Cibola National Forest Agriculture Forest Service Mountainair Ranger District Travel Analysis Process
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United States Department of Cibola National Forest Agriculture Forest Service Mountainair Ranger District Travel Analysis Process For Mountainair Ranger District Travel Management February 2009 Cibola National Forest 2113 Osuna RD NE Phone: 505-346-3900 Albuquerque, NM 87113 Fax: 505-346-3901 Travel Analysis Process For Mountainair Ranger District - Travel Management ______________________________________________________________________________ Mountainair Ranger District - TAP Page 2 of 49 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary........................................................................................................................................6 Project Introduction ..................................................................................................................................8 Summary of Issues....................................................................................................................................6 Summary of Recommendations Responding to Issues.............................................................................6 Analysis Performed...................................................................................................................................7 Key Results and Findings .........................................................................................................................7 How the Report Will be Used...................................................................................................................7 Chapter 1 - STEP 1: SETTING UP THE ANALYSIS................................................................................10 Project Area and Objectives ...................................................................................................................10 Roles of Specialists.................................................................................................................................11 Process Plan ............................................................................................................................................11 Analysis Plan ..........................................................................................................................................11 Information Needs ..................................................................................................................................12 Chapter 2 - STEP 2: DESCRIBING THE SITUATION.............................................................................13 Existing Road and Motorized Trail System............................................................................................13 Existing Direction for Roads, Trails, and Areas.....................................................................................13 New Mexico State OHV/ATV Laws......................................................................................................15 Road Maintenance Levels.......................................................................................................................15 Chapter 3 - STEP 3: IDENTIFYING ISSUES ............................................................................................17 The Issues ...............................................................................................................................................18 Chapter 4 - STEP 4: ASSESSING BENEFITS, PROBLEMS, AND RISKS.............................................20 The Analysis Process..............................................................................................................................20 Scoring and Rating..................................................................................................................................32 Recommendations for Roads..................................................................................................................39 Guidelines for Mitigating Risks............................................................................................................. 47 Chapter 5 - STEP 5: DESCRIBING OPPORTUNITIES AND THE MINIMUM ROAD SYSTEM ........45 Actions that Would Implement the Minimum Road System..................................................................45 Actions that Respond to the Issues .........................................................................................................46 Chapter 6 - STEP 6: REPORTING..............................................................................................................49 Key Findings of the Analysis .................................................................................................................49 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: 1985 Cibola National Forest Plan Management Areas for Mountainair Ranger District ...............8 Table 2: Interdisciplinary Team...................................................................................................................11 Table 3: Mountainair RD Previous Travel Management Decisions............................................................15 Table 4: Road and Motorized Trails: Summary of Miles by type for the Analysis Area............................20 Table 5: Resource Categories for Roads......................................................................................................21 Table 6: Point range for the overall score for a Risk………………………………………………………32 Table 7: Point range for the overall score for a Benefit……………………………………………………32 Table 8: Example of the Risk scoring system for a road.............................................................................33 Table 9: Example of the Benefit scoring system for a road.........................................................................33 Table 10: Roads Risk/ Benefit Matrix and Recommendations for ML 1 to ML 3 Roads...........................37 ______________________________________________________________________________ Mountainair Ranger District - TAP Page 3 of 49 Table 11: Risk/ Benefit Matrix and Recommendations for ML 1 Roads....................................................38 Table 12: Risk/ Benefit Matrix and Recommendations for ML 2 Roads....................................................39 Table 13: Risk/ Benefit Matrix and Recommendations for ML 3 Roads....................................................40 Table 14: Risk/ Benefit Matrix and Recommendations for Decommissioned and Unauthorized Roads....41 Table 15: Recommendations for Risk / Benefit Categories for Roads........................................................42 ______________________________________________________________________________ Mountainair Ranger District - TAP Page 4 of 49 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Existing System Roads Risk and Benefit Assessment Additional Roads Analyzed for Inclusion in the Minimum Road System APPENDIX B: Ecological, Social and Economic Considerations APPENDIX C: Public Involvement and Collaboration APPENDIX D: List of Right-of-Way Needs and Priorities APPENDIX E: Glossary APPENDIX F: Mountainair Ranger District Vicinity Map APPENDIX G: Maps APPENDIX H: Forest Wide Travel Analysis Process – Economic Analysis APPENDIX I: Summary of the Travel Analysis Process ______________________________________________________________________________ Mountainair Ranger District - TAP Page 5 of 49 Executive Summary Travel planning in the Forest Service was traditionally split between the engineering program for road management and the recreation program for trails management. A recently revised federal regulation now combines the analysis of the motorized use of trails and roads under the Travel Analysis Process (TAP). The TAP is intended to identify opportunities for the national forest transportation system to meet current or future management objectives, and to provide information that allows integration of ecological, social, and economic concerns into future decisions. The TAP is tailored to local situations and landscape/site conditions as identified by forest staffs and coupled with public input. The outcome of the TAP is a set of recommendations for the forest transportation system. A thorough Travel Analysis supports subsequent National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes, allowing individual projects to be more site-specific and focused, while still addressing cumulative impacts. Summary of Issues Issues were identified using previous public involvement and internal Forest Service input. A full list with details of the Public involvement and collaboration are listed in Appendix C. • Impacts from cross-country motor vehicle travel and unauthorized routes • Insufficient resources for maintenance of the existing system roads • Need to obtain rights-of-way and access • Continued use of unauthorized and decommissioned roads • Environmental impacts • Increased risk of human-caused fire • Need for access to forest product gathering areas • Trespass onto private lands from National Forest System lands • Recreation user conflicts Summary of Recommended Actions Responding to Issues • Improve route number signage on roads and clearly sign forest boundaries to enhance compliance and enforcement. • Rehabilitate areas damaged by cross-country travel and increase efforts to discourage travel on decommissioned and user created roads. • Reduce the number of roads in occupied Threatened and Endangered species habitat • Use seasonal restrictions and reroute roads to reduce impacts to wildlife habitat, soils and cultural resources and decrease maintenance costs. • Develop partnerships