Appendix a Regional Summaries
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Appendix A Regional Summaries Appendix A Table of Contents Introduction A-1 North Puget Sound Regional Summary A-5 South Puget Sound Regional Summary A-31 West Puget Sound Regional Summary A-57 Islands Regional Summary A-83 Olympic Coast Regional Summary A-95 Southwest Washington Regional Summary A-119 Lower Columbia River Regional Summary A-145 Middle Columbia River Regional Summary A-171 Upper Columbia – Downstream of Grand Coulee Regional Summary A-197 Upper Columbia – Upstream of Grand Coulee Regional Summary A-223 Snake River Regional Summary A-249 Columbia Basin Regional Summary A-269 Draft EIS A-iii Table of Contents Appendix A INTRODUCTION The geographic area of the proposed action and alternatives stretches across the entire State of Washington and includes all non-Federal and non-Tribal forestlands of the State (see Figure 3-1 in Chapter 3). These are the covered lands or the lands subject to State Forest Practices Rules. The State has been divided into 12 analysis regions (see Figure 3-1 in Chapter 3), which are used in Chapters 3 and 4 of this EIS to help describe the affected environment and environmental effects of the proposed action and alternatives. The regions were defined based on three factors: the distribution of threatened and endangered salmonids, Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) boundaries, and physiographic regions. The 12 analysis regions consist of 7 western Washington regions and 5 in eastern Washington as follows: Western Washington Analysis Regions • North Puget Sound • South Puget Sound • West Puget Sound • Islands • Olympic Coast • Southwest • Lower Columbia Eastern Washington Analysis Regions • Middle Columbia • Upper Columbia – Downstream of Grand Coulee Dam • Upper Columbia – Upstream of Grand Coulee Dam • Snake River • Columbia Basin Detailed summary descriptions were written for each of the 12 regions, providing baseline information for each area. The summaries include detailed descriptions of land ownership and use, as well as physical and biological factors that were developed for each of the analysis regions containing a substantial area of covered lands. Each Regional Summary includes seven sections: physical description, landownership and use, forestland ownership and management, habitat limiting factors, habitat trends, fish resources, and amphibians. Each of these sections is described below along with the sources of information used in each one. The Regional Summaries were developed by a number of individuals representing the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Tetra Tech FW, Inc. 1.0 Physical Description The physical description section describes the location, geology, and hydrology of the region. Geology information was obtained from The Geology of Washington (Lasmanis 1991) and Washington DNR watershed analyses. Hydrology information was obtained from the Washington State Conservation Commission Habitat limiting Factors and Reconnaissance Reports and The Geology of Washington (Lasmanis 1991). Draft EIS A-1 Introduction Appendix A 2.0 Landownership and Use The land ownership and use section contains tables showing land ownership parameters (Federal, State, etc.) by WRIA and land cover and use (forestland, shrubland, etc.) for each region. The source for the data in the tables includes: the United States Geological Survey /U.S. Environmental Protection Act (EPA) National Land Cover Data GIS layer, Washington DNR Major Public Lands GIS layer, and Forest Service Northwest Forest Plan GIS layer. 3.0 Forestland Ownership and Management The forestland ownership and management section provides percentages of forestland ownership types including a percent of forestlands owned by small 20-acre exempt forest landowners. The section contains two tables, one including ownership and management of forestlands, and another including stream miles in each region by ownership category. The information for this section came from DNR major Public Lands, Forest Service Northwest Forest Plan, United States Geological Survey/EPA National Land Cover Data, and Washington DNR stream hydrography GIS layers 4.0 Habitat Limiting Factors Section 4.0 (Habitat Limiting Factors) was primarily written by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists and discusses habitat limiting factors for salmon and trout, as well as for amphibians where relevant. The primary limiting factors are described for the region as a whole, and by major watershed or WRIA where data are available. Habitat limiting factors are specifically described for: (1) sedimentation and mass wasting, (2) riparian, floodplain and wetland conditions, (3) channel and hydrology conditions, (4) estuarine and nearshore habitat, (5) large woody debris, (6) fish passage, and (7) water quality issues. Information provided on limiting factors pertains not only to forest practices, but also includes other regional landscape conditions and uses (i.e., hydropower, agriculture, irrigation, development, and grazing). Major sources of information include, but are not limited to, Limiting Factors Analysis (Washington State Conservation Commission), Washington Department of Ecology’s 303(d) lists, Watershed Analysis, Federal recovery plans, and subbasin planning documents. 5.0 Habitat Trends Section 5.0 (Habitat Trends) was written by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists and presents trends in habitat changes based primarily on land use practices, with an emphasis on forest practices. As with Section 4.0, primary sources of information include, but are not limited to, Limiting Factors Analysis (Washington State Conservation Commission), Washington Department of Ecology’s 303(d) lists, Watershed Analysis, Federal recovery plans, and subbasin planning documents. 6.0 Fish Resources Section 6.0 (Fish Resources) was written by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists and describes the status and distribution of fish species. Fish distribution is provided for all fish species by WRIA. Federal and State status is provided for salmonid species, as well as other fish species. Sources of information include Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fish distribution databases and SaSI, Wydoski and Whitney’s Inland Fishes of Washington (2003), Limiting Factors Reports (Washington State Conservation Commission), and Federal Recovery Plans. Introduction A-2 Draft EIS Appendix A 7.0 Amphibians Section 7.0 (Amphibians) was written by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists and describes presence and status of any of the seven species of amphibians covered by the proposed HCP. This section also describes habitat limiting factors affecting these amphibian species. Sources of information include various scientific publications, as well as research and surveys conducted by professional biologists. Draft EIS A-3 Introduction Appendix A NORTH PUGET SOUND REGIONAL SUMMARY Draft EIS A-5 North Puget Sound Regional Summary Appendix A NORTH PUGET SOUND REGIONAL SUMMARY 1.0 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION The North Puget Sound region includes five WRIAs (01, 03, 04, 05, and 07). Major stream systems include the Nooksack, Skagit, Sauk, Stillaguamish and Snohomish River Basins, as well as other smaller tributaries. Portions of Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish and King Counties are contained within the North Puget Sound region. A map showing the WRIAs of the North Puget Sound region is provided in Figure 1. The North Puget Sound region extends from the Puget Lowland physiographic province in the west to the Northern Cascades physiographic province in the east (Lasmanis 1991). Elevations range from sea level to over 10,000 feet atop Mount Baker. General Geology The North Puget Sound region is characterized by high mountains in the Cascade Range, wide alluvial river valleys draining east to Puget Sound, and high steep foothills between these river valleys. Geologically recent continental and alpine glaciations have left deep deposits of mineral sediment ranging from silt to rounded gravel, cobbles and boulders. The surface material in many of these foothills is composed of this poorly consolidated sediment, and the river valley substrate represents the alluvial sorting of this material. Geologically, contemporary eruptions from two volcanoes in the Cascade Range have deposited large volumes of mostly fine sediment in the Nooksack, Sauk and lower Skagit Rivers. Information concerning erosion processes in the North Puget planning region has been extracted from the following watershed analyses: Skookum (Resource Investments Inc. 1993); Deer Creek (Collins et al. 1994); Hansen (WDNR 1995a); Jordan-Boulder (WDNR 1995b); Hazel (WDNR 1996a); Lake Whatcom (WDNR 1997a). Mass wasting is the dominant erosion process in the North Puget region. Results of watershed analyses indicate debris avalanches, debris flows, and debris torrents are the most common landslide types. Debris avalanches comprised 72 percent of all landslides inventoried as part of the Jordan-Boulder watershed analysis (WRIA 05). In the Hansen watershed administrative unit (WAU) (WRIA 03), almost 95 percent of mapped landslides were classified as either debris avalanches or debris torrents. Most debris avalanches initiate in convergent topography such as bedrock hollows and inner gorges. Debris avalanches are controlled primarily by hillslope gradient, soil or colluvium thickness, rooting strength, and soil saturation and are less influenced by rock lithology (Collins et al. 1994). In the Jordan-Boulder WAU, 62 percent and 27 percent of identified