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Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Watdog Project Plumas National Forest Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences 3.1 Changes Between the Final Environmental Impact Statement and the Final Supplemental Impact Statement Edits, minor changes, and clarification were completed throughout this chapter to augment the extent of the analysis and clarify information previously presented. Changes and supplementary analysis were accomplished to respond to agency and public review and comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS. Most notable of the changes include additional discussion on potential effects to: wildlife species under the No Action Alternative, snags and associated snag-dependent wildlife species, soils and California Wildlife Habitat Relationship size classes 4 and 5 landscape structure types linked to Old Forest-associated species (in particular the American marten and Pacific fisher). Clarification of design criteria and practices related to black oak stand treatment practices and down wood retention design features relative to size class were incorporated. Additionally, sawlog values were updated to reflect recent market data along with clarification of the Secure Rural School Self- Determination Act. This chapter summarizes the physical, biological, social, and economic environments of the project area and the effects of implementing each alternative presented in Chapter 2. It also presents the scientific and analytical basis for the comparison of alternatives. 3.1.1 Scope of the Analysis The existing condition describes the baseline condition against which environmental effects can be evaluated and from which progress toward the desired condition can be measured. Environmental consequences form the scientific and analytical basis for comparison of alternatives, including the proposed action, through compliance with Forest Plan standards and a summary of monitoring required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and National Forest Management Act. The discussion centers on direct, indirect, and cumulative effects along with applicable mitigation measures. Irreversible and irretrievable effects are also discussed for each resource indicator. Effects can be neutral, beneficial, or adverse. These effects are defined as follows: • Direct effects are caused by the action and occur at the same place and time as the action. • Indirect effects are caused by the action and are later in time or further removed in distance, but are still reasonably foreseeable. • Cumulative effects are those that result from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions. Chapter 3 – Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences 3-1 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Plumas National Forest Watdog Project • Irreversible effects are permanent or essentially permanent resource use or losses. They cannot be reversed, except in the extreme long term. Examples include mineral extraction or loss of soil productivity. • Irretrievable effects are losses of productivity or use for a period of time. One example is road construction on suitable timberlands. Timber growth on the land is irretrievably lost while the land is used as a road; however the timber resource is not irreversibly lost because the land could grow trees again in the foreseeable future. 3.1.2 Description of Alternatives Brief descriptions of the four alternative management scenarios analyzed for this proposal are provided below. Alternatives B, C, and D are referred to collectively as the action alternatives. Alternative A – No-Action Alternative. Under this alternative, the Forest Service would not construct Defensible Fuel Profile Zones (DFPZs), harvest timber using group selection silvicultural methods, conduct watershed and wildlife habitat restoration activities, or improve transportation systems at this time. Alternative B – Preferred Alternative. This alternative proposes to reduce canopy cover to 40 percent in stands of medium to large trees greater than 24 inches diameter at breast height (dbh) (California wildlife habitat relationships [CWHR] Size Class 5 stands). Stands of small, 11 to 24 inches dbh trees (CWHR Size Class 4 stands) would be thinned to 70 trees per acre at 25 foot spacing. This alternative addresses two design criteria in the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group (HFQLG) FEIS Appendix J, Fire and Fuels. These criteria are: (1) for aerial fuels, overstory crowns are spaced at distances that reduce the potential for crown fire spread, and (2) treat surface fuels to produce less than 4 foot flame length or be below the fire intensity threshold that would result in 10 percent mortality within the residual stand. No trees 30 inches dbh or larger would be cut except as needed for operability. Alternative C – Maintain 40 Percent Canopy Cover in CWHR Size Class 4 and 5 Stands. This alternative is designed to retain 40 percent canopy cover in CWHR Size Class 5 stands (medium to large trees greater than 24 inches dbh) and CWHR Size Class 4 stands (small trees 11–24 inches dbh) in DFPZs. This alternative addresses the canopy cover design criteria in HFQLG FEIS Appendix J, Fire and Fuels. The criteria is to retain 40 percent canopy cover and, if less than 40 percent, make up the difference with trees 12 to 24 inches dbh. For the CWHR Size Class 4 stands, instead of thinning to 70 trees per acre, each stand would be thinned from below to 40 percent canopy cover. No trees 30 inches dbh or larger would be cut except as needed for operability. Alternative D – Maintain 50 Percent Canopy Cover in CWHR Size Class 4 and 5 Stands with 20-inch upper diameter limit. This alternative proposes to retain 50 percent canopy cover in CWHR Size Class 4 and 5 stands with a less than 20-inch dbh harvest limit in DFPZs. Acres of group selection would be reduced to 151 acres in order to maintain an average of 50 percent canopy within each of the stands. No trees 30 inches dbh or larger would be cut except as needed for operability. 3-2 Chapter 3 – Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Watdog Project Plumas National Forest 3.1.3 Cumulative Effects Analysis Each resource section includes a discussion of cumulative effects focused on evaluating the effects of the proposed action in context with relevant effects from past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions. Past, present, and foreseeable future actions considered in the cumulative effects analyses will vary for each resource. Relevant actions are those expected to generate effects on a specific resource that will occur at the same time and in the same place as effects from the proposed action. Past activities are considered part of the existing condition and are discussed in the “Affected Environment (Existing Conditions) and “Environmental Consequences” section under each resource. Table 3-1 displays recently past, current (or ongoing), reasonably foreseeable future, and future activities within or near the Watdog Project that are or could contribute to relevant effects (i.e., effects that overlap in space and time with effects of the proposed action). This table is not intended to provide an all-inclusive list of relevant actions. As explained in the “Cumulative Effects” section for each resource, the analysis for each resource may not consider all actions listed in table 3-1 or it may consider additional actions not listed in the table. Several resource areas refer to table 3-1, while others provide a separate list of actions considered in the analysis of cumulative effects. No recreation projects, Notices of Intent (NOIs), Plans of Operations, or Special Use Authorizations are known from the project area for the recent past or foreseeable future. Table 3-1. Past, present, future, and foreseeable future actions in and near the Watdog Project area. Project Location Activity Time Period Camel Peak Camel Peak 1,080 acres of site prep for planting and 1965–1984 seeding, planting, release, and pre- commercial thinning Lava Camel Peak 321 acres of commercial harvest 1985 Table Mountain Table Mountain 400 acres of commercial harvest 1986–1987 Hartman II Hartman Ridge 672 acres of commercial harvest 1988 Watson - North Watson Ridge 255 acres of clearcut; 47 acres overstory 1987–1990 removal (OSR)/sanitation; 32 acres OSR/thinning Watson - South Watson Ridge 151 acres clearcut; 14 acres thin; 1987–1990 74 acres OSR/sanitation Tamarack Flat Lumpkin Ridge 350 acres of commercial harvest 1987–1990 South Branch Whiskey Hill 95 acres of commercial harvest 1991 Mountain House Mountain House 123 acres of commercial harvest 1991 Watson Ridge Westernmost portion of 500 acres of underburn 1995 Underburn Watson Ridge Watson Thinning Watson Ridge 100 acres commercial thin; 90 acres 1995–1996 biomass thin; 65 acres mastication; and 25 acres precommercial thin Steward Thinning Steward Ravine 188 acres intermediate cut thinning 1997 Brush Creek Fuel Between French Creek Basin, 690 acres thin from below and biomass 2000 Reduction Project Bald Rock, and the Middle removal; 335 acres plantation Fork of the Feather River maintenance; 755 acres underburn Chapter 3 – Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences 3-3 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Plumas National Forest Watdog Project Table 3-1. Past, present, future, and foreseeable future actions in and near the Watdog Project area (continued). Project Location Activity Time Period Head

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