the transportation system inventory and implementation plans at 5-year intervals.

Provide facilities at trailheads consistent with the level of use associated with the wilderness to which that trailhead provides access, and that protects resources at the trailhead site.

The trail system will only be expanded into areas currently without trails after determination that it is necessary to meet wilderness management needs.

All Helispots approved as part of the transportation plan will be maintained to provide for safe emergency helicopter use.

Protection Prescribed natural fires and management-ignited prescribed fires will be implemented to meet specific wilderness objectives.

Prepare fire management plans for each wilderness by the end of the first decade.

Fire Minimum suppression tactics should be used to suppress Management wildland fires within wilderness.

The use of helicopters, power saws, small motorized pumps and the aerial delivery of personnel, retardants and supplies should be authorized by the incident commander(s) or as otherwise stipulated within a Wildland Fire Situation Analysis or “Delegation of Authority” signed by the line officer with jurisdiction.

Lands New water diversions from the Verde River between Section 5, Township 17 North, Range 1 West, and Section 32, Township17 North, Range 3 East, Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, will only be allowed when authorized by Federal law

Right-of-way and special use permits for new utilities within the viewshed of the Verde River mainstem from Section 5, Township 17 North, Range 1 West to Section 32, Township 17 North, Range 3 East, Gila and Salt River Base Meridian will be discouraged. Where no reasonable alternative exists, additional or new facilities will be restricted to existing right-of-ways. Where new right-of-ways are indicated, scenic, recreational, fish and wildlife values must be evaluated in the selection process

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 69 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Area 7, Recreation — Gross Acres: 2,544

Description There are 2,503 acres of national forest land and 41 acres of private land. Of those, 1,276 acres (50 percent) are in the Bradshaw Ranger District and make up an intensely used recreation area close to the town of Prescott. There is one developed recreation site (Granite Basin) and a summer home area that occupy 150 acres. The remaining acres of this management area (1,268 acres, 50 percent) consist of the Verde Wild and Scenic Area on the Verde district. There are 537 acres of ponderosa pine that are managed for commercial timber production in this area. There are 9.7 miles of roads, for a road density of 2.4 miles per square mile. There are 1.1 miles of trails.

Management Emphasis The primary emphasis will be on dispersed and developed recreation.

Other resource use is generally at a low level, except that wildlife management is emphasized in the pine and riparian habitat types. The Verde Wild and Scenic River Area will be managed as essential habitat for the bald eagle until status determination by the Secretary of the Interior is completed. Timber in the Granite Basin area (537 acres) will be managed to enhance wildlife and recreation use. There will be some personal use firewood available from pine slash, as well as some green and dead firewood from the juniper lands. Fire protection will be emphasized in the Granite Basin area. Improve all riparian areas and maintain in satisfactory condition.

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 0 Acres Retention 1,911 Acres Partial Retention 496 Acres Modification 96 Acres Max. Modification 0 Acres

TOTAL 2,503 Acres

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

Wildlife The wild and scenic portion of the Verde River will be managed for maintenance and enhancement of bald eagle habitat. This will be accomplished by implementing the recommendations identified in the Action Program for Resolution of Livestock and Riparian Conflicts in Salt and Verde Rivers and in the Bald Eagle Recovery Plan.

Range All No capacity will be assigned to this area.

70 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Standards and Guidelines Program Applicable (Exceptions and additions to forestwide Element Analysis Area(s) standards and guidelines)

Timber Timber will be harvested only on slopes less than 40 percent.

Protection The suppression emphasis is to protect life and property and minimize acreage burned.

Do not allow fires to spread to lands of other ownership.

The maximum fire size objective is 1 acre

The average annual burned area is 0.1 percent of the prescribed area.

The initial response objective is to economically confine all fires.

Fires which exceed or are expected to exceed the size objective are considered escaped and appropriate response is determined by an Escaped Fire Situation Analysis (EFSA). The EFSA will consider at least the following:

1. Resource management emphasis of threatened analysis areas.

2. Suppression costs will be commensurate with resources protected.

3. Effects on air quality, aesthetics, soil and watersheds.

4. Social acceptance of acreage burned.

5. Current availability of suppression resources.

6. Impacts on cultural resource.

Dispose of all activity-created slash.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 71 Chapter 4 • Management Direction

Management Area 8, Kaibab Administered Lands — Gross Acres: 913

Description There are 913 acres of national forest land and no private land. The predominant use of the land is range. Proposed actions are not available for this area; it is attached to the Kaibab National Forest for planning and administration purposes.

The following Visual Quality Objectives have been established for this management area:

Preservation 0 Acres Retention 0 Acres Partial Retention 20 Acres Modification 340 Acres Max. Modification 553 Acres

TOTAL 913 Acres

72 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Chapter 5. Monitoring Plan

Introduction The purpose of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Forest Plan is to inform the decision maker of the progress toward achieving the stated goals, objectives and standards and guidelines.

Monitoring will determine:

• If management prescriptions are applied as directed; • If standards are being followed; • If the forest is achieving the objectives of the Forest Plan; • If the application of management prescriptions is responding to public issues and management concerns; • If the effects of implementing the Forest Plan are as predicted and are acceptable; and • If management practices on adjacent or intermingled non-forest lands are affecting Forest Plan goals and objectives. Evaluation of the results of site-specific monitoring will be documented in the annual monitoring report.

Based on the annual monitoring report, any need for further action will be recommended to the forest supervisor. The recommendations can include the following:

• No action needed. Monitoring indicates goals, objectives, and standards are being reasonably achieved. • Refer recommended action to the appropriate line officers for improvement of application of management prescriptions. • Modify the management prescription as a Forest Plan amendment. • Modify the assignment of a prescription as a Forest Plan amendment. • Revise the projected schedule of outputs. • Initiate revision of the Forest Plan. • Identify research needs. The documented file of the forest supervisor’s decisions resulting from monitoring and evaluation is maintained for future use in amending or revising the Forest Plan. An annual evaluation report of these decisions will be prepared and sent to the Regional Forester for consideration.

The Forest Plan’s monitoring requirements follow. For each activity or practice, the effect to be monitored, one or more measurement technique, and the expected future condition to be met is specified. A frequency for measuring and reporting the monitored item is established, and the expected precision and reliability of that measurement is stated. (Precision is the exactness or accuracy with which the data will be collected; reliability is the degree to which the monitoring accurately reflects the total forest situation.)

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 73 Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Timber 1 Item Monitored: Acres of intermediate harvest, regeneration harvest, and removal harvest. Purpose: Federal regulation; measure prescriptions and effects. Expected Future Condition: Achieve a more balanced age class distribution, appropriate growing stock levels, appropriate rotations, and provide wildlife habitat needs. Monitoring Method: Timber Management Information system (FSH 2409.21e); staff field reviews of 5 percent of treatment projects. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+20 percent Evaluation: If planned treatment varies +35 percent from schedule at 5-year intervals, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Timber 2 Item Monitored: Board feet of net sawtimber offered. Purpose: Federal regulation; measured output. Expected Future Condition: Annual sale offerings will be made on a sustained yield basis. Monitoring Method: PAMARS (MAR 17.1) Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+10 percent Time for Reporting: Annually Evaluation: Evaluations by the ID team will be made at the third and sixth years during the decade to insure that cumulative deviation for the decade does not vary by +20 percent. Plan modification may be necessary if deviation is -20 percent. The total for the decade cannot exceed the ASQ. This will be considered in light of the need for increased stand diversity.

Timber 3 Item Monitored: Cords of firewood made available. Identified forest issue. Purpose: Federal regulation; sample output. Expected Future Condition: Total firewood availability from pinyon-juniper woodlands will decrease over time as existing dead material is depleted. Green wood sales will continue on a sustained yield basis. Residues from commercial timber sales will be available for firewood. Monitoring Method: Review annual total of firewood sale reports, firewood advertised but not sold, and free use. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: Fifth Year

74 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Evaluation: Compare total cords made available to the projected output. If firewood exceeds projected level or is below projected by 25 percent at the fifth year, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Timber 4 Item Monitored: Adequate restocking of regeneration harvests. Purpose: Federal regulation to insure restocking. Expected Future Condition: All regeneration cuttings within a sale area are adequately restocked within 5 years after final harvest. Adequately restocked means 80 percent of the regeneration cut areas to meet minimum regional standards. Monitoring Method: Timber Management Information System (FSH 2409.21e) and examination procedures in the silvicultural examination and prescription handbook. Frequency: At the third and fifth years following harvest. Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: Years 3 and 5. Evaluation: If samples at the fifth year indicate inadequate stocking, i.e., less than minimum standards 80 percent of the sampled areas, an evaluation plan will be completed by the ID team, and plan modification may be necessary.

Timber 5 Item Monitored: Review maximum size limits for harvest areas to determine whether such size limits should be continued. Purpose: Federal regulation Expected Future Condition: Wildlife habitat will be improved through timber harvest by manipulation of stand sizes, methods of cut, and juxtaposition of stands. Monitoring Method: A sample of openings will be checked to see if reason may exist to change the size of stands. The ID team will be the sampling team. Ten percent of openings created per year will be sampled. Frequency: Every third year. Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: Years 3 and 7. Evaluation: Examine one project annually for changes in the standard.

Timber 6 Item Monitored: Review of timber lands classification Purpose: Federal regulation Expected Future Condition: Better define those areas which may be suitable for sustained yield timber projection.

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Monitoring Method: (1) Review new or updated terrestrial ecosystem inventory; (2) Review development of better technology for regeneration establishment; (3) Stand exams; and (4) Timber inventory results. Frequency: At time of plan revision, tenth year Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: As part of revised forest plan or the tenth year. Evaluation: The data monitored will be used as the basis for an evaluation to determine which lands are suited to timber production.

Range 1 Item Monitored: Acres of forage improvement and reseeding. Purpose: Federal regulation; measure prescription and effects. Forest management concern. Expected Future Condition: Increase forage projection. Monitoring Method: Review of annual work accomplishment reports. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: fifth and ninth year Evaluation: The acres of brush treatment and reseeding completed for the evaluation period (ending the ninth year) should be within 25 percent of projection. If not, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Range 2 Item Monitored: Range structural improvements. Purpose: Federal regulation; sample prescription and effects. Expected Future Condition: In order to move toward balancing range use with capacity, the following structural improvements will be added or reconstructed: 1,249 structures by the end of the first period; structures include fence, pipelines, and water developments. Monitoring Method: Data on completed range improvements (fences, waters, and pipelines) can be tracked through annual work accomplishment reports. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/ +20 percent Time for Reporting: fifth and ninth year Evaluation: Completion of planned improvements should be within 25 percent of the projection at the end of the ninth year. If not, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

76 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Range Item Monitored: Permitted use on national forest lands only. Purpose: Federal regulation; measure prescriptions and effects. Forest issue related. Expected Future Condition: Range permitted use will be balanced with capacity by the end of the first decade. Monitoring Method: Data generated from grazing permits and displayed in the annual grazing statistical report. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+10 percent Time for Reporting: fifth and ninth year Evaluation: Evaluate at 2-year intervals. If permitted use is below or above 10 percent projected levels, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Range 4 Item Monitored: Grazing capacity on national forest lands only. Purpose: Federal regulation; related forest issue. Expected Future Condition: Through improved management and additional structural and nonstructural range improvements, range capacity is expected to increase. Monitoring Method: Production/utilization studies and range analysis data. Frequency: fifth year Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: fifth and ninth year Evaluation: Evaluate at 5-year intervals to determine rate in meeting expected capacity. If below or above 10 percent anticipated capacity, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Range 5 Item Monitored: Range condition and trend. Purpose: Forest issue related. Expected Future Condition: Range conditions will be improved by decreasing unsatisfactory range. Monitoring Method: Range analysis conducted per R-3 standards by qualified range conservationists. Frequency: Annually. Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: Year 10

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Evaluation: If the number of acres with satisfactory condition and upward or stable trend is not within +40 percent of that scheduled, the ID team will evaluate.

Heritage Resources 1 Item Monitored: Cultural resources listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Purpose: Comply with law and executive order; resource protection. Expected Future Condition: Assure protection of cultural resource sites. Monitoring Method: Ground inspection will be conducted in conjunction with other resource activities. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: No variance allowed. Time for Reporting: Annually Evaluation: Protective actions will be undertaken if vandalism or natural deterioration threatens the integrity of a site.

Heritage Resources 2 Item Monitored: Cultural resource clearance surveys. Purpose: Comply with law and executive order; resource protection. Expected Future Condition: Minimized disturbance of cultural resources. Monitoring Method: Field checks will be conducted on 25 percent of the ground-disturbing projects. Frequency: At the conclusion of small projects or throughout the life of larger projects. Expected Precision/Reliability: No variance allowed. Time for Reporting: At the conclusion of small projects or throughout the life of larger projects. Evaluation: No cultural resource disturbing activities will be permitted other than authorized professional excavation. If other disturbance is observed, there will be a professional review and damage assessment as specified in regional standards.

Soil and Water 1 Item Monitored: Watershed conditions Purpose: Identified forest issue; prescription effect. Expected Future Condition: Increased acres of watershed in satisfactory condition. Increased forage and ground cover. Monitoring Method: Ten 50-pace transects per project per year. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+15 percent Time for Reporting: fifth and ninth year

78 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Evaluation: Evaluate at 5-year intervals to determine if satisfactory watershed condition acre targets are being achieved. If below or above 15 percent anticipated targets, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Soil and Water 2 Item Monitored: Estimated water yield treatment. Purpose: Identified forest issue; measure prescription effects. Expected Future Conditions: Increased water yield. Montoring Method: Review of annual work reports for converted acres. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: fifth and tenth year Evaluation: Evaluate at 5-year intervals to determine if manipulated acres are within 10 percent of the target. If not, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Soil and Water 3 Item Monitored: Best management practices. Purpose: To assure compliance with State water quality standards. Expected Future Condition: Production of water from forest lands will meet State water quality standards. Monitoring Method: Established best management practices (i.e., seeding disturbed areas, water barring roads, etc.) will be checked for implementation on the ground by designated qualified personnel. Frequency: Annually, one project will be checked. Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+10 percent Time for Reporting: Years 3, 5, and 7. Evaluation: Failure to implement at least 80 percent required best management practices will require evaluation by the ID team.

Protection 1 Item Monitored: Law enforcement person hours. Purpose: Federal regulation Expected Future Condition: Increased law enforcement efforts by the Forest Service, aided by cooperative agreements with local sheriff’s departments, will be adequate and commensurate with the goods and services produced on the forest. Monitoring Method: Professional evaluation of trend based on a review of case loads, solution rates, and public complaints. The evaluation will be based on a review of: (1) protection of cultural resources; (2) firewood theft; (3) fire and recreation violations; (4) wilderness entry; (5) occupancy use; (6) OHV damage; (7) dollar cost of vandalism; and (8) trends in user protection.

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Data in the Lemars system will be reviewed and used as a database. Frequency: The Lemars system is updated monthly. Expected Precision/Reliability: +10/+10 percent Time for Reporting: Every 3 years Evaluation: The forest law enforcement coordinator will review the level of law enforcement and make recommendations on program effectiveness. Evaluation by the ID team every 3 years will determine if plan modification is necessary.

Protection 2 Item Monitored: Determine that destructive insects and disease organisms do not increase to potentially damaging levels following management activities. Purpose: Federal regulation. Expected Future Condition: Through various silvicultural activities, slash treatment and various control methods, insect and disease problems are not expected to have serious adverse effects of the forest. Monitoring of insect and disease levels will provide information necessary to determine future impacts. Monitoring Method: (1) Periodic aerial surveys; (2) Ground checks by qualified personnel; and (3) Timber sale administration. Frequency: As needed through yearly aerial flights and ground checks on an opportunity basis. Expected Precision/Reliability: +40 percent/+30 percent. Time for Reporting: Annually. Evaluation: Data will be evaluated to determine if the buildup results from a management practice. If the buildup occurs, an evaluation of significance will be made by the ID team. If potentially damaging, the ID team will modify management prescriptions.

Fire Management 1 Item Monitored: Fire suppression effectiveness. Purpose: Measure prescription effects. Expected Future Condition: Fire risk will increase if the projected increase in population is realized. Monitoring Method: (1) Periodic inspections and reviews to determine if the fire management organization is effective in controlling fire losses within prescription; (2) The use of the fire budget analysis process to determine fire management efficiency; and (3) Fire reviews of selected fires. Frequency: Annual inspections, periodic review, and fire budget analysis process as needed. Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+10 percent Time for Reporting: Annually for inspections and every third year for the fire budget analysis. Evaluation: Periodic evaluation will be made to determine if the fire management organization is insuring compliance with standards and guidelines applied to 90 percent of the wildfires.

80 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Fire Management 2 Item Monitored: Project generated fuel treatment. Purpose: Measure prescription effects. Expected Future Condition: Fuel treatment will follow the various timber activities as a means of reducing fire hazard and insect and disease potential. Monitoring Method: Annual fuel treatment report. Data is generated from field personnel who monitor and/or direct fuel treatment by Forest Service crews, logging companies, contractors, etc. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +10/+10 percent Time for Reporting: Every 5 years. Evaluation: Evaluation will be made of project fuels. If 80 percent of the fuels are not being treated within 2 years of generation, an adjustment in the plan will be necessary.

Recreation 1 Item Monitored: Actual dispersed recreation use in Recreation Opportunity Spectrum [ROS] settings. Purpose: Federal regulation; measure prescription effects. Expected Future Condition: Demand for dispersed recreation use will be within anticipated capacity. Monitoring Method: Recreation Information Management Report and inspections of heavily used dispersed areas, including evaluation of vegetative deterioration and soil erosion. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: third, sixth, and ninth year. Evaluation: Compare actual use records for a 5-year time period to project use by ROS setting. If use exceeds 30 percent of projected use and/or the trend in OHV violations increase 30 percent over current violations and/or soil loss exceeds tolerance level, the ID team will evaluate and make recommendations to management.

Recreation 2 Item Monitored: Developed site use, public and private sector. Purpose: Federal regulation; sample output. Expected Future Condition: The projected annual demand for developed recreation at year 2035 is 735,000 RVDs (standard). The plan will provide 380,000 RVDs or 52 percent of the demand. Monitoring Method: The projected Information Management Report, Use Report. (Based on district ranger estimates and on actual count of tickets sold or other counts by private sector operators.) Double sample techniques will be employed at least every 3 years. Frequency: Annually

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Expected Precision/Reliability: [RIM Date] +30%/+30% [Double Sample] +3%/+3% Time for Reporting: third, sixth, and ninth year. Evaluation: Compare actual use to projected use. If actual use is under by 10 percent or is over by 20 percent, the ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Recreation 3 Item Monitored: The effect of management activities on acres of visual quality objectives (VQOs). Purpose: Ensure standards and guidelines for visual management are met. Expected Future Condition: The plan requires the VQOs to be managed at current inventory levels within the tolerances specified in the forestwide standards and guidelines. Maintenance of retention and partial retention VQOs will be emphasized. Monitoring Method: All project work plans will be reviewed and evaluated for compliance with VQOs. Periodic evaluation reports will be prepared to document the cumulative effect of individual projects. Frequency: Annual reviews of project work plans and cumulative evaluations in the fourth and ninth years of the plan. Expected Precision/Reliability: +10 percent/+10 percent Evaluation: If acres in retention and partial retention fall below tolerance levels, changes in the plan may be required to maintain desired visual quality.

Lands Item Monitored: Miles of rights-of-way acquired. Purpose: Federal regulations; measured prescription effects; forest related issue. Expected Future Condition: An estimated 18 miles of rights-of-way to be acquired in the first period. Monitoring Method: Work accomplishment report Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +5 percent/+5 percent Time for Reporting: fourth and eighth year Evaluation: Failure to acquire projected needed rights-of-way at the end of the seventh year will require ID team evaluation, and plan modification may be necessary.

Wilderness 1 Item Monitored: Wilderness use by Recreation Opportunity Spectrum class. Purpose: Federal regulation; measure prescription effects; forest related issue. Expected Future Condition: Wilderness use is expected to be less than the social carrying capacity at 2,035 on a forest-wide basis. Wilderness use will increase at an average annual rate of 7 percent.

82 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Monitoring Method: Wilderness RIM use information. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent Time for Reporting: fourth and seventh year. Evaluation: Compare actual use record for a 3-year time period to projected use for each wilderness. If use exceeds 30 percent of total projected use, ID team will evaluate, and plan modification may be necessary.

Wilderness 2 Items Monitored: Miles of wilderness trail construction/reconstruction and maintenance. Purpose: Federal regulations; measure prescription effects; forest issue related. Expected Future Conditions: Wilderness is expected to be less than social carrying capacity at 2,035 on a forest-wide basis. An improved trail system through construction/reconstruction and maintenance is expected to provide a better distribution of visitor use and improved wilderness opportunities. Monitoring Method: Work accomplishment reports. Frequency: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +5 percent/+5 percent Time for Reporting: third, sixth and ninth years Evaluation: Evaluation by the ID team will be made at the third and sixth years during the decade to insure that cumulative deviation for the decade does not vary by +25 percent. Plan modification may be necessary if +25 percent.

Wildlife Item Monitored: Population and habitat capability trends of management indicator species; and population and habitat capability trends of State and Federally listed plants and animals to include sensitive species.

Purpose: Federal and State regulations, and identified forest issue.

Expected Future Condition: Wildlife habitat will continue toward later successional stages with the exception of identified project acres. A gradual increase in late successional species and corresponding loss of early successional wildlife is expected. State and Federal list of sensitive species will be protected.

Monitoring Methods:

1. Nongame Birds: • Point-counting method developed by Reynolds, et al. (1980). • Monitor management guides as developed by Short and Burnham (1982) and modified by Verner (in press). • Single-season monitoring (Verner 1980).

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• Monitor trends in habitat (Thomas, et al. 1979). 2. Game Animals and Fish: • Arizona Department of Game and Fish census. • Monitor trends in habitat. 3. Threatened and Endangered Species: • Annual monitoring. 4. State Listed: • Monitor trends in habitat capabilities. 5. Sensitive Plants: • Monitor trends in habitat capabilities. Frequency: Baseline data will be collected for 2 years. This information will refine the current habitat capability model which will be used to evaluate compliance with forest objectives. Monitoring indicator species for each management area every 2 years and threatened and endangered species every year. Update and verify habitat components every 10 years.

Frequency:

1. Nongame Birds: • Monitor every 2 years; emphasize birds in habitat especially vulnerable to management actions. • Monitor other habitats and diversity every 10 years. 2. Game Animals and Fish: • Monitor trends in habitat diversity every 10 years. • Monitor game population annually. 3. Threatened and Endangered Birds: Annually. 4. State Listed: Annually 5. Sensitive Plants: Annually Expected Precision/Reliability: +30 percent/+30 percent Reports: Baseline data; continuous populations of game animals - annually. Indicator species habitat capability - every 2 years. T&E, sensitive and State listed species - annually. Habitat structural stages - every 10 years. Evaluation: The monitoring system includes wildlife O&M costs of management, analysis, and interpretation of the data obtained from monitoring. Monitoring as described is tentative and exploratory; modifications may be needed to better indicate the effects of management activities on the wildlife resource.

Riparian Item Monitored: Riparian condition. Purpose: Forest issue; prescription effects. Expected Future Condition: Improved riparian condition.

84 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Monitoring Method: Baseline data will be collected for the first 5 years. This information will refine the current habitat capability model which will be used to evaluate compliance with forest objectives.

• Nongame bird indicator species. (See nongame birds) • Macroinvertebrate — Systematic field sampling using Biotic Condition Index (BCI). • Riparian condition — R-3 Regional Guide.

Frequency: • Macroinvertebrates will be monitored every 2 years. • Riparian condition will be monitored every 5 years. • Identified threatened and endangered species will be monitored annually.

Expected Precision/Reliability: +20 percent/+20 percent

Reports: • Baseline update - continuous • Game population - annually. • Indicator species habitat capability - every 2 years. • Identified T&E, sensitive and state listed species - annually. • Riparian condition - every 5 years.

Evaluation: Evaluation by the forest ID team will be made every 5 years. Evaluation by the forest hydrologist, soil scientist and wildlife biologist every 2 years.

Facilities Item Monitored: Amount and distribution of use of the forest transportation system and the total miles in the system. Purpose: Forest issue related. Expected Future Condition: There are currently 2,533 miles of arterial, collector, local travel way roads on the forest of which 174 miles would be obliterated every decade during the first 5 decades. Monitoring Method: Engineering will submit data on roads constructed, reconstructed, maintained, and obliterated which are entered on the National Forest Transportation Inventory System. Similar update data on the trail system will be entered in the Recreation Information Management System. Traffic use and distribution data will be collected on 5 percent of the forest system from the State of Arizona Highway Department and Forest Service traffic counters and surveillance methods. Trail use will be monitored by the use of data in the Recreation Information Management System. Frequency: Annually.

Expected Precision/Reliability:

1. Size: +20 percent/+30 percent

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2. Use: Roads and Highways a. +5 percent/+5 percent b. +5 percent/+5 percent 3. Use: Trail System RIM Data +30 percent/+30 percent

Time for Reporting: third, sixth and ninth years. Evaluation: Evaluation at 3-year intervals will indicate the effectiveness of road or trail management. Changes in size of the system exceeding +25 percent of planned levels may require evaluation by the ID team for plan modification.

Cost 1 Item Monitored: Unit costs by selected activities (MIH). Purpose: Verify ability to implement the Forest Plan. Expected Future Condition: Unit costs as derived from FORPLAN. Monitoring Method: PAMARS. Frequency: At the end of each fiscal year. Expected Precision/Reliability: +5 percent/+5 percent Time for Reporting: third, sixth and ninth year. Evaluation: If average costs vary more than +10 percent from unit costs derived from FORPLAN, an evaluation will be made by the ID team to determine the reason for the variance. Implementation of additional cost reducing measures and/or plan modifications could result.

Cost 2 Item Monitored: Total annual budget. Purpose: Verify ability to implement the Forest Plan. Expected Future Condition: An average annual budget of $4,826,000 for the first period (based on first quarter 1982 dollar value). Monitoring Method: Annual PAMARS reporting system and Regional Forester’s Program, Budgeting and Information System. Frequency: At end of each fiscal year. Expected Precision/Reliability: +5 percent/+5 percent Time for Reporting: third, sixth, and ninth years. Evaluation: If budget varies more than -5 percent or +10 percent from an average annual over 3 years, an evaluation will be made by the ID team, and plan modification may be necessary.

86 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Chapter 5 • Monitoring Plan

Cost 3 Item Monitored: Budget by program component. Purpose: Verify ability to implement the Forest Plan. Expected Future Condition: Average annual appropriation equal to amount allocated in cost tables for Economic Efficiency Technical Report. Monitoring Method: Annual PAMARS reporting system and Regional Forester’s Program, Budgeting, and Information system. Frequency: At the end of each fiscal year. Expected Precision/Reliability: +5 percent/+5 percent Time for Reporting: third, sixth, and ninth years. Evaluation: If budget varies more than -5 percent or +10 percent from an average annual over 3 years, an evaluation will be made by the ID team for plan modification.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 87

Glossary

Note: This glossary serves as a reference for both the forest plan and the associated environmental impact statement. Hence, it contains terms not found in the forest plan.

A Accelerated Soil Erosion – Erosion much more rapid than normal, natural, geological erosion, primarily as a result of the influence of activities of man or, in some cases, of animals.

Accessible Firewood Areas – Pinyon/juniper firewood areas that are roaded and are on 0-20 percent slopes.

Acre Foot – A water volume measurement equal to the amount of water that would cover 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot (43,560 cubic feet or 325,851 gallons).

Activities – Actions, measures or treatments that are undertaken which directly or indirectly produce, enhance or maintain forest and rangeland outputs or achieve administrative or environmental objectives.

Activity Fuels – Debris generated from any activity on the forest (such as firewood gathering, precommercial thinning, timber harvesting and road construction) which increases fire potential.

Administrative Site – A site that primarily exists for general administrative purposes. It normally will include office, warehouse, outside storage and parking areas. It may include housing and pasture for livestock. A work center may be part of an administrative headquarters site.

Affected Environment – The biological, physical, social and economic environment subject to changes that will or may take place as a result of proposed human activity.

Age Class – Interval of years (commonly 20) into which trees are grouped for management. Shrubs display the same general grouping, but with fewer years between structural stages.

Allocation – The assignment of management prescriptions to particular land areas to achieve the goals and objectives of an alternative.

Allowed – Designated uses are permitted.

Allowable Sale Quantity (ASQ) – The quantity of timber that may be sold from the area of land covered by the forest plan for a time period specified by the plan. The quantity is usually expressed on an annual basis as the average annual allowable sale quantity.

Alternative – A proposition or situation offering a choice between two or more management methods, only one of which may be chosen.

Amenity – The pleasurable, educational or aesthetic features of the land or resources.

Analysis Area – One or more sites combined for the purpose of analysis in formulating alternatives and estimating various impacts and effects.

Analysis of the Management Situation (AMS) – A determination of the ability of the planning area to supply goods and services in response to society’s demand for those goods and services.

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Animal Unit Month (AUM) – The quantity of forage required by one mature cow (1,000 pounds) or the equivalent for 1 month.

Aquatic – Pertaining to standing and running water in streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs.

Arterial Roads – Roads that provide service to large land areas and usually connect with public highways or other forest arterial roads to form an integrated network of primary travel for maximum mobility and travel efficiency, rather than for specific resource management service. These roads are usually developed and operated for long-term land and resource management purposes and constant service.

Artifact – An object that has been modified, used or constructed by man. Stone tools, pottery, buildings, roads and mines are examples of artifacts.

Assessment – The renewable resource assessment required by the Resources Planning Act (RPA).

AUM – See “Animal Unit Month.”

Available Forest Land – Land which has not been legislatively withdrawn by Congress or administratively withdrawn from timber production by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service.

Avoidance Area – An area having one or more physical, environmental, institutional or statutory impediments to corridor designation.

B B/C Values – See “Benefit/Cost Ratio.”

Background (Visual Distance Zone) – The distant part of a landscape; surroundings, especially those behind something that provides harmony and contrast; area located from 3 to 5 miles to infinity from the viewer.

Basal Area – Measurement of how much of a site is occupied by trees. It is determined by measuring the cross-sections (in square feet) of all the trees in an area, at the point on each tree where DBH is measured inclusive of bark.

Base Timber Harvest Schedule – The timber harvest schedule in which the planned sale and harvest for any future decade is equal to or greater than the planned sale and harvest for the preceding decade of the planning period, and this planned sale and harvest for any decade is not greater than long-term sustained yield capacity.

Benchmark – A category of forest planning alternatives used to establish standards by which to compare alternatives considered in detail. Benchmark alternatives include minimum level, minimum acceptable level, maximum resource levels and maximum present net value levels.

Benefit/Cost Ratio – The total benefits of any activity divided by the total costs.

Best Management Practice – Application of the best available demonstrated control technology, processes, measures and operating methods that are socially, economically and technically feasible for controlling soil loss or improving water quality.

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Big Game – The larger species of wild animals that are hunted, as determined by the State legislature.

Biological Potential – The maximum production of a selected organism that can be attained under optimum management.

BLM – Bureau of Land Management.

Board Foot – A timber measurement unit equivalent to a piece of wood 12" x 12" x 1".

Board Foot/Cubic Foot Conversion Ratio – Both board foot and cubic foot volumes can be determined for timber stands. The number of board feet per cubic foot of volume varies with tree species, diameter, height and form factors.

Browse – Young twigs and leaves of woody plants consumed by wild and domestic animals.

C Cable Logging – A method for transporting logs from stumps to collecting points which utilizes a cable system as the main device for moving them.

Canopy – The more or less continuous cover of branches and foliage formed collectively by the crown of adjacent trees and other woody growth.

Capability – The potential of an area of land to produce resources, supply goods and services, and allow resource uses under an assumed set of management practices at a given level of management intensity. Capability depends upon current conditions and site conditions such as climate, slope, landform, soils and geology, as well as the application of management practices such as silviculture or protection from fires, insects and disease.

Capability Area – A contiguous unit of land that responds to management activities in a reasonably homogenous way. These units were delineated as those contiguous areas sharing similar potential natural vegetation, existing vegetation, soils, geology and topography.

Capability Area Type – A class of similar capability areas.

Capable Forest Land – Land with a biological growth potential which is equal to or exceeds the minimum standard for timber production. Trees will grow to a height of at least 40 feet in 100 years.

Capable Range – Land that produces forage for animal consumption without impairing other forage values; generally considered as land that is not being cultivated.

Carrying Capacity – The optimum density of a species which a given environment or range is capable of sustaining, without deteriorating that environment or range.

Cavity – The hollow excavated in trees by birds or other natural phenomena; used for roosting and reproduction by many birds and mammals.

CEQ – Council on Environmental Quality

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CFR – Code of Federal Regulations

Chain – A linear unit of measure equal to 66 feet.

Chemical Water Quality – Measurements of chemical parameters (alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved iron, etc.) used to describe the quality of water.

Clearcutting – Harvesting of all trees in one cut on an area for the purpose of creating a new, even-aged stand. The area harvested may be a patch, stand or strip large enough to be mapped or recorded as a separate age class in planning. Regeneration is obtained through natural seeding or through planting or direct seeding. On the Prescott National Forest, small patch cuts (10 acres or less) will be employed to combat heavy infestations of dwarf mistletoe and to improve wildlife habitat in ponderosa pine. In the pinyon/juniper vegetative type, clearcuts will be employed to improve watershed, wildlife and range conditions.

Class I Area – An air quality designation. One of three classes and the most restrictive in allowing increased pollution.

Closed Road – Any road that is not open to motorized traffic.

Collector Roads – Roads that serve smaller land areas and are usually connected to forest arterial roads or public highways. The roads collect traffic from local roads and terminal facilities. Collector roads are operated for constant use.

Commercial Forest Land (CFL) – Forest land that is producing or capable of producing crops of industrial wood and which has not been reserved or deferred. This includes areas suitable for management to grow crops of industrial wood generally of a site quality capable of producing trees of at least 40 feet tall in 100 years. This includes both accessible and inaccessible areas. Permanently inoperable or nonstockable areas are excluded because they are not suitable for silvicultural management. Conversely, nonstocked areas that could be stocked and otherwise meet this definition are included. See “(Forest Land) Capable - Deferred” and “(Forest Land ) Capable – Reserved.”

Commercial Thinning – The commercial harvest of immature stands to improve the quality and growth of remaining trees. Forest products generated by such a sale include sawlogs, poles, posts and pulpwood.

Commodity Outputs – A resource output with commercial value; all resource products that are articles of commerce.

Common Variety Minerals – Deposits, which, although they may have value for use in trade, manufacture, the sciences, or in the mechanical or ornamental arts, do not possess a distinct, special economic value for such use over and above the normal uses of the general sum of such deposits. May include sand, stone, gravel, cinders, pumice, clay and granite.

Community Lifestyles – The ways in which residents conduct their everyday routines and the way they live associated with the national forest.

Concern – See “Management Concern.”

92 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Concession Permit – A permit that authorizes private individuals or corporations to operate Forest Service-owned facilities as a commercial profit-making venture.

Condemnation – In real property law, the process by which property of a private owner is taken for public use, without his consent, but requiring payment of just compensation.

Conifer – A group of cone-bearing trees, mostly evergreen, such as pine, spruce, fir, pinyon and juniper.

Constrained Maximum Level Benchmark – The highest level of a particular output that could be produced over time, subject to the production of minimum acceptable levels for all other outputs.

Constraint – A quantification of the minimum or maximum amount of an output or cost that could be produced or incurred in a given time period.

Consumptive Use – Those uses of a resource that reduce the supply. For example, consumptive uses of water include irrigation, domestic and industrial use.

Cord – A unit of gross volume measurement for stacked round or split wood. A standard cord is 4' x 4' x 8' or 128 cubic feet. A standard cord may contain 60 to 100 cubic feet of solid wood, depending on the size of the pieces and the compactness of the stack.

Corridor – A linear strip of land that has ecological, technical, economic, social or similar advantages over other areas for the present or future location of transportation or utility routes.

Cost Coefficients – Values that relate an acre of land to a particular dollar cost in a specific period of time.

Cost Efficiency – A comparative measure of economic efficiency determined by maximizing the present net value of an alternative, subject to meeting the objectives of the alternative.

Council on Environmental Quality – An advisory council to the President established by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The Council reviews Federal programs for their effect on the environment, conducts environmental studies and advises the President on environmental matters.

Cover/Forage Ratio – The ratio of cover (security and thermal) to foraging areas (natural openings, clearcuts, etc.).

Critical Habitat – That portion of a wild animal’s habitat that is critical for the continued survival of the species. As declared by the Secretary of the Interior.

Cross-Country Travel – Any travel not on roads or trails indicated on an official access map and signed on the ground.

Cubic Foot – The amount of the timber equivalent to a piece of wood 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot.

Cubic Yard – A measure of soil or sediment volume that would cover a square yard of area 1 yard deep (3' x 3' x 3').

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Culmination of Mean Annual Increment – The total increment of volume growth per acre, usually expressed in cubic feet, up to a given age, divided by that age. Culmination of mean annual increment of growth is the age at which this mean is greatest or reaches its highest point.

Cultural Resource – The physical remains of past human cultural systems and places or sites of importance in human history or prehistory.

D DBH – Diameter at breast height. Diameter of a tree 4-1/2 feet above the ground.

Demand Trends – The expected future need or desire for outputs, services and uses.

Departure – A schedule that deviates from the principle of nondeclining flow by exhibiting a planned decrease in the timber sale and harvest schedule at any time in the future. A departure can also be characterized as a temporary increase, usually in the beginning decade(s) of the planning period, over the base sale schedule that would otherwise be established, without impairing the future attainment of the forest’s long-term sustained yield capacity.

Developed Recreation – Recreation that provides facilities which result in the concentrated use of an area. Examples include campgrounds, picnic grounds, summer home sites, organization camps and interpretive sites. Related facilities might include roads, parking lots, picnic tables, toilets, drinking water and buildings.

Dispersed Recreation – In contrast to developed recreation sites (such campgrounds and picnic grounds) dispersed recreation areas are the lands and waters under Forest Service jurisdiction that are not developed for intensive recreation use. Dispersed areas include general undeveloped areas, roads, trails and water areas not treated as developed sites.

Diversity – The relative degree of abundance of wildlife species, plant species, communities, habitats or habitat features per unit of area.

E EA – “Environmental Assessment.”

Early Forest Succession – The biotic community that develops immediately following the removal or destruction of the vegetation in an area.

Economic Efficiency Analysis – A comparison of the values of resource inputs (costs) required for a possible course of action with the values of resource outputs (benefits) resulting from such action. In this analysis, incremental market and nonmarket benefits are compared with investments and physical resource inputs.

Economics – The study of how resources, goods and services are allocated among competing uses.

Ecosystem – The system formed by the interaction of groups of organisms and their environment.

Effects – Results expected to be achieved or actually related to physical, biological and social (cultural and economic) factors resulting from the achievement of outputs. Examples of effects

94 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

include tons of sediment, pounds of forage, person-years of employment and income. There are direct effects, indirect effects and cumulative effects.

EIS – See “Environmental Impact Statement.”

Endangered Species – Any species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, as declared by the Secretary of the Interior.

Endemic – Native or confined to a certain region; having a comparatively restricted distribution.

Environmental Analysis – An analysis of alternative actions and their predictable short- and long-term environmental effects, including physical, biological, economic and social effects.

Environmental Assessment – The concise public document required by regulations for implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA (40 CFR 1508.9).

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – The version of the statement of environmental effects required for major Federal actions under Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and released to the public and other agencies for comment and review. It is a formal document that must follow the requirements of NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) guidelines and directives of the agency responsible for the project proposal.

Erosion – The wearing away of the land’s surface by running water, wind, ice or other geological agents. Erosion includes detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice or gravity.

Escaped Fire Situation Analysis – A decision analysis using those factors influencing suppression of an escaped fire from which a plan of action will be developed. The analysis includes the development of alternative suppression strategies and the probable cost and damages associated with each.

Evapotranspiration – The conversion of water, whether open or as soil moisture within plants, into water vapor that is released into the atmosphere.

Even-Aged Silviculture – The combination of actions that results in the creation of stands in which trees of essentially the same age grow together. Managed even-aged forests are characterized by a distribution of stands of varying ages (and, therefore, tree sizes) throughout the forest area. Regeneration in a particular stand is obtained during a short period at or near the time that the stand has reached the desired age or size and is harvested. Clearcutting, shelterwood cutting, seed tree cutting and their many variations are the cutting methods used to harvest the existing stand and regenerate a new one. In even-aged stands, thinning, weeding, cleaning and other cultural treatments between regeneration cuts are often beneficial. Cutting is normally regulated by scheduling the area of harvest cutting to provide for a forest that contains stands having a planned distribution of age classes.

Even-Flow – Maintaining a relatively constant supply of timber from decade to decade.

Exclusion Area – An area having a statutory prohibition to right-of-way for lineal facilities or corridor designation.

Eyrie – The nesting site of a bird of prey.

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F FA&O – Fire, aviation and other facilities.

Facility – Something built and activated to serve a particular purpose.

Facility Condition Class – The rating system used in the Recreation Information Management System to classify the condition and maintenance needs of recreation sites and areas.

Fauna – The animals of a given region or period.

Fee Site – A Forest Service recreation area in which users must pay a fee. Fee sites must meet certain standards and provide certain facilities as specified in the Forest Service Manual.

Final Removal Cut – Removal of the last seed bearers or shelter trees after regeneration is considered to be established under a shelterwood system.

Fire Hazard – The fuel in which a fire will ignite and burn.

Fire Management Area – One or more parcels of land with clearly defined boundaries and with established fire management direction which is responsive to land and resource management goals and objectives.

Fire Risk – The probability of a fire starting from natural or manmade causes.

Fire Suppression – See “Suppression.”

Fisheries Habitat – Streams, lakes, ponds, springs and reservoirs that contain and support fish.

Flood Plain – Low land and relatively flat areas joining inland and coastal waters, including debris cones and flood prone areas of offshore islands. The minimum area included is that subject to a 1 percent (100-year recurrence) or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

Flora – The plants of a given region or period.

Forage – All nonwoody plants (grass, grass-like plants and forbs) and portions of woody plants (browse) available to domestic livestock and wildlife for food.

Forage and Herbage – Forage refers specifically to all browse and nonwoody plant species that are utilized by livestock and wildlife species as food. Herbage may also include material not acceptable to grazing or browsing animals.

Forage Utilization – The portion of forage production, by weight, that is consumed or destroyed by grazing animals. Forage utilization is expressed as a percent of current year’s growth.

Forb – Any herbaceous plant other than those in the Gramineae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae Families; fleshy leaved plants.

Foreground (Visual Distance Zone) – The part of a scene, landscape, etc., that is nearest to the viewer, and in which detail is evident, usually one-half to a quarter mile from the viewer.

Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 – An Act of Congress requiring the preparation of a program for the management of the national forests’ renewable

96 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

resources, and of land and resource management plans for units of the National Forest System. The act also requires a continuing inventory of all National Forest System lands and renewable resources.

Forest Development Road – A road wholly or partly within or adjacent to and serving a part of the National Forest System, and which has been included in the Forest Development Road System.

Forest Development Trail – A trail wholly or partly within or adjacent to and serving a part of the National Forest System, and which has been included in the Forest Development Trail System.

Forest Land – Land at least 10 percent stocked by forest trees of any size, or formerly having had such tree cover, and not currently developed for nonforest use.

(Forest Land) Capable – Forest land which is capable of growing industrial crops of wood at or above the minimum biological growth established by the regional plan. The classification includes accessible, inaccessible, stocked and nonstocked land.

(Forest Land) Capable and Available – Capable forest land which has not been legislatively or administratively withdrawn from timber production by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service.

(Forest Land) Capable But Not Available – Capable forest land that has been legislatively withdrawn or administratively withdrawn from timber production by the Secretary of Agriculture or Chief of the Forest Service. Capable but not available forest land is classed as not suited for timber production.

(Forest Land) Capable-Deferred – Capable forest land which has been legislatively designated or administratively designated by the Secretary or Chief for wilderness study or possible additions to the Wilderness System. This classification includes RARE II areas designated for further planning.

(Forest Land) Capable-Reserved – Capable forest land which has been legislatively withdrawn or administratively withdrawn from timber production on a permanent basis. Examples of this classification are wilderness areas, primitive areas, research natural areas, special interest areas or similar formal withdrawals approved by the Chief of the Forest Service or higher authority.

(Forest Land) Not Capable – Forest land which is not capable of growing industrial crops of wood at least at the minimum biological growth potential of a 40-foot tree in 100 years. Forest land not capable is classed as land not suited for timber production.

Forest Plan – A document, required by Congress, assessing economic, social and environmental impacts, and describing how land and resources will provide for multiple use and sustained yield of goods and services.

Forest Supervisor – The official responsible for administering National Forest System lands in a Forest Service administrative unit, which may consist of one or more national forests or all the forests within a state. The forest supervisor reports to the Regional Forester.

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Forest System Road – Roads that are part of the forest development transportation system, which includes all existing and planned roads as development transportation facilities.

Forest-Wide Standard – A principle requiring a specific level of attainment, a rule to measure against. The forest-wide standard applies to all areas of the forest regardless of the other prescriptions applied.

FORPLAN – A linear programming system used for developing and analyzing forest planning alternatives.

FSH – Forest Service Handbook.

FSM – Forest Service Manual.

Firebreak – A zone in which fuel quantity has been reduced or altered to provide a position for suppression forces to make a stand against wildfire. Firebreaks are designated or constructed before the outbreak of a fire. Firebreaks may consist of one or a combination of the following: natural barriers, constructed firebreaks, or manmade barriers.

Fuel Model – A simulated fuel complex for which all the fuel descriptions required by the mathematical fire spread model have been specified.

Fuels – Includes both living plants and dead, woody, vegetative materials that are capable of burning.

Fuels Management – Manipulation or reduction of fuels to meet forest protection and management objectives while preserving and enhancing environmental quality.

Firewood – Wood that is round, split or sawed, or general refuse material cut into short lengths for burning. Also known as fuelwood.

G Game Species – Any species of wildlife or fish for which seasons and bag limits have been prescribed, and which are normally harvested by hunters, trappers and fishermen under State or Federal laws, codes and regulations.

Goal – A concise statement of the state or condition that a land and resource management plan is designed to achieve. A goal is usually not quantifiable and may not have a specific date for completion.

Grazing Capacity – The maximum level of plant utilization by grazing and browsing animals that will allow plants or associations of plants to meet their physiological and/or reproductive needs.

Grazing Permittee – An individual who has been granted written permission to graze livestock for a specific period on a range allotment.

Ground Water – Subsurface water in a saturated zone or geologic stratum.

98 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Group Selection Cutting – Involves the removal of small groups of trees to meet a predetermined goal of size distribution and species in the remaining stand. The distance across an opening created by removal of a group of trees is usually no more than one to two times the distance of surrounding tree height, with a maximum size limit of 2 acres.

Growing Stock Level (GSL) – Expressed in either stems per acre or square feet of basal area of timber growing on any area.

GSL – See “Growing Stock Level.”

Guideline – An indication or outline of policy or conduct.

Gully Erosion – The erosion process whereby water accumulates in narrow channels and, over short periods, removes the soil from this narrow area to depths ranging from 20 miles to as much as 75 to 90 feet.

H Habitat – The sum total of environmental conditions of a specific place occupied by a wildlife species or a population of such species.

Habitat Type – An aggregation of all land areas potentially capable of producing similar plant communities at climax.

Harvest Cut – The removal of a stand of trees as a final cut in even-aged management, or the removal of mature trees in uneven-aged management. Regeneration encouragement is emphasized.

Herbicide – A chemical compound used to kill or control growth of undesirable plant species.

Herbivore – An animal that feeds on plant substances.

High Chaparral – The higher precipitation chaparral communities characterized by dominance of evergreen oak, mountain mahogany, ceanothus and silk tassel.

Horizontal Structure – Consists of single age and size classes by stands. Stands representing different age and size classes should be distributed within a forested area.

Hydrologic Function – The behavioral characteristics of a watershed described in terms of ability to sustain favorable conditions of waterflow. Favorable conditions of waterflow are defined in terms of water quality, quantity and timing.

I Implementing Regulations – Regulations generated by an agency to implement acts of Congress (i.e., 36 CFR 219 contains implementing regulations for RPA and NFMA).

Improvement – Manmade developments such as roads, trails, fences, stock tanks, pipelines, power and telephone lines, survey monuments and ditches.

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Inholdings – Lands within the proclaimed boundaries of a national forest that are owned by some other agency, organization or individual.

Indicator Species – A wildlife species whose presence in a certain location or situation at a given population level indicates a particular environmental condition. Population changes are believed to indicate effects of management activities on a number of other wildlife species.

Indigenous Species – Species historically native to an area; not introduced by man.

Insecticide – An agent used to control insect populations.

Instream Flows – Those necessary to meet seasonal streamflow requirements for maintaining aquatic ecosystems, visual quality and recreational opportunities on national forest lands at acceptable levels.

Integrated Pest Management – A management strategy for suppression of forest pests that integrates silvicultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical suppression strategies that achieve greater efficiency and safety than the same strategies used alone.

Intensive Grazing – Grazing management that controls distribution of cattle and duration of use on the range, usually by fences, so parts of the range are rested during the growing season.

Interdisciplinary (ID) Team– A group of individuals with skills from different resources. An interdisciplinary team is assembled because no single scientific discipline is sufficient to adequately identify and resolve issues and problems. Team member interaction provides necessary insight to all stages of the process.

Intermediate Cutting – Any removal of trees from a stand between the time of its formation and the regeneration cut. The most commonly applied intermediate cuttings are release, thinning, improvement and salvage.

Intermittent Stream – A stream that does not flow throughout the year.

Interpretive Sites – A developed site at which a broad range of natural or cultural history is interpreted or described for the enjoyment of the public.

Intolerant Species – Those plant species that do not grow well in shade.

Inversion – A stable layer of air where the temperature of the air increases with height.

IRM – Integrated Resource Management.

Issue – A subject or question of widespread public discussion or interest regarding management of National Forest System lands.

K K-V Funds – In 1930, Congress passed the Knutson-Vandenberg Act (K-V Act) to authorize collection of funds (K-V Funds) for reforestation and timber stand improvement work on areas cut over by a timber sale.

100 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

L Land Exchange – The conveyance of non-Federal land or interests to the United States in exchange for National Forest System land or interests in land.

Land Line – For forest plan purposes, national forest property boundaries and subdivision lines.

Land Management Plan – See “Forest Plan.”

Late Forest Succession – A stage of forest succession where the majority of trees are mature or overmature.

Leasable Minerals – Coal, oil, gas, phosphate, sodium, potassium, oil, shale and geothermal steam.

Linear Program Model – A mathematical method used to determine the best use of resources to achieve a desired result when limitations on available resources can be expressed in the form of equations.

Litter – The uppermost layer of organic debris on the ground under a vegetation cover (i.e., essentially the freshly fallen or only slightly decomposed vegetable material, mainly from foliage but also bark fragments, twigs, flowers, fruits, etc.).

Local Roads – These roads connect terminal facilities with forest collector or forest arterial roads, or with public highways. The location and standard are usually determined by that required to serve a specific resource activity, rather than by travel efficiency.

Locatable Minerals – Those hardrock minerals which are mined and processed principally for the recovery of precious metals. May include certain nonmetallic minerals, such as valuable and distinctive deposits of limestone or silica. May also include any solid natural inorganic substance occurring in the crust of the earth, except for the common varieties of mineral materials and leasable minerals.

Long-Term – Action governed by the forest plan generally taking place over a period longer than 10 years from the present.

Long-Term Sustained Yield Capacity (LTSYC) – The highest uniform wood yield from lands being managed for timber production that may be achieved and sustained under a specified intensity of management consistent with multiple use objectives.

Low Chaparral – Lower precipitation chaparral communities characterized by more widely spaced shrubs such as turbinella oak, catclaw, mesquite and other species.

M Maintenance Class – A rating system to show the relative maintenance intensity a facility is planned to receive.

Management Area – An area that has common direction throughout that differs from neighboring areas. The entire forest is divided into management areas. Each is described, and policies and prescriptions relating to its use are listed.

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Management Concern – A matter of importance to the management of National Forest System lands (identified internally by the agency). Also defined in the forest plan as an issue or problem requiring resolution or a condition constraining management practices identified by the interdisciplinary team.

Management Direction – A statement of multiple use and other goals and objectives, the management prescriptions and the associated standards and guidelines for attaining them.

Management Emphasis – A reflection of allocation choices for an analysis area. Management emphasis, as used in FORPLAN, is a 6-letter identifier used to describe (name) a prescription in FORPLAN.

Management Indicator Species – See “Indicator Species.”

Management Intensity – The relative cost of a possible management direction and/or management practice.

Management Opportunity – A statement of general actions, measures or treatments that address the public issue or management concern in a favorable way.

Management Practice – A specific action, measure or treatment.

Management Prescription – Management practices selected and scheduled for application in a specific area to attain multiple use and other goals and objectives.

Management Team – Decisionmaking group consisting of the forest supervisor, program officers and district rangers.

MAR – Management Attainment Report

Marginal Analysis – A type of analysis in which the only costs and benefits considered are those about which decisions can be made. Fixed benefits and costs are not considered.

Market-Valued Outputs – Goods and services valued in terms of what people are willing to pay for them.

MAUMs (Thousand AUMs) – A symbol used to indicate 1,000 animal unit months of range forage.

Maximum Modification (VQO) – A visual quality objective meaning man’s activity may dominate the characteristic landscape but should appear as a natural occurrence when viewed as background.

MBF (thousand board feet) – A symbol used to indicate 1,000 board feet of wood fiber volume, either in log form or after conversion into lumber.

Mean Annual Increment – The total increase in girth, diameter, basal area, height or volume of individual trees or a stand up to a given age divided by that age.

Merchantable Volume – Gross volume minus defect and volume in unutilized tops.

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Mesa – A tableland; a flat-topped mountain or other elevation bounded on at least one side by a steep cliff.

Middle Ground (Visual Distance Zone) – That part of a scene or landscape which extends from the foreground zone to 3-5 miles from the observer.

MIH Codes – Management Information Handbook codes.

Mineral Development – The preparation of a proven deposit for mining.

Mineral Entry – The right under the Mining Law of 1872 to enter nonwithdrawn public domain land (such as national forests) and to explore for, extract and sell certain locatable minerals; protected by the filing of a lode, placer or mill site claim.

Mineral Entry Withdrawal – The exclusion of the right of possession of locatable mineral deposits by the locator on areas required for administrative sites by the Forest Service and other areas highly valued by the public. Public lands withdrawn from entry under the General Mining Laws and/or the mineral leasing laws.

Mineral Exploration – The search for valuable minerals on lands open to mineral entry.

Mineral Production – Extraction of mineral deposits.

Mineral Soil – Weathered rock materials without any vegetative cover.

Minerals, Common Variety – See “Common Variety Minerals.”

Minerals, Leasable – See “Leasable Minerals.”

Minerals, Locatable – See “Locatable Minerals.”

Minimum Level Management – The management strategy that would meet only the basic statutory requirements of administering unavoidable, nondiscretionary land uses, preventing damage to adjoining lands for other ownerships, and protecting the life, health and safety of incidental users.

Minimum Viable Population – See “Viable Population.”

Minimum Streamflows – A specified level of flow through a channel that must be maintained by the users of a stream for biological, physical or other purposes.

Mining Claims – That portion of the public estate held for mining purposes in which the right of exclusive possession of locatable mineral deposits is vested in the locator of a deposit.

Mining Patents – See “Patented Mining Claims.”

Mitigate – To lessen the severity.

MMBF (million board feet) – A symbol used to indicate 1,000,000 board feet of wood fiber volume either in log form or after conversion into lumber.

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Modification (VQO) – A visual quality objective meaning man’s activity may dominate the characteristic landscape but must, at the same time, utilize naturally established form, line, color and texture. The activity should appear as a natural occurrence when viewed in the foreground or middle ground.

Monitoring and Evaluation – The periodic evaluation on a sample basis of forest plan management practices to determine how well objectives have been met and how closely management standards have been applied.

Motorized Equipment – Any vehicle activated by a nonliving power source except small, battery-powered, hand carried devices such as flashlights, shavers, Geiger counters and cameras.

Motor Vehicle – Any vehicle which is self-propelled or any vehicle that is propelled by electric power obtained from batteries, but not operated on rails.

Multiple Use – The management of all various renewable surface resources of the national forests so that they are utilized in combination that will best meet the needs of the American people; making the most judicious use of the land for some or all of these resources or related services over areas large enough to provide sufficient latitude for periodic adjustments in use to conform to changing needs and conditions; that some land will be used for less than all of the resources; and harmonious and coordinated management of the various resources, each with the other, without impairment of the productivity of the land, with consideration being given to the relative values of the various resources, and not necessarily the combination of uses that will give the greatest dollar return or the greatest unit output.

N National Environmental Policy Act – An act to declare a National policy that will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts that will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation and to establish a Council on Environmental Quality.

National Fire Danger Rating System – A method of assessing wildland fire danger based on weather, fuels and human risk.

National Forest Landscape Management System – The art and science of planning and administering the use of forest lands in such ways that the visual effects maintain or upgrade man’s psychological welfare. It is the planning and design of the visual aspects of multiple-use land management.

National Forest Management Act – A law passed in 1976 as amendments to the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act that requires the preparation of regional and forest plans and the preparation of regulations to guide that development.

National Forest System Land – National forests, national grasslands and other related lands for which the Forest Service is assigned administrative responsibility.

National Historic Trail – A trail that follows as closely as possible an original trail or route of travel that is of national historic significance.

104 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

National Historic Study Trail – A trail being considered for inclusion in the National Historic Trail System.

National Recreation Trails – Trails designated by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture as part of the National system of trails authorized by the National Trails System Act. National recreation trails provide a variety of outdoor recreation uses in or reasonably accessible to urban areas.

National Register of Historic Places – A listing (maintained by the U.S. National Park Service) of areas that have been designated as being of historical significance. The register includes places of local and state significance as well as those of value to the Nation as a whole.

National Wild and Scenic River System – Rivers with outstanding and remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values designated by Congress under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act for preservation of their free-flowing condition.

National Wilderness Preservation System – All lands covered by the Wilderness Act and subsequent wilderness designations, irrespective of the department or agency having jurisdiction.

Natural Soil Erosion – Wearing away of the earth’s surface by water, ice or other natural agents under natural environmental conditions of climate, vegetation, etc., undisturbed by man.

NEPA – See “National Environmental Policy Act.”

NFMA – See “National Forest Management Act.”

No Action Alternative – The most likely condition expected to exist in the future if current management direction would continue unchanged.

Noncommercial Forest Land – See “(Forest Land) Not Capable.”

Noncommodity Outputs – A resource output that cannot be bought and sold.

Nonconsumptive Use – Those uses of resources that do not reduce the supply. For example: nonconsumptive uses of water included hydroelectric power generation, boating, swimming, etc.

Nondeclining Yield – A level of timber production planned so that the planned sale and harvest for any future decade is equal to or greater than the planned sale and harvest for the preceding decade.

Nonforest Land – Land that has never supported forests and lands formerly forested where use for timber utilization is precluded by development for other use. Includes areas used for crops, improved pasture, residential areas, improved roads of any width and adjoining clearings, and power line clearing of any width. If intermingled in forest areas, unimproved roads and nonforest strips must be more than 120 feet wide, and clearings more than 1 acre in size to qualify as nonforest land. The nonforest land is classified as land not suited for timber production.

Nongame Species – Animal species that are not usually hunted. This classification is determined by the state legislature.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 105 Glossary

Nonmotorized – Any vehicle that is not activated by a nonliving power source, except small battery-powered, hand carried devices such as flashlights, shavers, Geiger counters and cameras.

Nonmarket Valued Outputs – Goods and services valued in terms of what reasonable people would be willing to pay.

Nonstructural Range Improvement – A modification of existing vegetation to improve the grazing resource.

Notice of Intent – A written notice to the affected district ranger by those who intend to engage in mining activity on the national forest.

Noxious Weed – A noxious, destructive or troublesome plant when found to be in epidemic proportions and of economic importance to threaten the public welfare.

O O & M – Operation and Maintenance.

Objective – A clear and specific statement of planned results to be achieved within a stated time period. The results indicated in the statement of objectives are those that are designed to achieve the desired condition represented by the goal. An objective is measurable and implies precise, time-phased steps to be taken and resources to be used which, together, represent the basis for defining and controlling the work to be done.

Objective Function – A term in linear programming describing the criteria to be optimized. Examples of objective functions are to maximize timber, maximize livestock forage, or maximize present net value.

Obliteration – The returning of the land occupied by a road or trail to production.

Occupancy Trespass – The illegal occupation or possession of national forest land.

Off-Highway Vehicles – This includes all mechanical means of transportation (passenger cars, four-wheel-drive vehicles, trail bikes and snowmobiles) that are capable of traveling over land where no road exists.

OHV – See “Off-highway Vehicles.”

Old Growth Habitat – A stand that is past full maturity and showing decadence; the last stage in forest succession. For characteristics, see Wildlife Technical Report 1983. Also see Appendix H.

Onsite Soil Loss – The movement of soil from the point at which it was formed to another location.

Operating Plan – A written plan of operation prepared by the proponent of a mining, milling, prospecting or exploration project to be conducted on the national forest when such use will cause significant surface disturbance. The plan includes provisions for the mitigation of the surface disturbing activities and is approved by the appropriate forest officer.

106 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Opportunity Costs – The value of the net benefits foregone or given up due to the effect of choosing another management alternative that either impacts existing outputs or shifts resources away from other activities so that they are no longer produced and their benefits are lost.

Output Coefficient – Values which relate an acre of land to a particular quantity of output in a specific period of time.

Outputs – The goods, services, products and concerns that are measurable and capable of being used to determine the effectiveness of programs and activities in meeting objectives. Also goods, end products or services that are purchased, consumed or utilized directly by people. A broad term for describing any result, product or service that a process or activity actually produces.

Overgrazing – The overcommitment of forage resources beyond levels considered compatible with basic physiological needs of forage plants.

Overstory – Relative to even-aged stands; mature trees that overtop the younger trees or that portion of the forest of more than one story forming the upper or uppermost canopy.

P PAOT – See “Persons-At-One-Time.”

Partial Retention (VQO) – A visual quality objective that in general means man’s activities may be evident but must remain subordinate to the characteristic landscape.

Particulates – Small particles suspended in the air and generally considered to be pollutants.

Patented Mining Claim – A mining claim to which the Federal Government has granted the claimant all surface and some or all mineral rights. Patented mining claims are private land and may be sold or used for other than mining activity, such as residential or recreational use.

Perennial Stream – Streams that flow throughout the year.

Permitted Grazing – Authorized use of a national forest range allotment under the terms of a grazing permit.

Persons-At-One-Time – A recreation capacity measurement term indicating the number of people that can comfortably occupy or use a facility or area at one time.

P/J – Pinyon/juniper vegetation type.

Planning Area – The area covered by a regional or forest plan.

Planning Criteria – Standards, tests, rules and guidelines by which the planning process is conducted and upon which judgments and decisions are based.

Planning Horizon – The overall time period considered in the planning process that spans all activities covered in the analysis or plan and all future conditions and effects of proposed actions that would influence planning decisions.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 107 Glossary

Planning Period – The 50-year timeframe (1986-2035) for which goods, services and effects are projected in the development of the forest plan.

Planning Process – A system that records decisions and activities that result from the process of developing a forest plan, revision or significant amendment.

Plantation – A forest crop or stand raised artificially, either by seeding or planting of young trees.

Pole Timber – As used in timber survey, a size class definition. Trees 5 to 8.9 inches DBH.

Policy – A guiding principle upon which is based a specific decision or set of decisions.

Potentially Accessible Firewood Areas – Pinyon/juniper firewood areas that are not roaded and are on 0-20 percent slopes.

Practice – See “Management Practice.”

Precommercial Thinning – The selective felling, deadening or removal of trees in a young stand primarily to accelerate the growth of remaining trees, maintain a specific stocking or stand density range, and/or to improve the vigor and/or quality of the trees that remain.

Preparatory Cut – Removal of trees near the end of a rotation so as to permanently open the canopy and enlarge the crowns of seed bearers for the purpose of improving conditions for windfirmness, seed production and natural regeneration.

Prescribed Fire – The intentional application of fire to wildland fuels in either their natural or modified state under such conditions as allow the fire to be confined to a predetermined area and at the same time to produce the intensity of heat and rate of spread required to further certain planned objectives of silviculture, wildlife management, etc.

Prescribed Fire, Management Ignited – A prescribed fire resulting from a planned, deliberate management action.

Prescribed Natural Fire – A fire resulting from a natural ignition that is designated and managed as a prescribed fire.

Prescription – See “Management Prescriptions.”

Present Net Value – The difference in net benefits and net costs, each discounted to the present.

Preservation (VQO) – A visual quality objective that provides for ecological change only.

Presuppression – Activities required in advance of fire occurrence to ensure effective suppression action. Includes: (1) recruiting and training fire forces; (2) planning and organizing attack methods; (3) procuring and maintaining fire equipment; and (4) maintaining structural improvements necessary for the fire program.

Primitive ROS Class – A classification of the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum characterized by an essentially unmodified environment, where trails may be present but structures are rare, and where probability of isolation from the sights and sounds of man is extremely high.

108 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Production Potential – The capability of the land or water to produce life-sustaining features (forage, cover, aquatics).

Productivity – See “Soil Productivity.”

Products – Timber volume sold as roundwood or pulpwood.

Program Development and Budgeting – The process by which activities for the forest are proposed and funded.

Prohibited – Use is not allowed.

Projected Future Use – The amount of a forest output (both commodity and noncommodity) that is estimated to be used at a given time during the planning horizon.

Proposed Action – In terms of the National Environmental Policy Act, the project, activity or action that a Federal agency intends to implement or undertake and that is the subject of an environmental assessment.

PSD – See “Prevention of Significant Deterioration.”

Public Access – Usually refers to a road or trail route over which a public agency claims a right- of-way available for public use.

Public Issue – A subject or question of widespread public interest that is identified through public participation and relates directly to the management of National Forest System lands.

Public Participation Activities – Meetings, conferences, seminars, workshops, tours, written comments, response to survey questionnaires, and similar activities designed and held to obtain comments from the general public and specific publics about National Forest System land management planning.

R Range Allotment – A designated area of land available for livestock grazing upon which a specified number and kind of livestock may be grazed under a range allotment management plan. It is the basic land unit used to facilitate management of the range resource on National Forest System and associated lands administered by the Forest Service.

Rangeland, Full Capacity Range – Land that is accessible or that can become accessible to livestock, that produces forage and can be grazed on a sustained yield basis.

Range Betterment Funds – The portion of range grazing fees returned to the forest to arrest range deterioration and improve forage condition.

Range Condition – The state of health of a range land site based on plant species composition and forage production in relation to the potential under existing site conditions. Range condition is rated as satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

Range Management Intensity Levels – A method of determining the appropriate level of livestock management for a given unit of land.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 109 Glossary

Level A – Livestock grazing is entirely eliminated or restricted to situations where it will meet other resource objectives, such as fuel hazard reduction in recreation areas. Areas managed under Level A are not counted in the determination of livestock forage capacities.

Level B – Livestock grazing is limited. Management is generally accomplished by moving livestock from one place to another. On areas managed under Level B, capacity and actual use are kept in balance by removing or adding livestock. There is very little structural improvement work done (such as fences or water development), and no forage improvement work.

Level C – Level C management controls livestock use through the use of structural improvements and physical movement of livestock. Long-term capacities are balanced with use through adjustments in numbers of livestock. Any forage improvement is generally the result of meeting other resource objectives, such as wildlife habitat improvement.

Level D – Areas under Level D management are managed intensively for livestock grazing within an overall multiple-use concept. Any structural or nonstructural (forage) improvement technique may be used as long as it fits with the natural environment. All reasonable and approved management techniques are applied to sustain capacity and use at high levels.

Level E – Level E management is applied to areas to achieve the maximum livestock production that the land can support. Any management technique can be applied as long as basic watershed values are protected. Some management activities, such as irrigating or large scale planting of nonnative grass species, may change the natural character of the land.

Level 4 – This is a combination of permitted use associated with Level B management but with administrative and forage improvement practices at Level D and structural improvements at Level C.

Ranger District – Administrative subdivisions on the forest supervised by a district ranger who reports to the forest supervisor.

RARE II – See “Roadless Area Review and Evaluation II.”

Real Income – Real income is income based on real dollar values (values from which the effect of change in purchasing power of the dollar has been removed).

Record of Decision – A document separate from but associated with an environmental impact statement that publicly and officially discloses the responsible official’s decision on the proposed action.

Recreation Opportunity Spectrum – A land classification system that categorizes national forest land into six classes, each class being defined by its setting and by the probable recreation experiences and activities it affords. The six classes in the spectrum are primitive, semiprimitive nonmotorized, semiprimitive motorized, roaded natural, rural and urban.

110 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Recreation Residence Site – A house or cabin permitted on national forest land for the recreational use of the owner.

Recreation Visitor Day (RVD) – Recreational use of national forest land that aggregates to 12 hours. It may consist of 1 person for 12 hours, 2 people for 6 hours, or any combination that totals 12 hours.

Reforestation – The natural or artificial restocking of an area with forest trees.

Regeneration – (1) The actual seedlings and saplings existing in a stand; (2) the act of establishing young trees naturally or artificially; or (3) the renewal of tree crop, whether by natural or artificial means.

Regeneration Cut – Removal of trees with the intention of establishing a new crop of seedlings.

Regional Forester – The official responsible for administering a single region.

Regional Guide – See “Regional Land and Resource Management Plan.”

Regional Land and Resource Management Plan – The plan developed to meet the requirements of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended, that guides all natural resource management activities and establishes management standards and guidelines for the National Forest System lands of a given region. It also disaggregates the RPA objectives assigned to the region to the forests within that region.

Regulated – Forest land managed for timber production under sustained yield principles.

Regulations (36 CFR) – Refers to the Code of Federal Regulations which regulate the use and occupancy of the lands administered by the USDA Forest Service. Included in these regulations are the requirements for implementing the National Forest Management Act.

Research Natural Areas – An area in as near a natural condition as possible which exemplifies typical or unique vegetation and associated biotic, soil, geologic and aquatic features. This area is set aside to preserve a representative sample of an ecological community primarily for scientific and educational purposes; commercial and general public use is not allowed.

Resource Database – Information about resources stored in a computerized system.

Restricted Use – Use is limited to those modes of transportation indicated on the official access map and signed on the ground.

Rest-Rotation – A grazing system in which the pastures being rotated receive nonuse for a period of plant recovery.

Retention (VQO) – A visual quality objective that in general means man’s activities are not evident to the casual forest visitor.

Revegetation – The re-establishment and development of a plant cover. This may take place naturally through the reproductive processes of the existing flora or artificially through the direct action of man.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 111 Glossary

Right-of-Way – Land authorized to be used or occupied for the construction, operation, maintenance and termination of a project facility passing over, upon, under or through such land.

Riparian – Land adjacent to perennial and intermittent streams, lakes and reservoirs. This land is specifically delineated by the transition ecosystem and defined by soil characteristics and distinctive vegetation communities that require free and unbound water.

Road – An imprint on the land made for or by a 4-wheeled vehicle that appears on a map and is signed as such on the ground.

Road Density – The measure of the degree to which the length of road miles occupies a given land area (i.e., 1 mile per square mile is 1 mile of road within a given square mile of land).

Road Maintenance Levels – See Appendix C.

Road Prism – The geometric features of a road structure including all the disturbed area within a given portion of road. These features include the cut bank, ditch, travel surface and the fill slope.

Roaded Natural ROS Class – A classification of the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum that characterizes a predominantly natural appearing environment with moderate evidence of the sights and sounds of man. Such evidence usually harmonizes with the natural environment. Opportunities exist for both social interaction and moderate isolation from sights and sounds of man.

Roadless Area – Undeveloped Federal land within which there are no improved roads or roads maintained for travel by means of motorized vehicles intended for highway use.

Roadless Area Review and Evaluation II (RARE II) – A National program with the purpose of identifying areas for wilderness and making recommendations to Congress regarding their designation.

ROS Class – See “Recreation Opportunity Spectrum.”

Rotation – The planned number of years between the start of a crop of trees and their regeneration harvest. The rotation age will vary according to geographic location, tree species and management objectives.

Roundwood – Trees that are used without being milled (fence posts, telephone poles, pulpwood, etc.).

RPA – The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974. Also refers to the National Assessment and Recommended Program developed to fulfill the requirements of the act. The most recent recommended program was done in 1980.

RPA National Assessment – A document compiled by the Secretary of Agriculture every 10 years which contains facts and analyses to develop and guide public and private forest and range land policies and programs.

RPA National Program – A document compiled by the Secretary of Agriculture every 5 years which outlines Forest Service programs for National Forest System management, cooperative assistance to States and private landowners, and research.

112 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Rural ROS Class – A classification of the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum that characterizes an area in which the sights and sounds of man are prevalent and the landscape has been considerably altered by the works of man.

RVD – See “Recreation Visitor Day.”

S Salvage Cutting – Done to remove trees in danger of being killed or damaged by injurious agents. Dead and dying trees are included in salvage cuttings.

Sapling – As used in timber survey, a size class definition; trees 1 to 4.9 inches DBH.

Satisfactory Range Condition – Range land in range condition class of at least fair with stable or upward trend.

Sawtimber – Trees that will yield logs suitable in size and quality for the production of lumber.

Scarification – Loosening the topsoil in open areas to prepare for regeneration by direct seeding or natural seedfall.

Scenic Management System – A system of classification for measuring changes in scenery. Formerly “Visual Management System.”

Scenic River – Wild and Scenic Rivers Act usage. Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive, and shorelines largely undeveloped but accessible in places by roads.

Scoping Process – The public and management activities used to determine the range of actions, alternatives and impacts to be considered in an environmental impact statement.

Sediment – Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water, gravity or ice and has come to rest on the earth’s surface either above or below sea level.

Seed Cut – The removal of trees in a mature stand to effect permanent opening of its canopy (if there is no preparatory cutting to do this) and to provide conditions for establishing regeneration from the seed of trees retained for that purpose; the second of the shelterwood cuttings under a shelterwood system.

Seedling – As used in commercial timber survey, a size class definition; trees less than 1 inch DBH.

Selection Cutting – The annual or periodic removal of trees (particularly mature trees), individually or in small groups, from an uneven-aged forest in order to realize the yield and establish a new crop of irregular constitution.

Semiprimitive Motorized ROS Class – A classification of the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum characterized by predominantly natural or natural-appearing environment. Setting may exhibit moderately dominant alterations and strong evidence of primitive roads and trails.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 113 Glossary

Semiprimitive Nonmotorized ROS Class – A classification of the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum characterized by few and/or subtle modifications by man, and with high probability of isolation from the sights and sounds of man.

Sensitive Areas – Areas of high erosion hazard, areas that may be susceptible to compaction, or areas of unstable slopes.

Sensitivity Level – As used in Visual Quality Management, a particular degree or measure of viewer interest in the scenic qualities of the landscape.

Sequential Upper and Lower Bounds – A timber harvest flow constraint that limits the percent increase or decrease in timber harvest from one time period to the succeeding time period.

Sheet Erosion – The removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from the land surface by rainfall and runoff water without the development of conspicuous water channels.

Shelterwood Cut – An even-age regeneration system where the mature trees are removed in two or more cuts: (1) The preparatory cut removes a portion of the mature trees and is intended to make the remaining trees more wind firm; preparatory cuts may be omitted where windfall is not a major concern; (2) The seed cut removes additional trees with the intent of allowing additional sunlight to reach the forest floor. The new trees become established following the seed cut; and (3) The removal cut removes the last of the mature trees.

Shelterwood Cutting – Designed to establish a new crop under a remaining portion of the old stand which provides both a seed source and protection of the site and seedlings.

Shrub/Seedling – A forest successional stage in which shrubs and seedling trees are the dominant vegetation.

Silvicultural System – The entire process by which forest stands are tended, harvested and replaced. This includes all cultural practices performed during the life of the stand, such as regeneration cutting, thinning, improvement cutting and use of genetically improved sources of tree seeds and seedlings. Silvicultural systems can be distinguished as either even- or uneven- aged.

Site Preparation – Preparation of the ground surface before planting or preparing a seedbed for natural regeneration; includes removal of unwanted vegetation, slash, stumps and roots from a site.

Skid Trail – Travel way used to drag or transport trees from the stump to the road.

Slash – Debris left after logging, pruning, thinning or brush cutting, and large accumulation of debris after wind or fire. Slash includes logs, branches, bark, and stumps.

Small Game – Birds and small mammals normally hunted or trapped as declared by State and Federal legislation.

SMS – See “Scenic Management System.”

Snag – Standing dead tree larger than 6 inches DBH.

114 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Soft Snag – A standing dead tree from which the leaves and most of the branches have fallen and which has started to rot internally.

Softwood – A conventional term for both the timber and trees belonging to the botanical group Gymnospermae.

Soil Loss Trend – An estimate of the soil loss or movement that is greater than background soil loss. Soil loss trend is usually the result of unsatisfactory watershed conditions.

Soil Erosion – The wearing away of the land surface by running water, wind, ice or other geological agents, including such processes as gravitational creep. Detachment and movement of soil or rock by water, wind, ice or gravity.

Soil Loss – See “Soil Erosion.”

Soil Productivity – The capacity of a soil in its normal environment to produce a specified plant or sequence of plants under a specified system of management.

Soil Surveys – The systematic examination, description, classification and mapping of soils in an area. Soil surveys are classified according to the kind and intensity of field examination. There are seven levels, with order 1 being the highest intensity for the forest. Order 4 was conducted for the forest plan.

Special Use Permit – A permit issued under established laws and regulations to an individual, organization or company for occupancy or use of national forest land for some special purpose.

Stand – An aggregation of trees or other growth occupying a specific area and sufficiently uniform in composition (species), age arrangement and condition as to be distinguishable from the rest of the forest or other growth on adjoining areas.

Standard – A principle requiring a specific level of attainment; a rule to measure against.

Standard Level of Service – Service that includes an appropriate level of administration to provide contact and patrol for public information and safety, to ensure that operation and maintenance plans have been prepared and are being adhered to, that cleanup standards and procedures are followed in the manner and on the schedules prescribed, and that the design capacity of developed recreation sites is not exceeded. Described in “Cleaning Recreation Sites… An Update,” March, 1988. USDA Forest Service Special Report 8023-1801.

Stand Examination Surveys – Procedures consisting of four types of surveys used to collect physical and vegetative data on forest stands.

State Air Quality Regulations – The legal base for control of air pollution sources in that state. Prescribed burning is generally covered under these regulations.

Structural Diversity – The variety in a forest stand that results from layering or tiering of the canopy; an increase in layering leads to an increase in structural diversity.

Structural Range Improvement – Any type of range improvement that is manmade (fences, corrals, water developments, etc.).

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 115 Glossary

Subdivisions – Areas of previously undeveloped land divided into individual homesites and/or blocks of lots with streets or roads and open spaces.

Succession – An orderly process of biotic community development that involves changes in species, structure and community processes with time.

Suitability – The appropriateness of applying certain resource management practices to a particular area of land, as determined by an analysis of the economic and environmental consequences and the alternative uses foregone. A unit of land may be suitable for a variety of individual or combined management practices.

Suitable Range – Range which is accessible to livestock or wildlife and which can be grazed on a sustained yield basis without damage to other resources.

Suitable Timber Lands – Forest lands to be managed for timber production.

Supply – The quantity of a product or forest output that will be produced.

Suppression (Fire Suppression) – Any act taken to slow, stop or extinguish a fire. Examples of suppression activities include line construction, backfiring and the application of water or chemical fire retardants.

Sustained Yield – The achievement and maintenance in perpetuity of a high-level annual or regular periodic output of the various renewable resources of the national forest without impairment of the productivity of the land.

T T&E – See “Threatened and Endangered Species.”

Targets – Objectives assigned to the forest by the regional plan.

Tententatively Suitable Forest Land – Land for which technology is available that will ensure timber production without irreversible resource damage to soils, productivity or watershed conditions. There is reasonable assurance that such lands can be adequately restocked as provided in CFR 219.13(h)(3).

Temporary Road – Any short-lived road not intended to be part of the forest transportation system and not necessary for future resource management.

Thermal Cover – Cover used by animals to reduce effects of weather.

Thinning – The selective removal of trees in a particular stand, primarily to accelerate the diameter increment (annual growth) of the residual trees, but also, by suitable selection, to improve the average form of the trees that remain.

Threatened and Endangered Species – A species or subspecies of animals or plants whose prospects of survival and reproduction are in immediate jeopardy, or are likely to become so within the foreseeable future. Threatened species are identified by the Secretary of Interior in accordance with the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

116 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Three-Step Shelterwood – An even-aged silvicultural system in which, in order to provide a source of seed and/or protection for regeneration, the old crop (shelterwood) is removed in three successive cuttings.

Tiering – Refers to the coverage of general matters in broader environmental impact statements by subsequently narrower statements of environmental analysis which incorporate by reference the general discussions. The narrower statements concentrate solely on the issues currently under consideration.

Timber – A general term for the major woody growth of vegetation in a forest area (ponderosa pine).

Timber Base – The lands within the forest that are capable, available and suitable for timber production.

Timber Harvest Schedule – The quantity of timber planned for sale and harvest, by time period, from the area of land covered by the forest plan. The first period, usually a decade, of the selected harvest schedule provides the allowable sale quantity. Future periods are shown to establish that sustained yield will be achieved and maintained.

Timber Production – The growing, tending, harvesting and regeneration of regulated crops of industrial wood. Industrial wood includes logs, bolts or other round sections cut from trees for industrial or consumer use, except firewood.

Timber Stand Improvements (TSI) – A term encompassing all intermediate cuttings made to improve the composition, constitution, condition and growth of a timber stand.

Timber Strata – Synonymous with stand - see “Stand.”

Topsoil – The uppermost part of the soil, ordinarily moved in tillage or its equivalent in forested or uncultivated soils and ranging in depth from 3-4 inches. It is presumably the most fragile portion.

Tractor Logging – Any logging method which uses a tractor as the motive power for dragging or carrying the logs from the stumps to a collection point.

Trail – A way for purpose of travel by foot, stock or trail vehicle that appears on an official access map and is signed as such on the ground.

Trailheads – The parking, signing and other facilities available at the terminus of a trail.

Transmission Pipeline – A pipeline that carries gas or liquid from a producing field or central collection facility to a storage or consumption facility, usually over long distances.

Travel Way – Any transportation facility that allows vehicle passage of any sort, that came into existence without plans, design or standard construction methods, that is not maintained or signed and has a very low traffic volume.

TSI – See “Timber Stand Improvement.”

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 117 Glossary

Type Conversion – The permanent or temporary conversion of one vegetative type to another vegetative type.

U Unconstrained Maximum – Level of management defined as the highest possible level of a given output along with the costs associated with achieving it.

Understory – The trees and other woody species growing under a more or less continuous cover of branches and foliage.

Uneven-Aged Silviculture Systems – The combination of actions that results in the creation of forests or stands of trees in which trees of several or many ages grow together. Cutting methods that develop and maintain uneven-aged stands include individual tree and group selection cutting methods: 1. Individual Tree Selection Cutting. The removal of selected trees of all size classes on an individual basis. 2. Group Selection Cutting. The removal of selected trees of all size classes in groups of a fraction of an acre up to 2 or 3 acres in size.

Unpatented Mining Claim – A claim made by a qualified person for possession of locatable minerals on public domain land (e.g., national forests); a properly recorded claim entitles the claimant to reasonable access to the claim and exclusive right to extract and sell valuable minerals from the claim. Unpatented mining claims may, under certain circumstances, be occupied and are to be used solely for mining and mining-related activities.

Unregulated Harvest – This harvest is not charged against the allowable sale quantity, and includes occasional volumes removed that were not recognized in calculations of the allowable sale quantity, such as cull or dead material, and noncommercial species and products. It also includes all volume removed from unsuitable areas. Harvests from unsuitable areas will be programmed as needed to meet multiple use objectives other than timber production.

Unsatisfactory Range Condition – Range land in fair, poor or very poor condition and deteriorating.

Unsuitable Lands – Lands not allocated to timber management or not suitable, as determined through the suitability analysis.

Urban ROS Class – A classification of the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum in which the natural setting is dominated by manmade structures and the sights and sounds of man predominate.

USC – United States Code.

Unclassified Area – Refers to the classification of lands for the purpose of establishing utility corridors. It is that land area not previously classified as an exclusion area, avoidance area, window or corridor.

Utility Corridor – A tract of land of varying width forming a passageway through which various commodities such as oil, gas and electricity are transported.

118 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Utilization Standards – Standards established to guide the use and removal of timber and measured in terms of minimum diameter at breast height, minimum length and percent soundness.

V Variety Class – A classification system for establishing three visual landscape categories according to the relative importance of the visual features. This classification system is based on the premise that all landscapes have some visual values, but those with the most variety or diversity of visual features have the greatest potential for having or attaining high scenic value.

Vegetative Manipulation – The change of one vegetation seral stage to another. This can be done by mechanical means, chemicals or fire. This usually is done to increase forage for livestock and can be a beneficial tool for wildlife.

Vehicle – Any device in, upon, or by which any person may be transported, including any frame, chassis or body of any motor vehicle, except devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

Vertical Diversity – The diversity in an area that results from the complexity of the above ground structure of the vegetation; the more tiers of vegetation or the more diverse the species makeup, or both, the higher the degree of vertical diversity.

Viable Populations – A wildlife or fish population of sufficient size to maintain its existence over time, in spite of normal fluctuations in population levels.

VIS (Visitor Information Services) – A service provided to the public by national forests in which the public is supplied with information regarding opportunities or activities on national forest land, usually (but not restricted to) recreational opportunities.

VIS Site – Visitor information service site that provides interpretative information (directional, historical, statistical) to the public.

Visitor Day – The use of an area for a total of 12 person hours by one or more people, either continuously or over several visits.

Visual Resource Management Program – The art and science of planning and administering the use of forest lands in such ways that the visual effects maintain or upgrade man’s psychological welfare. It is the planning and design of visual aspects of multiple-use land management.

Visual Quality Objective (VQO) – A desired level of excellence based on physical and sociological characteristics of an area. Refers to the degree of acceptable alterations of the characteristic landscape.

1. Preservation (P). In general, human activities are not detectable to the visitor. 2. Retention (R). In general, human activities are not evident to the casual forest visitor. 3. Partial Retention (PR). In general, human activities may be evident but must remain subordinate to the characteristic landscape.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 119 Glossary

4. Modification (M). Human activity may dominate the characteristic landscape but must, at the same time, utilize naturally established form, line, color and texture. The activity should appear as a natural occurrence when viewed as middle ground or background. 5. Maximum Modification (MM). Human activity may dominate the characteristic landscape, but should appear as a natural occurrence when viewed as background. 6. Enhancement (E). A short-term management alternative that is done with the express purpose of increasing positive visual variety where little variety now exists.

Visual Resource – The composite of basic terrain, geologic features, water features, vegetative patterns and land use effects that typify a land unit and influence the visual appeal the unit may have for visitors.

VQO – See “Visual Quality Objective.”

W Water Yield – The total net amount of water produced on the forest, including streamflow and ground water recharge.

Watershed – The entire area that contributes water to a drainage or stream.

Watershed Condition – A description of the health of a watershed in terms of the factors that affect the hydrologic function and soil productivity.

Wetlands – Areas with shallow standing water or seasonal to year-long saturated soils (includes bogs, marshes and wet meadows).

Wheeled Skidders – An internal combustion wheeled vehicle specifically designed to skid logs.

Wild and Scenic River Corridor – See “Wild River” and “Scenic River.”

Wild River – Wild and Scenic Rivers Act usage. Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted.

Wilderness – Under the 1964 Wilderness Act, wilderness consists of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence without permanent improvements or human habitation. It is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions which: (1) generally appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s activity substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and confined type of recreation; (3) has at least 5,000 acres or is of sufficient size to make practical its condition; and (4) may contain features of scientific, educational, scenic or historical value as well as ecologic and geologic interest.

Wilderness Study Area (WSA) – One of the areas selected by Congress from an inventory of unroaded and undeveloped national forest lands as having apparent high qualities for wilderness.

Wildfire – Any wildland fire that requires a suppression action. This includes all fires not meeting the requirements of a prescribed fire.

120 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Glossary

Wildlife Habitat – The sum total of environmental conditions of a specific place occupied by a wildlife species or a population of such species.

Wildlife Structure – A site-specific improvement of wildlife or fish habitat (i.e., spring development to provide water, brush piles for cover, or rock and log placement in a stream for fish cover and the creation of a pool).

Window – Windows are areas between avoidance or excluded areas. A window is an area in which a transmission or utility corridor can be placed.

Winter Range – The area occupied by an animal species during the winter.

Withdrawal – Withholding an area of Federal land from settlement, sale, location or entry under some or all of the general land laws for the purpose of limiting activities under those laws in order to maintain other public values in the area or reserving the area for a particular public purpose or program.

Work Center – A facility where crews assemble and are directed toward their various work assignments. A work center can be located at an administrative site. A work center normally will include storage and warehousing facilities and may include crew housing.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 121

Appendix A. Analysis Area Index

The following analysis areas were used with the FORPLAN model to account for inputs and allocation of costs and outputs. The analysis area reference numbers are used in Chapter 4.

Ref. No. NW Nonwilderness Areas Developed Recreation – Public 1 Developed recreation sites operated or owned by the Forest Service.

Developed Recreation – Private 2 Developed recreation sites constructed and operated on Federal land by the private sector (i.e. organization camps, summer homes, etc.).

3 Current Timber Seedlings and Saplings

4 Current Poletimber, <40 percent Slopes

5 Current Poletimber, >40 percent Slopes

6 Current Immature Sawtimber I, <40 percent Slopes

7 Current immature Sawtimber I, >40 percent Slopes

8 Current Immature Sawtimber II, <40 percent Slopes

9 Current Immature Sawtimber II, >40 percent Slopes

10 Current Sawtimber, <40 percent Slopes

11 Current Sawtimber, >40 percent Slopes

Timber Not Capable or Available 12 CA types O and R not included above in tentatively suitable classes.

13 High Chaparral: CA types – J, L, P, S, U, V.

14 Low Chaparral: CA type – T

Pinyon/juniper, Unsuitable: CA types – K0, K1, K3. Inoperable or not capable or not available 15 for firewood harvest.

Pinyon/juniper, Suitable, Accessible: CA types – K0, K1, K3. Suitable for firewood harvest 16 and currently roaded.

Pinyon/juniper, Suitable, Inaccessible: CA types – K0, K1, K3. Suitable for firewood harvest 17 but currently unroaded.

18 Juniper: CA types – F, G, H, I, K2, K4, M, N.

19 Desert Shrub and Grassland: CA types – A, B, C, D.

20 Riparian: CA types – X, Y, Z, WA.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 123 Appendix A. Analysis Area Index

Ref. No. W Wilderness Areas 21 Wilderness Timber: CA types – O, R. Wilderness High Chaparral: CA types – J, L, P, S, U, V. Includes 155 acres of Verde Wild and 22 Scenic River Area. 23 Wilderness Low Chaparral: CA type – T. 24 Wilderness Pinyon/Juniper: CA types – K0, K1, K3. Wilderness Juniper: CA types – F, G, H, I, K2, K4, M, N. Includes 653 acres of Verde Wild and 25 Scenic River Area. Wilderness Desert Shrub and Grassland: CA types – A, B, C, D. Includes 184 acres of Verde Wild 26 and Scenic River Area. Wilderness Riparian: CA types – X, Y, Z, WA. Includes 276 acres of Verde Wild and Scenic River 27 Area.

Ref. No. OL Overlay Areas 28 Dispersed Recreation For areas having dispersed recreation activities and outputs.

29 Wilderness Recreation For areas having wilderness recreation activities and outputs.

30 Verde Wild and Scenic River Area For wildlife project activity (C301) in this special area. 31 Tentatively Suitable Timber For activities and outputs occurring on tentatively suitable timber areas that are not dependent on timber treatments and activities. 32 Cooperative Law Enforcement (A206) 33 Highway Recreation Use (Q58) 34 Range Forestwide Activity (D202) 35 Timber Forestwide Activities (E403, E801, E802) 36 Mineral Forestwide Activity (G101) 37 Land Management Planning Forestwide Activity (J201) 38 Land Ownership Management Forestwide Activity (J202) 39 Roads Forestwide Activities (L201, L301) 40 Facilities Forestwide Activities (L202, L302) 41 Fire Forestwide Activities (P201, P301) 42 General Administration Forestwide Activity (T101)

124 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Appendix B. Description of Range Management Levels

Range Management Levels Level Identifierx Description Management excludes livestock grazing to protect resource values or eliminate conflicts with other A users. Only exterior boundary fences are maintained and/or replaced. No nonstructural investments are made. Management controls livestock numbers so that livestock use is within present grazing capacity. B Structural and nonstructural investments are made for maintenance or replacement of existing projects and facilities only. Management seeks full utilization of forage allocated to livestock. Cost-effective management systems C and techniques, including existing structural developments, are designed and applied to obtain relatively uniform livestock distribution and use of forage. Management seeks to increase production and utilization of forage allocated for livestock use consistent with maintaining the environment and providing for multiple use of the range. New D structural and nonstructural developments are created to help effect increases in production and utilization. Management seeks to realize maximum livestock production and utilization of forge allocated for livestock use consistent with maintaining the environment and providing for multiple use of the range. E Substantial increases in new structural and nonstructural developments are made to help achieve these objectives. Management seeks to increase production of forage consistent with enhancing the environment and providing for multiple use of the range. New nonstructural developments are created to help increase “4” production; Level C structural developments are applied to obtain relatively uniform livestock distribution and use of forage. Level D O&M and nonstructural investments are coupled with a Level C structural investment. Acres or allotments where corrective management has not yet been applied. The above categories are X generally unsatisfactory at this level. Once management action is implemented, the acres in this level are changed to one of the above levels, depending on the prescription intent.

See tabular description of all six Prescott National Forest range intensities on the following page.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 125 Appendix B. Description of Range Management Levels

Range Management Intensitiy Levels Defined Allotment Capacity Analysis, and Production Reanalysis Permitted Allotment Utilization or Plan Use Examination Studies Yr. Update Balance in Management Permit Percent per Interval (3- Interval Decade Level Administration Year Year Study) (Years) Reached * Administer trespass Boundary fence A. No livestock action; stewardship None None N/A maintenance only only

B. Some livestock; Annual 50% 15 25 4 Low invest

C. Extensive livestock Annual 70% 12 20 3 management

D. Intensive livestock Annual 100% 9 10 2 management

E. Maximum livestock Annual 100% 6 5 2 management

“4” Some livestock Annual 100% 9 10 2-1/2 composite level ***

126 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix B. Description of Range Management Levels

Range Management Intensitiy Levels Defined (continued) Nonstructural Budget Increase/ Livestock Structures To Improve And Decrease Factor From Management Attain Maintain Management Pre-Forest Plan Levels Percent Distribution Forage Level D2 D3 Distribution Guidelines Production A. No livestock * ** N/A N/A None

B. Some Decrease Decrease 10% - At Least 40% of Allotment Retreatment with livestock; 10% - T1 T1 full capacity boundary fence, FS dollars only Low Decrease 20% -T2 30% - range one division fence, first decade; investment 25% T2 - T3 35% T4 - T5 low cost water permittee may T5 developments retreat existing work

C. Extensive Constant Constant 40-65 Additional interior Retreatment of livestock fences 3 to 4 units, existing and/or management permanent water range pinyon/ developments juniper firewood treatment areas

D. Intensive Increase x Increase x 1.321 65-85 Additional interior Add new work, livestock 1.218 at T1: 1.629 at fences 5 or more mechanical, management T1: T2-T5 units, more water herbicide, general Increase x dev., higher forage 1.321 T2- costs/unit improvement T5 practices

E. Maximum Increase Increase x 1.321 80+ Complete all More intensive, livestock x1.321 T1: at T1: 2.152 T2 range facilities higher cost management Increase x 2.654 T3-T5 needed to attain practices 1.629 T2- high production T5 and utilization

“4” Some Same as D D Level D03 40-65 Same as C level Same as D level livestock level C Level D05 composite level***

* Proposed action has a mix of range intensity levels which balances use and capacity within 20 years. “A” level D2 O&M is 10 percent of current (C Level) D2 for administration, plus $24.75 per structure for average annual maintenance. ** “A” level D3 investment is based on a 50-year replacement interval at $1,650 per structure for boundary fences only. *** Level “4” is composite level developed from the following: D - O&M, D - D03, C - user cost, B - permitted use. NOTE: A structure = one-half mile of fence or a single water development

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 127

Appendix C. Description of Road and Trail Maintenance Levels

Roads

Level 1 This level is assigned to intermittent service roads during the time management direction requires that the road be closed or otherwise blocked to traffic. Basic custodial maintenance is performed to protect the road investment and to keep damage to adjacent resources to an acceptable level. Drainage facilities and runoff patterns are maintained. Roads being maintained at this level must be closed or blocked to traffic.

Level 2 This level is assigned where management direction requires that the road be open for limited passage of traffic. Traffic is normally minor, usually consisting of one or a combination of administrative, permitted, dispersed recreation or other specialized uses. Roads in this level are normally characterized as single lane, primitive-type facilities intended for use by high clearance vehicles. Passenger car traffic is not a consideration.

Level 3 This level is assigned where management direction requires the road to be open and maintained for safe travel by a prudent driver in a passenger car. Traffic volumes are minor to moderate; however, user comfort and convenience are not considered a priority. Roads in this level are characterized by low speed, single lane with turnouts and spot surfacing. Some roads may be fully surfaced with either native or processed material.

Level 4 This level is assigned where management direction requires the road to provide a moderate degree of user comfort and convenience at moderate travel speeds. Traffic volumes are normally sufficient to require a double lane aggregate surfaced road. Some roads may be single lane and some may be paved.

Level 5 This level is assigned where management direction requires the road to provide a high degree of user comfort and convenience. These roads are normally double lane, paved facilities. Some may be aggregate surfaced.

Trails

Level 1 For resource protection only. The trail is basically closed.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 129 Appendix C. Description of Road and Trail Maintenance Levels

Level 2 Opens the trail by removal of windfalls and high safety hazards and by signing of safety problems.

Level 3 Adds brushing out of overhanging and side vegetation, as well as tread repair of major eroded areas. The signs on this level include directional and destination guide signs.

Level 4 Adds major repair activities on all structures and treads and adds informational signs to the trail. This level provides access for most recreationists.

130 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Appendix D. Forest Plan Outputs Per Year – 1986-1995 Average

Average Annual Output Unit of Measure Allowable Sale Quantity MCF 227 Net Sawtimber (ASQ) MBF 933 Net Products (ASQ) MBF 267 Timber Stand Improvement Acres 0 Reforestation 1 Acres 40 Fuelwood MBF 3,401 Recreation Developed and Dispersed MRVDs 1,805 Wilderness MRVDs 28 Wildlife Consumptive Use MWFUDs 90 Nonconsumptive MWFUDs 90 Grazing Capacity MAUMs 171 Permitted Livestock Use MAUMs 185 Water Yield MAcFT 133 Trail Construction/Reconstruction Miles 25 Minerals Operating Plans 204 Activity Fuel Treatments Acres 1,095 Improved Watershed Condition MAcres 24.9

1 Reforestation includes both artificial and natural means. It is assumed that about 25 percent of the acres will be reforested by artificial means.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 131

Standard Vegetative Management Practices for Certain Composition, Structure and Function Attributes (use at the site/stand level).

Aspen and Grassland, Composition Engelman Spruce Subalpine Fir, White Fir, Blue Spruce, Limber Pine, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Western All Forest Types Meadow and (Forest Type*) Cottonwood Willow, Interior Ponderosa Pine, Pinyon/juniper, Arizona Cypress and Mesquite Live Oak Alpine DESIRED ONE-AGED, SINGLE-STORIED STAND DESIRED TWO- DESIRED UNEVEN-AGED, MULTI- AGED, STORIED STAND (More than two age classes) ANY DESIRED TWO-STORIED OPEN ONE-, TWO-, OR STRUCTURE (One-age class comprises >= 90% of total stand BA for STAND MULTI-STORIED most of the rotation. Age difference between oldest (Two age classes, STAND and youngest tree in a class is less than 20 % of the rotation) each > 10% BA most of rotation) Irregular Single-Tree No or Few Coppice Clearcutting Seed Tree Shelterwood Group Irregular Shelterwood Selection Intermediate Trees Regeneration Regeneration Regeneration Regeneration Selection Group Regeneration Regeneration Treatment Methods Method Method Method Method Regeneration Shelterwood FUNCTION Method Method (tree cover between (vegetative (no trees (some trees (some trees Method Regeneration (function for (function for stand formation regeneration function for function for function for (group size 2- Method (maintain continuous tree continuous ≤ and regeneration) seed/shelter seed only) seed/shelter) 4 acres) function) cover) tree cover) open) Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity

<=5% tree Preparatory Single Tree/ Group Seed Improvement Meadow Coppice Preparatory Preparatory cover post Seed (Individual- Selection Removal Liberation Maintenance Coppice harvest: Seed Tree) & creation VEGETATIVE W/Reserves Seed Group Seed Final Removal Patch cut Removal Selection Group Thinning Strip Seed Final Removal Selection Commercial & Strip cut 1-10% tree Final Removal w/Reserves Removal w/Reserves Noncommercial Stand cut cover post Final Removal Group harvest: w/Reserves Removal Mortality MANAGEMENT 6-10% tree Strip Removal Salvage cover post Final Coppice harvest: Removal Final Removal Regeneration Sanitation Patch cut Final Removal Method Salvage Final w/Reserves w/Reserves Cull Salvage PRACTICE Removal Stand cut Coppice Prescribed Fire w/Reserves w/Standards w/Reserves Cleaning (understory must regenerate Weeding vegetatively, suckers/sprouts *Eyre, F.N. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, D.C. 148 P.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 132

Appendix E. Wilderness — Granite Mountain Wilderness

Opportunity Class Allocations Wilderness Opportunity Class I = approximately 6,343 acres; Wilderness Opportunity Class II = approximately 1,162 acres; Wilderness Opportunity Class III = approximately 2,128 acres; Wilderness Opportunity Class IV = approximately 166 acres (see map for locations).

Opportunity Class I Guidelines Human impacts are minimal and generally not apparent to most visitors. Human impacts on vegetation would typically recover on an annual basis.

The visitor has an outstanding opportunity for isolation and solitude.

The visitor has an outstanding opportunity to travel across country utilizing a maximum degree of outdoor skills in an environment that offers a very high potential for challenge, self-reliance and risk.

Interparty contacts are very few or none.

Minimal direct onsite management of visitors.

Formal regulations, orders and/or permits are considered only when less restrictive regulations or programs have consistently failed to achieve desired goals and objectives.

Area has no system trails.

No facilities of any kind are provided or permitted.

Opportunity Class II Guidelines Human impacts are low, apparent to only a few visitors. Most human impacts on vegetation would typically recover on an annual basis.

The visitor has a high opportunity for exploring and experiencing isolation.

The visitor has a good opportunity for experiencing independence through the application of primitive recreation skills in an environment that offers a high potential for challenge and risk.

Interparty contacts are few.

Direct onsite management of visitors will involve minimum visitor contact.

Formal rules and regulations may be necessary to achieve desired goals and objectives.

Signs provide only the minimum information necessary to protect the wilderness resource.

Areas are mostly trailless; system trails may be constructed for resource protection and minimal user safety; trails are maintained and managed to accommodate light and infrequent travel.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 133 Appendix E • Wilderness – Granite Mountain Wilderness

Facilities are provided only in a few extreme cases for resource protection; natural materials dominate; nonnative materials may be used in a few cases.

Opportunity Class III Guidelines Human impacts are moderate and apparent to a moderate number of visitors.

Human impacts to vegetation in some areas often persist from year to year.

The visitor has a moderate opportunity for experiencing independence through the application of primitive recreation skills in an environment that normally offers a moderate opportunity for challenge and risk.

Contact with other visitors is moderately frequent.

Onsite management of visitors involves routine visitor contact.

Formal rules and regulations may be necessary to achieve desired goals and objectives.

A minimum number of signs are used to protect the wilderness resource and for administration.

System trails are frequent and may be constructed and maintained to accommodate moderate use for the majority of the use season.

A moderate number of facilities may be provided for the protection of the wilderness resource and the safety of the user. Natural materials dominate; nonnative materials may be used but are not evident to the average user.

Opportunity Class IV Guidelines Human impacts are generally high in areas along major entry points; impacts are readily apparent to most visitors.

Human impacts to vegetation persist from year to year and there may be moderate loss of vegetation and soil at some sites.

The visitor has the opportunity for a high degree of interaction with the natural environment, often with low to moderate challenge and risk.

Contact with other users is relatively high much of the time.

There is frequent opportunity for visitor contact with management personnel.

Formal rules and regulations may be necessary to achieve desired goals and objectives.

Signs are placed to aid in distributing and dispersing use.

System trails may be constructed; trails are maintained and managed to accommodate high traffic for the majority of the use season.

134 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix E. Wilderness – Granite Mountain Wilderness

Facilities and improvements may be provided for resource protection and user safety. Facilities emphasize the use of natural materials; nonnative materials are acceptable but harmonize with the natural environment.

Recreation Management Require all dogs to be on a leash.

Prohibit camping within 200 feet either side of Trail 261.

Prohibit campfires.

Prohibit new fixed anchor routes. Existing fixed anchors may be maintained. Prohibit the use of power drills and other electro-mechanical or pneumatic devices for maintaining fixed anchors.

The maximum size of a hiking party that may travel together or camp at one location is 15 persons.

The maximum size of an equestrian party that may travel together or camp at one location is 10 animals (including riding and pack animals).

Indicators and Standards

Limits of Acceptable Change Indicators and Standards for Granite Mountain Wilderness Standards WOS WOS WOS WOS Class Class Class Class I Indicator II III IV Sample Technique Resource Indicators 1. Condition and trend of high- 95%* 90%* 85%* 80%* Sampling directed by rec. use areas staff. Use Bradshaw Campsite Inventory form. By wilderness personnel.

*Percent of areas in good better condition. 2. Condition and trend of systems N/A 95%* 95%* 95%* Sampling directed by rec. trails staff . Use Bradshaw Route Inventory form. By wilderness personnel.

*Percent of miles of trails in fair to good condition. 3. Density of non-system trails 0 0 0.25 0.5 Sampling directed by rec. (linear miles per moving square staff. By wilderness mile) personnel.

4. Quality of spring water * * * * Sampling directed by forest hydrologist.

*Meets or exceeds standards and policies established by ADEQ in “Water Quality Standards for Waters of the State.”

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 135 Appendix E • Wilderness – Granite Mountain Wilderness

5. Condition and trend of riparian * * * * Sampling directed by vegetation health. district wildlife biologist.

*Stable or improving condition and trend. 6. Condition and trend of prehistoric 100%* 100%* 100%* 100%* Sampling directed by and historic cultural resources. forest archaeologist.

*Percent of sites eligible for National Register of Historic Places sampled that show no subsequent human impact (except for archeological research). Social Indicators

7. Parties * encountered per day** 1 5 15 25 Sampling directed by rec. staff. Based on observation and conversations of all wilderness personnel.

*A “party” is equivalent to one or more individuals per group. **90 percent of the days. 8. Maximum number of recreational 10 10 10 10 Sampling directed by rec. stock per party staff. Based on observations and conversations of all wilderness personnel.

9. Maximum number of people per 15 15 15 15 Sampling directed by rec. party encountered staff. Based on observation and conversations of all wilderness personnel.

10. Number of occupied backcountry 0 1 3 3 Sampling directed by rec. camps within 100 yards of selected staff. Based on camps observation and conversations of all wilderness personnel.

136 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Appendix F. Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines

The following standards and guidelines are from the “Record of Decision for Amendment of Forest Plans” (Southwestern Region, 6/96).

While standards and guidelines both specify the management bounds and constraints, standards contain no discretionary elements, whereas the guidelines may occasionally contain discretionary elements.

While there is an apparent conflict between these standards and guidelines and standards and guidelines in the text of the Forest Plan, these standards and guidelines will take precedence.

Standards Provide three levels of habitat management: protected, restricted and other forest and woodland types to achieve a diversity of habitat conditions across the landscape.

Protected areas include delineated protected activity centers; mixed conifer and pine/oak forests with slopes greater than 40 percent where timber harvest has not occurred in the last 20 years; and reserved lands, which include wilderness, research natural areas, wild and scenic rivers, and congressionally recognized wilderness study areas.

Restricted areas include all mixed-conifer, pine/oak and riparian forests outside of protected areas.

Other forest and woodland types include all ponderosa pine, spruce/fir, woodland and aspen forests outside protected and restricted areas.

Survey all potential spotted owl areas including protected, restricted and other forest and woodland types within an analysis area plus the area one-half mile beyond the perimeter of the proposed treatment area.

Establish a protected activity center at all Mexican spotted owl sites located during surveys and all management territories established since 1989.

Allow no timber harvest except for firewood and fire risk abatement in established protected activity centers. For protected activity centers destroyed by fire, windstorm or other natural disaster, salvage timber harvest or declassification may be allowed after evaluation on a case-by- case basis in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Allow no timber harvest except for fire risk abatement in mixed conifer and pine/oak forests on slopes greater than 40 percent where timber harvest has not occurred in the last 20 years.

Limit human activity in protected activity centers during the breeding season.

In protected and restricted areas, when activities conducted in conformance with these standards and guidelines may adversely affect other threatened, endangered or sensitive species or may conflict with other established recovery plans or conservation agreements, consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to resolve the conflict.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 137 Appendix F • Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines

Monitor changes in owl populations and habitat needed for delisting.

Guidelines

General Conduct surveys following Region 3 survey protocol.

Breeding season is March 1 to August 31.

Protected Areas

Protected Activity Centers Delineate an area of not less than 600 acres around the activity center using boundaries of known habitat polygons and/or topographic features. Written justification for boundary delineation should be provided.

The protected activity center boundary should enclose the best possible owl habitat configured in as compact a unit as possible, with the nest or activity center located near the center.

The activity center is defined as the nest site. In the absence of a known nest, the activity center should be defined as a roost grove commonly used during breeding. In the absence of a known nest or roost, the activity center should be defined as the best nest/roost habitat.

Protected activity center boundaries should not overlap.

Submit protected activity center maps and descriptions to the recovery unit working group for comment as soon as possible after completion of surveys.

Road or trail building in protected activity centers should be avoided but may be permitted on a case-by-case basis for pressing management reasons.

Generally allow continuation of the level of recreation activities that was occurring prior to listing.

Require bird guides to apply for and obtain a special use permit. A condition of the permit shall be that they obtain a subpermit under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service master endangered species permit. The permit should stipulate the sites, dates, number of visits and maximum group size permissible.

Harvest firewood when it can be done in such a way that effects on the owl are minimized. Manage within the following limitations to minimize effects on the owl:

• Retain key forest species such as oak. • Retain key habitat components such as snags and large downed logs. • Harvest conifers less than 9 inches in diameter only within those protected activity centers treated to abate fire risk as described below. Treat fuel accumulations to abate fire risk:

138 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix F. Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines

• Select for treatment 10 percent of the protected activity centers where nest sites are known in each recovery unit having high fire risk conditions. Also select another 10 percent of the protected activity centers where nest sites are known as a paired sample to serve as control areas. • Designate a 100-acre “no treatment” area around the known nest site of each selected protected activity center. Habitat in the “no treatment” area should be as similar as possible in structure and composition as that found in the activity center. • Use combinations of thinning trees less than 9 inches in diameter, mechanical fuel treatment and prescribed fire to abate fire risk in the remainder of the selected protected activity center outside the 100-acre “no treatment” area. • Retain woody debris larger than 12 inches in diameter, snags, clumps of broad-leafed woody vegetation and hardwood trees larger than 10 inches in diameter at the root collar. • Select and treat additional protected activity centers in 10 percent increments if monitoring of the initial sample shows there were no negative impacts or there were negative impacts that can be mitigated by modifying treatment methods. • Use light prescribed burns in nonselected protected activity centers on a case-by-case basis. Burning should avoid a 100-acre “no treatment” area around the activity center. Large woody debris, snags and clumps of broad-leafed woody vegetation should be retained and hardwood trees larger than 10 inches diameter at the root collar. • Pre- and post-treatment monitoring should be conducted in all protected activity centers treated for fire risk abatement (see monitoring guidelines).

Steep Slopes (Mixed conifer and pine oak forests outside protected activity centers with slopes greater than 40 percent that have not been logged within the past 20 years): No seasonal restrictions apply.

Treat fuel accumulations to abate fire risk:

• Use combinations of thinning trees less than 9 inches in diameter, mechanical fuel removal and prescribed fire. • Retain woody debris larger than 12 inches in diameter, snags, clumps of broad-leafed woody vegetation and hardwood trees larger than 10 inches in diameter at the root collar. • Pre- and post-treatment monitoring should occur within all steep slopes treated for fire risk abatement (see monitoring guidelines).

Reserved Lands (Wilderness, Research Natural Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and Congressionally Recognized Wilderness Study Areas): Allow prescribed fire where appropriate.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 139 Appendix F • Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines

Restricted Areas (Mixed conifer, pine/oak, and riparian forests)

Mixed Conifer and Pine/Oak Forests Manage to ensure a sustained level of owl nest/roost habitat well distributed across the landscape. Create replacement owl nest/roost habitat where appropriate while providing a diversity of stand conditions across the landscape to ensure habitat for a diversity of prey species.

The following table displays the minimum percentage of restricted area that should be managed to have nest/roost characteristics. The minimum mixed conifer restricted area includes 10 percent at 170 basal area and an additional amount of area at 150 basal area. The additional area of 150 basal area is +10 percent in BR-E and +15 percent in all other recovery units. The variables are for stand averages and are minimum threshold values and must be met simultaneously. In project design, no stands simultaneously meeting or exceeding the minimum threshold values should be reduced below the threshold values unless a districtwide or larger landscape analysis of restricted areas shows that there is a surplus of restricted area acres simultaneously meeting the threshold values. Management should be designed to create minimum threshold conditions on project areas where there is a deficit of stands simultaneously meeting minimum threshold conditions unless the districtwide or larger landscape analysis shows there is a surplus.

Minimum Percentage of Restricted Area That Shall Be Managed to Have Nest/Roost Characteristics MC MC MC Variable Pine-Oak All RU BR-E RU Other RU Restricted Area Percent 10% +10% +15% 10%

Stand Averages for: 170 150 150 150 Basal Area 20 20 20 20 18 inch + trees/ac NA NA NA 20 Oak basal area

Percent total existing stand density index

by size class: 10 10 10 15 12-18” 10 10 10 15 18-24” 10 10 10 15 24+”

Attempt to mimic natural disturbance patterns by incorporating natural variation, such as irregular tree spacing and various patch sizes, into management prescriptions.

Maintain all species of native trees in the landscape including early seral species.

Allow natural canopy gap processes to occur, thus producing horizontal variation in stand structure.

Emphasize uneven-aged management systems. However, both even-aged and uneven-aged systems may be used where appropriate to provide variation in existing stand structure and species diversity. Existing stand conditions will determine which system is appropriate.

Extend rotation ages for even-aged stands to greater than 200 years. Silvicultural prescriptions should explicitly state when vegetative manipulation will cease until rotation age is reached.

140 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix F. Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines

Save all trees greater than 24 inches DBH.

In pine/oak forests, retain existing large oaks and promote growth of additional large oaks. Encourage prescribed and prescribed natural fire to reduce hazardous fuel accumulation. Thinning from below may be desirable or necessary before burning to reduce ladder fuels and the risk of crown fire.

Retain substantive amounts of key habitat components:

• Snags 18 inches in diameter and larger • Down logs over 12 inches midpoint diameter • Hardwoods for retention, recruitment and replacement of large hardwoods

Riparian Areas Emphasize maintenance and restoration of healthy riparian ecosystems through conformance with Forest Plan riparian standards and guidelines. Management strategies should move degraded riparian vegetation toward good condition as soon as possible. Damage to riparian vegetation, streambanks and channels should be prevented.

Domestic Livestock Grazing Implement Forest Plan forage utilization standards and guidelines to maintain owl prey availability, maintain potential for beneficial fire while inhibiting potential destructive fire, maintain and restore riparian ecosystems, and promote development of owl habitat. Strive to attain good to excellent range conditions.

Old Growth Except where otherwise noted, implement forest plan old growth standards and guidelines to maintain and promote development of owl habitat.

Other Forest and Woodland Types Apply ecosystem approaches to manage for landscape diversity mimicking natural disturbance patterns, incorporating natural variation in stand conditions and retaining special features such as snags and large trees, utilizing appropriate fires and retention of existing old growth in accordance with Forest Plan old growth standards and guidelines.

Guidelines for Specific Recovery Units Colorado Plateau: No special additional guidelines apply.

Southern Rocky Mountain – New Mexico: No special additional guidelines apply.

Upper Gila Mountains: No special additional guidelines apply.

Basin and Range – West:

Emphasize restoration of lowland riparian habitats.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 141 Appendix F • Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines

Management activities necessary to implement the Mt. Graham red squirrel recovery plan which may conflict with standards and guidelines for Mexican spotted owl will take precedence and will be exempt from the conflicting Mexican spotted owl standards and guidelines.

Basin and Range – East:

Emphasize restoration of lowland riparian habitats.

Management activities necessary to implement the Sacramento Mountain thistle recovery plan which may conflict with standards and guidelines for Mexican spotted owl will take precedence and will be exempt from the conflicting Mexican spotted owl standards and guidelines.

Monitoring Guidelines

General: Monitoring and evaluation should be collaboratively planned and coordinated with involvement from each national forest, USFWS Ecological Services Field Office, USFWS Regional Office, USDA Forest Service Regional Office, Rocky Mountain Research Station, recovery team and recovery unit working groups.

Population monitoring should be a collaborative effort with participation of all appropriate resource agencies.

Habitat monitoring of gross habitat changes should be a collaborative effort of all appropriate resource agencies.

Habitat monitoring of treatment effects (pre- and post-treatment) should be done by the agency conducting the treatment.

Prepare an annual monitoring and evaluation report covering all levels of monitoring done in the previous year. The annual report should be forwarded to the Regional Forester with copies provided to the recovery unit working groups, USFWS Ecological Services field offices and the USFWS Regional Office.

Rangewide: Track gross changes in acres of owl habitat resulting from natural and human- caused disturbances. Acreage changes in vegetation composition, structure and density should be tracked, evaluated and reported. Remote sensing techniques should provide an adequate level of accuracy.

In protected and restricted areas where silvicultural or fire abatement treatments are planned, monitor treated stands pre- and post-treatment to determine changes and trajectories in fuel levels; snag basal areas; live tree basal areas; volume of down logs over 12 inches in diameter; and basal area of hardwood trees over 10 inches in diameter at the root crown.

142 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix F. Mexican Spotted Owl Standards and Guidelines

Upper Gila Mountain, Basin and Range East, and Basin and Range West Recovery Units: Assist the recovery team and recovery unit working groups to establish sampling units consisting of 19 to 39 square mile quadrants randomly allocated to habitat strata. Quadrants should be defined based on ecological boundaries such as ridge lines and watersheds. Quadrant boundaries should not traverse owl territories. Twenty percent of the quadrants will be replaced each year at random.

Using the sample quadrants, monitor the number of territorial individuals and pairs per quadrant; reproduction; apparent survival; recruitment; and age structure. Track population density both per quadrant and habitat stratum.

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Appendix G. Northern Goshawk Standards and Guidelines

The following standards and guidelines are from the “Record of Decision for Amendment of Forest Plans” (Southwestern Region, 6/96).

While standards and guidelines both specify the management bounds and constraints, standards contain no discretionary elements, whereas guidelines may occasionally contain discretionary elements.

While there is an apparent conflict between these standards and guidelines and standards and guidelines in the text of the Forest Plan, these standards and guidelines will take precedence.

Applicability The northern goshawk standards and guidelines apply to the forest and woodland communities described below that are outside of Mexican spotted owl protected and restricted areas. Within Mexican spotted owl protected and restricted areas, the Mexican spotted owl standards and guidelines take precedence over the northern goshawk standards and guidelines. One or the other set of standards and guidelines apply to all forest and woodland communities, but the Mexican spotted owl standards always take precedence in areas of overlap.

Standards Survey the management analysis area prior to habitat-modifying activities including one-half mile beyond the boundary.

Establish and delineate on a map a post-fledgling family area that includes six nesting areas per pair of nesting goshawks for known nest sites, old nest sites, areas where historical data indicates goshawks have nested there in the past, and where goshawks have been repeatedly sighted over a 2-year or greater time period but no nest sites have been located.

Manage for uneven-age stand conditions for live trees and retain live reserve trees, snags, downed logs and woody debris levels throughout woodland, ponderosa pine, mixed conifer and spruce fir forest cover types. Manage for old age trees such that as much old forest structure as possible is sustained over time across the landscape.

Sustain a mosaic of vegetation densities (overstory and understory), age classes, and species composition across the landscape.

Provide foods and cover for goshawk prey.

Limit human activity in nesting areas during the breeding season.

Manage the ground surface layer to maintain satisfactory soil conditions (i.e., to minimize soil compaction) and to maintain hydrologic and nutrient cycles.

When activities conducted in conformance with these standards and guidelines may adversely affect other threatened, endangered or sensitive species or may conflict with other established recovery plans or conservation agreements, consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to resolve the conflict.

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Within the ranges of the Kaibab pincushion cactus, Pediocactus paradinei, and the Arizona leatherflower, Clematis hirsutissima arizonica, management activities needed for the conservation of these two species that may conflict with northern goshawk standards and guidelines will be exempt from the conflicting northern goshawk standards and guidelines until conservation strategies or recovery plans (if listed) are developed for the two species.

Guidelines

General Emphasize maintenance and restoration of healthy riparian ecosystems through conformance with Forest Plan riparian standards and guidelines. Management strategies should restore degraded riparian areas to good condition as soon as possible. Damage to riparian vegetation, streambanks and channels should be prevented.

Refer to USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-217 entitled “Management Recommendations for the Northern Goshawk in the Southwestern United States” for scientific information on goshawk ecology and management that provides the basis for the management guidelines. Supplemental information on goshawk ecology and management may be found in “The Northern Goshawk: Ecology and Management” published by the Cooper Ornithological Society as Studies in Avian Biology No. 16. In woodland forest cover types, use empirical data to determine desired habitat conditions.

Inventory Use the R3 survey protocol to get complete coverage of the management analysis area (Kennedy and Stahlecker 1993, as modified by Joy, Reynolds and Leslie 1994). Management analysis areas should be entire ecosystem management areas if possible.

Complete at least 1 year of survey, but 2 years of survey should be done to verify questionable sightings, unconfirmed nest sites, etc. If nesting goshawks are found during the first year of inventory, a second year of inventory is not needed in that territory.

For areas where complete inventories cannot be done, use aerial photographs to locate vegetative structural stages (VSS) 4-6 within the project area and inventory just those sites for goshawk nest areas using R3 inventory protocol. All uninventoried areas (VSS 1-3) will be managed to post- fledgling family area (PFA) specifications while in that stage. If, while using this inventory option, evidence suggests goshawks are present (such as finding plucking perches or molted goshawk feathers), conduct a complete inventory as outlined above.

If forests have goshawks commonly nesting in stands classified as VSS 1-3, use the complete inventory methods for those areas. There may be situations where an area is classified as a VSS 3, based on the predominant VSS class, but in actuality a combination of VSS 4 and 5 predominate the area. For those situations, use the complete inventory methods.

146 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix G. Northern Goshawk Standards and Guidelines

Home Range Establishment Post-fledgling family areas (PFA) will be approximately 600 acres in size. Post-fledgling family areas will include the nest sites and consist of the habitat most likely to be used by the fledglings during their early development.

Establish a minimum of three nest areas and three replacement nest areas per post-fledgling family area. The nest areas and replacement nest areas should be approximately 30 acres in size. A minimum total of 180 acres of nest areas should be identified within each post-fledgling family area.

Nest site selection will be based first on using active nest sites followed by the most recently used historical nest areas. When possible, all historical nest areas should be maintained.

Manage for nest replacement sites to attain sufficient quality and size to replace the three suitable nest sites.

Management Scale Distribution of habitat structures (tree size and age classes, tree groups of different densities, snags, dead and down woody material, etc.) should be evaluated at the ecosystem management area level, at the mid-scale such as drainage, and at the small scale of site. Where VSS 6 is deficit within the ecosystem management area, all VSS 6 will be maintained regardless of location. However, over time the intent is to sustain a relatively even distribution (again based on site quality) of VSS 6 across the ecosystem management area.

Vegetation Management

Landscapes Outside Goshawk Post-fledgling Family Areas

General The distribution of vegetation structural stages for ponderosa pine, mixed conifer and spruce/fir forests is 10 percent grass/forb/shrub (VSS 1), 10 percent seedling sapling (VSS 2), 20 percent young forest (VSS 3), 20 percent mid-aged forest (VSS 4), 20 percent mature forest (VSS 5), 20 percent old forest (VSS 6). NOTE: The specified percentages are a guide and actual percentages are expected to vary + or - up to 3 percent.

The distribution of VSS, tree density and tree age are a product of site quality in the ecosystem management area. Use site quality to guide in the distribution of VSS, tree density and tree ages. Use site quality to identify and manage dispersal PFA and nest habitat at 2 to 2.5 mile spacing across the landscape.

Snags are 18" or larger DBH and 30 feet or larger in height, downed logs are 12" in diameter and at least 8 feet long, woody debris is 3" or larger on the forest floor and canopy cover is measured with vertical crown projection on average across the landscape.

The order of preferred treatment for woody debris is: (1) prescribed burning; (2) lopping and scattering; (3) hand piling or machine grapple piling; and (4) dozer piling.

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Canopy Cover Canopy cover guidelines apply only to mid-aged to old forest structural stages (VSS 4, VSS 5 and VSS 6) and not to grass/forb/shrub to young forest structural stages (VSS 1, VSS 2 and VSS 3).

Spruce/Fir Canopy cover for mid-aged forest (VSS 4) should average one-third 60 percent and two-thirds 40 percent, mature forest (VSS 5) should average 60+ percent, and old forest (VSS 6) should average 60+ percent.

Maximum opening size is 1 acre with a maximum width of 125 feet.

Provide two groups of reserve trees per acre with six trees per group when opening size exceeds 0.5.

Leave at least 3 snags, 5 downed logs and 10-15 tons of woody debris per acre.

Mixed Conifer Canopy cover for mid-aged forest (VSS 4) should average one-third 60+ percent and two-thirds 40+ percent, mature forest (VSS 5) should average 50+ percent, and old forest (VSS 6) should average 60+ percent.

Maximum opening size is up to 4 acres with a maximum width of up to 200 feet.

Retain one group of reserve trees per acre of 3 to 5 trees per group for openings greater than 1 acre in size.

Leave at least 3 snags, 5 downed logs, and 10-15 tons of woody debris per acre.

Ponderosa Pine Canopy cover for mid-aged forest (VSS 4) should average 40+ percent, mature forest (VSS 5) should average 40+ percent, and old forest (VSS 6) should average 40+ percent.

Opening size is up to 4 acres with a maximum width of up to 200 feet.

One group of reserve trees, 3 to 5 trees per group, will be left if the opening is greater than an acre in size.

Leave at least 2 snags per acre, 3 downed logs per acre, and 5-7 tons of woody debris per acre.

Woodland Manage for uneven-age conditions to sustain a mosaic of vegetation densities (overstory and understory), age classes, and species composition well distributed across the landscape.

Provide for reserve trees, snags and down woody debris.

148 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix G. Northern Goshawk Standards and Guidelines

Within Post-fledgling Family Areas

General Provide for a healthy sustainable forest environment for the post-fledgling family needs of goshawks. The principle difference between “within the post-fledgling family area” and “outside the post-fledgling family area” is the higher canopy cover within the post-fledgling family area and smaller opening size within the post-fledgling family area. Vegetative structural stage distribution and structural conditions are the same within and outside the post-fledgling family area.

Spruce/Fir Canopy cover for mid-aged forest (VSS 4) should average 60+ percent and for mature (VSS 5) and old forest (VSS 6) should average 70+ percent.

Mixed Conifer Canopy cover for mid-aged (VSS 4) to old forest (VSS 6) should average 60+ percent.

Ponderosa Pine Canopy cover for mid-aged forest (VSS 4) should average one-third 60+ percent and two-thirds 50+ percent. Mature (VSS5) and old forest (VSS 6) should average 50+ percent.

Woodland Maintain existing canopy cover levels.

Within Nesting Areas

General Provide unique nesting habitat conditions for goshawks. Important features include trees of mature to old age with high canopy cover.

The structure of the vegetation within nest areas is associated with the forest type, tree age, size and density and the developmental history of the stand. Table 5 of RM-217 presents attributes required for goshawks on locations with “low” and “high” site productivity.

Preferred treatments to maintain the desired structure are to thin from below with nonuniform spacing and use of hand tools and fire to reduce fuel loads. Lopping and scattering of thinning debris is preferred if prescribed fire cannot be used. Piling of debris should be limited. When necessary, hand piling should be used to minimize compaction within piles and to minimize displacement and destruction of the forest floor and the herbaceous layer. Do not grapple or dozer pile debris. Manage road densities at the lowest level possible to minimize disturbance in the nest area. Use small, permanent skid trails in lieu of roads for timber harvesting.

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Spruce/Fir, Mixed Conifer and Ponderosa Pine Cover Types The nesting area contains only mature to old forest (VSS 5 and 6) having a canopy cover (measured vertically) between 50-70 percent with mid-aged VSS 6 trees 200-300 years old. Nonuniform spacing of trees and clumpiness is desirable.

Woodland Maintain existing canopy cover levels.

Human Disturbance Limit human activities in or near nest sites and post-fledgling family areas during the breeding season so that goshawk reproductive success is not affected by human activities.

The breeding season extends from March 1 through September 30.

Low-intensity ground fires are allowed at any time in all forested cover types, but high-intensity crown fires are not acceptable in the post-fledgling family area or nest areas. Avoid burning the entire home range of a goshawk pair in a single year. For fires planned in the occupied nest area, a fire management plan should be prepared. The fire management plan should minimize the risk of goshawk abandonment while low intensity ground fire burns in the nesting area. Prescribed fire within nesting areas should be planned to move with prevailing winds away from the nest tree to minimize smoke and risk of crown fire developing and driving the adults off or consuming the nest tree.

Ground Surface Layer (All forested cover types) Manage road densities at the lowest level possible. Where timber harvesting has been prescribed to achieve desired forest condition, use small skid trails in lieu of roads.

Piling of debris should be limited. When necessary, hand or grapple piling should be used to minimize soil compaction within piles and to minimize forest floor and herbaceous layer displacement and destruction.

Limit dozer use for piling or scattering of logging debris so that the forest floor and herbaceous layer is not displaced or destroyed.

150 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Appendix H. Old Growth Standards and Guidelines

The following standards and guidelines are from the “Record of Decision for Amendment of Forest Plans” (Southwestern Region, 6/96).

While standards and guidelines both specify the management bounds and constraints, standards contain no discretionary elements, whereas guidelines may occasionally contain discretionary elements.

Whereas there is an apparent conflict between these standards and guidelines and standards and guidelines in the text of the Forest Plan, these standards and guidelines will take precedence.

Standards Until the Forest Plan is revised, allocate no less than 20 percent of each forested ecosystem management area to old growth as depicted in the following table.

Allocations will consist of landscape percentages meeting old growth conditions and not specific acres.

In the long term, manage old growth in patterns that provide for a flow of functions and interactions at multiple scales across the landscape through time.

Guidelines All analyses should be at multiple scales—one scale above and one scale below the ecosystem management areas.

The amount of old growth that can be provided and maintained will be evaluated at the ecosystem management area level and be based on forest type, site capability and disturbance regimes.

Strive to create or sustain as much old growth compositional, structural and functional flow as possible over time at multiple area scales.

Seek to develop or retain old growth function on at least 20 percent of the naturally forested area by forest type in any landscape.

Use information about pre-European settlement conditions at the appropriate scales when considering the importance of various factors.

Consider the effects of spatial arrangement on old growth function, from groups to landscapes, including de facto allocations to old growth such as goshawk nest sites, Mexican spotted owl protected activity centers, sites protected for species behavior associated with old growth, wilderness, research natural areas, and other forest structures managed for old growth function.

In allocating old growth and making decisions about old growth management, use appropriate information about the relative risks to sustaining old growth function at the appropriate scales, due to natural and human-caused events.

Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 151 Appendix H • Old Growth Standards and Guidelines

Use quantitative models at the appropriate scales when considering the importance of various factors. These models may include, but are not limited to, Forest Vegetation Simulator, BEHAVE and FARSITE.

Forested sites should meet or exceed the structural attributes to be considered old growth in the five primary forest cover types in the Southwest as depicted in the following table.

Minimum Criteria for the Structural Attributes Used to Determine Old Growth Interior Mixed- Engelmann Forest Cover Pinyon/ Ponderosa Aspen Species Spruce and Type, Name Juniper Pine Group Subalpine Fir Forest Cover Type, 210, 211, 216, 239 237 217 206, 209 SAF Code 219 Site Capability 50 Douglas-Fir Potential Break 50 Engelmann 55 Minor Edminster and Between Low and High Spruce Alexander Jump Site Site Low High Low High All Low High Low High Live Trees in Main

Canopy

Trees/Acre 12 30 20 20 20 12 16 20 30

DBH/DRC 9” 12” 14” 18” 14” 18” 20” 10” 14”

Age (Years) 140*/ 140*/ 150 200 180 180 100 150 150 170* 170**

Variation in Tree ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND Diameters Dead Trees

Standing: Trees/Acre 0.5* 1 1 1 ND 2.5 2.5 3 4 Size DBH/DRC 9” 10” 14” 14” 10” 14” 16” 12” 16” Height (Feet) 8’ 10’ 15’ 25’ ND 20’ 25’ 20’ 30’

Down: Pieces/Acre 2 2** 2 2 ND 4 4 5 5 Size (Diameter) 9” 10” 12” 12” ND 12” 12” 12” 12” Length (Feet) 8’ 10’ 15’ 15’ ND 16’ 16’ 16’ 16’

Tree Decadence ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND Trees per Acre Number of Tree SS/MS SS/MS SS/MS SS/MS SS SS/MS SS/MS SS/MS SS/MS Canopies Total BA 6 24 70 90 ND 80 100 120 140 Square Feet per Acre Total Canopy Cover 20 35 40 50 50 50 60 60 70 Percent

152 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan Appendix G. Northern Goshawk Standards and Guidelines

Pinyon-Pine: *Dead limbs help make up dead material deficit. **Unless removed for firewood or fire burning activities. Spruce-Fir: *In mixed corkbark fir and Engelmann spruce stands where Engelmann spruce is less than 50 percent composition in the stand. **In mixed corkbark fir and Engelmann spruce stands where Engelmann spruce is 50 percent or more composition in the stand. ND is not determined; SS is single storied; and MS is multistoried.

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Appendix I. Grazing Management Standards and Guidelines

The following standards and guidelines are from the “Record of Decision for Amendment of Forest Plans” (Southwestern Region, 6/96).

While standards and guidelines both specify the management bounds and constraints, standards contain no discretionary elements, whereas guidelines may occasionally contain discretionary elements.

While there is an apparent conflict between these standards and guidelines and standards and guidelines in the text of the Forest Plan, these standards and guidelines will take precedence.

Standards Forage use by grazing ungulates will be maintained at or above a condition that assures recovery and continued existence of threatened and endangered species.

Guidelines Identify key ungulate forage monitoring areas. These key areas will normally be one-quarter to 1 mile from water, located on productive soils on level to intermediate slopes, and be readily accessible for grazing. Size of the key forage monitoring areas could be 20 to 500 acres. In some situations such as high mountain meadows with perennial streams, key areas may be closer than one-quarter mile from water and less than 20 acres. Within key forage monitoring areas, select appropriate key species to monitor average allowable use.

In consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, develop site-specific forage use levels. In the event that site-specific information is not available, average key species forage utilization in key forage monitoring areas by domestic livestock and wildlife should not exceed levels in the following table of this appendix during the forage growing season.

The following table is based on composition and climatic conditions typical of sites below the Mogollon Rim. On sites with higher precipitation and vegetation similar to sites above the Mogollon Rim, allowable use for ranges in poor to excellent condition under deferment or rest strategies may be increased by 5 percent. The guidelines established in the following table are applicable only during the growing season for the identified key species within key areas. Allowable use for key forage species during the dormant season is not covered in this table. These guidelines are to be applied in the absence of more specific guidelines currently established through site-specific NEPA analysis for individual allotments.

Guidelines for allowable use for specific allotment(s) management or for grazing strategies not covered in the following table will vary on a site-specific basis when determined through the integrated resource management (IRM) process.

Allowable use guidelines may be adjusted through the land management planning revision or amendment process. Guidelines established through this process to meet specific ecosystem objectives will also employ the key species and key area concept and will be monitored in this manner.

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Allowable Use Guide (Percent) by Range Condition and Management Strategy* Continuous Defer Defer Defer Rest 1 Rest 1 Rest 2 Rest 2 Range Season- 1 1 2 Year Year Years Years Condition** long Year Year Years in 2 in 3 in 3 in 3 Use in 2 in 3 in 3 Very Poor 0 10 5 15 15 10 20 25

Poor 10 20 15 20 20 15 30 35

Fair 20 25 20 30 30 25 40 45

Good 30 35 35 35 35 35 45 50

Excellent 30 35 35 35 35 35 45 50

*Site-specific data may show that the numbers in this table are substantially high or low. These numbers are purposefully conservative to ensure protection in the event that site-specific data is not available. **Range condition as evaluated and ranked by the Forest Service is a subjective expression of the status or health of the vegetation and soil relative to their combined potential to produce a sound and stable biotic community. Soundness and stability are evaluated relative to a standard that encompasses the composition, density and vigor of the vegetation and physical characteristics of the soil.

156 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

Appendix J. Grapevine Botanical Area

Standards and Guidelines for Grapevine Botanical Area No permitted livestock shall graze the Upper Grapevine Unit associated with the botanical area.

No permitted livestock shall graze the Bootlegger Unit associated with the botanical area.

No permitted livestock shall trail or drive through the botanical area.

Permitted livestock shall be allowed to trail through the Bootlegger-Grapevine Unit on established roads to Road 87A to the Coyote Springs Trail to the Mesa Unit with no drifting allowed.

No motorized use of Trails 4, 304 and 9432 shall occur.

No mountain bike use of Trails 4, 304, and 9432 shall occur.

Day use only shall occur within the botanical area.

Fire should be managed through management-ignited prescribed burns and prescribed natural fires within the botanical area.

See map for boundaries.

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Appendix K. Prescott Basin Area

See map for boundaries.

158 Prescott National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan