DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT The Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project T15N-R10W Sec. 6; T15N-R11W Sec. 1-12; T15N-R12W Sec. 1-12; T16N-R10W Sec. 30,31; T16N-R11W Sec. 1-36; T16N-R12W Sec. 1-36; T16N-R13W Sec. 1,12,13,14,24,25,36; T17N-R11W Sec. 7,15-22,26-35; T17N-R12W Sec. 10-12,13-16,20-36, and T17N-R13W Sec. 36 Stone and Baxter Counties, AR Region 8, Forest Service United States Department of Agriculture Ozark-St. Francis National Forests Sylamore Ranger District 1001 East Main Mountain View, AR 72560 April 2013 Responsible Official: For Information Contact: James R. McCoy Jan Franks District Ranger District National Environmental Policy Act Sylamore-St. Francis Ranger Districts Coordinator (870) 269-3228 Sylamore-St. Francis Ranger Districts (870) 269-3228 ext 3234 DRAFT The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326- W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. DRAFT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 Desired Conditions 3 Existing Conditions 4 Purpose and Need for Action 5 ALTERNATIVES 8 Public Involvement 8 Summary of Alternatives 10 Alternative 1: No Action 10 Alternative 2: Proposed Action 10 Alternative 3: Reduced Herbicide 11 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Further Development 23 Adaptive Management 26 Decision Framework 27 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES 28 Forest Database 28 Effects Analysis Area and Timeframe 28 Documents Incorporated by Reference 28 Management Areas 29 Congressionally Designated Areas 30 Past, Present and Reasonably Foreseeable Actions 31 Forest Service Actions 31 Actions on Private Land 32 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS 34 Soil 34 Water Quality 40 Air Quality 55 Climate Change 65 BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS 67 Major Forest Communities, Rare Communities and Non-native 67 Invasive Plant Species Major Forest Communities 67 Rare Communities 75 Non-native Invasive Plant Communities 82 Threatened, Endangered and Regional Forester’s Sensitive Listed 92 Species Other Terrestrial and Aquatic Species 94 Management Indicator Species 94 Insect Prey of Indiana Bats 98 Neotropical Migratory Birds 100 Aquatic Communities 103 Environmental Assessment The Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project DRAFT TABLE OF CONTENTS SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS 105 Human Health and Safety 105 Heritage Resources 110 Scenic Values and Recreation 115 Transportation System 127 Economics and Local Communities 130 Civil Rights and Environmental Justice 133 Irreversible or Irretrievable Commitment of Resources 134 COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION 135 Interdisciplinary Team Members 135 Contributing Forest Service Specialists 135 Consulting Forest Service Specialists 136 Scoping Lists 136 Native American Tribes 136 Government Agencies 137 Organizations 138 Individuals on the District’s Mailing List 139 Private Landowners and Other Individuals 140 APPENDICES A. Detailed Descriptions of Alternatives 2 and 3 B. Maps not Provided in the Body of the Environmental Assessment C. Biological Evaluation and Regional Forester’s Sensitive Listed Species Assessment D. Soil E. 2007 Ozark-St. Francis National Forests Herbicide Monitoring Plan F. Key Regulated Pollutants and Their Significance in Smoke G. Insects and Diseases Affecting Hardwood and Pine Species H. USDA Forest Service National Forest System Data Recording Protocols and Requirements for Invasive Species Survey, Inventory and Treatment (2012) I. Ozark-St. Francis National Forests Threat Decision Matrix for Non-native Plant Species J. Procedures for Inadvertent Discovery of Human Remains and Burials K. Scenic Integrity Level Descriptions and Scenic Stability Definitions L. Fire Regime Condition Class M. Cited Literature and References LIST OF TABLES 1. Conditions for Treatments 12 2. Adaptive management monitoring summary 17 3. Comparison of activities proposed for each developed alternative 20 4. Management Areas within the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project area 30 boundary Environmental Assessment The Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project DRAFT TABLE OF CONTENTS 5. Soil map unit characteristics within the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration 35 Project area 6. 6th Level Watersheds Contained in the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration 40 Project area 7. Sources of regional haze pollutants 58 8. V-Smoke modeling results for the 22 prescribed burn units based on worst- 62 case firing and meteorological conditions 9. Major forest communities within the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration 67 Project area 10. Approximate age class distribution of forested acres within the Indiana Bat 68 Habitat Restoration Project area based on existing available data 11. Approximate acres of high, medium and low quality glade within the 77 Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project area based on survey by The Nature Conservancy 12. Non-native invasive plant species from the regional forester’s list that are 84 found in arkansas or that pose a threat to arkansas ecosystems 13. Estimation of acres with non-native invasive plant infestations within the 89 Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project area 14. Determination of effect for federally listed threatened or endangered species 92 known to occur or with potential to occur on the Sylamore Ranger District 15. Determination of impact for Regional Forester’s (R8) sensitive listed 92 species known to occur or with potential to occur on the Sylamore Ranger District 16. Data from Bird Point plots within the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration 101 Project area from 1996-2011 17. Prehistoric property types within the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project 111 area by landtype association 18. Miles of authorized road by jurisdiction in the analysis area 127 19. Miles of authorized road by Maintenance Level in the analysis area 127 20. Miles of authorized roads maintained within the analysis area over a 3 year 128 period LIST OF FIGURES 1: Vicinity of the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project area 6 2: Estimated percent canopy cover within the Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration 7 Project area 3: Water Quality and Hydrology Effects Analysis Area 41 4: Arkansas 8 hour Ozone Maintenance Areas (1997 standard) 56 5: Areas that qualify as glade ecological classification within the Indiana Bat 78 Habitat Restoration Project area 6: Fire regime condition class data shows over 75% of the landscape departs 118 from historic fire regimes40 Environmental Assessment The Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project DRAFT TABLE OF CONTENTS 7: A map of project area sce58nic integrity objectives shows that much of the 121 project area has a “high” scenic integrity objective Environmental Assessment The Indiana Bat Habitat Restoration Project INTRODUCTION What are we proposing? The Sylamore Ranger District of the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests is proposing to treat up to 67,151 acres of National Forest Service land over a period of 12 years to create and maintain canopy closure and other forest conditions that will support the recovery of endangered Indiana bat populations. We are also proposing to gate known Indiana bat winter roosts (caves used for hibernation or hibernacula) to prevent human disturbance during a critical resting period (potentially including the inadvertent introduction of the devastating fungal disease known as White-nose syndrome). The following actions are proposed: Cave gates would be installed on and/or fencing would be installed around extant (currently used) hibernacula, an historic hibernaculum if use resumes as well as any other caves if use as a hibernacula is discovered. Commercial timber harvests (no more than 3,500 acres/year) and associated activities to extract timber which include o construction of temporary roads, log landings and skid trails where needed; o road reconstruction (no more than 10 miles/year), and o purchaser road maintenance (no more than 15 miles/year); Reforestation (no more than 700 acres/year); Site preparation and timber stand improvement activities (no more than 2,000 acres/year of mechanical, manual, chemical or burning treatments combined), Wildlife stand improvement activities (no more than 2,000 acres/year of mechanical, manual, chemical or burning treatments combined), Prescribed burning (an average of 15,000 acres/year for all purposes) with no more than 2.0 miles of new mechanically constructed prescribed fire containment line/year; Mechanical treatments (no more than 600 acres/year); Treatment of non-native invasive plant species (no more than 1,100 acres/year with chemical herbicide); Monitoring and reporting Additional details are included in the description of Alternative 2 in Appendix A. In general, these actions are similar to actions recently analyzed and implemented in the Ramsey Knob, Rorie and Sugarloaf projects. Where are we proposing to act? The Sylamore Ranger District is located in north-central Arkansas. The proclamation boundary lies approximately 80 air miles north of Little Rock, AR and 19 air miles south of the Arkansas- DRAFT Environmental