Lower Hayfork Creek Watershed Analysis – March 1996
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Lower Hayfork Creek Watershed Analysis – March 1996 STEP 1: CHARACTERIZATION Purpose · To identify the dominant physical, biological, and human processes and features of the watershed that affect ecosystem function or condition. · To relate these features and processes with those occurring in the river basin or province. · To provide the watershed context for identifying elements that need to be addressed in the analysis. · To identify, map and describe the most important land allocations, plan objectives, and regulatory constraints that influence resource management in the watershed. Discussion The Lower Hayfork Creek landscape is located on the Hayfork Ranger District, Shasta-Trinity National Forests. The legal description is sections 4 thru 9, 16, 17, 20, 21, 28, and 29 of T2N, R8E; sections 6 and 7 of T2N, R12W; sections 1, 12, 13, 24 and 25 of T3N, R6E; sections 1, 4 thru 9, 12 thru 30, and 32 thru 36 of T3N, R7E; sections 4 thru 9, 16 thru 21, and 28 thru 33 of T3N, R8E; sections 3 thru 10, 14 thru 23, 26 thru 34 of T3N, R12W; sections 31, 32, and 36 of T4N, R7E; sections 31 thru 33 of T4N, R8E; and sections 29 thru 33 of T4, R12W, Humboldt Baseline and Meridian and Mount Diablo Baseline and Meridian. Lower Hayfork Creek landscape assessment area is approximately 48,769 acres in size. It is bounded by Hyampom to the west, Hayfork Creek to the south, Pattison Peak and Hayfork Bally to the north, and Thompson Peak to the east. The Lower Hayfork Creek landscape has been changed by both timber harvesting and wildfires. The northwestern portion of the landscape experienced varied intensities of wildfire in 1987. The landscape has a variety of geologic and soils characteristics. It generally contains steep slopes with areas of more gentle terrain intermixed. There are several perennial streams running through the landscape. The primary year round streams found within the landscape include; Hayfork Creek, Bear Creek, Olsen Creek, Miner's Creek, Knowles Gulch, Little Creek, Rusch Creek, Jud Creek, and Grassy Flat Creek. There are also several smaller tributaries that are of importance as well. The wildfires that occurred during 1987 were the result of lightning ignitions. These wildfires were large in size primarily due to the large amount of vegetation and existing fuel ladders that had been created predominately related to fire exclusion within the landscape over the past 60-70 years. There are several parcels of private property scattered throughout the landscape. Most of the private property contains year around residences. The area is easily accessible from Hayfork and Hyampom. It is very popular for deer hunting and is used fairly heavily in the fall. The South Fork of the Trinity River is designated as a Wild and Scenic River with the adjacent segment having scenic emphasis. The section of Hayfork Creek Shasta-Trinity National Forest - 1 Lower Hayfork Creek Watershed Analysis – March 1996 from Nine Mile Bridge downstream to Hyampom has been determined to be eligible for consideration as a "scenic" Wild and Scenic River as proposed in the Shasta-Trinity LRMP ROD. There are seven distinct landscape analysis areas identified within the landscape. The wide variation among these areas is primarily due to varying degrees of disturbance. The seven areas identified are: The Canyonlands (Area C); Hyampom Earthflows (Area D); Halfway Ridgelands (Area E); Burned Area (Area F); Jud-Rusch Creek (Area G); Pattison (Area H); and Little Creek (Area I). The Canyonlands lie within the lower, steeper portions of the Butter Creek watershed. The area is characterized by closed canopy, late seral, Douglas-fir and mixed conifer forests. Road density is low. Olsen Creek and the communities occupying lower slope positions within the drainage have remained relatively untouched by fire. Northwest aspects exhibit snags as the only striking evidence of the 1987 burn. The matrix is comprised of mid to late seral Douglas-fir, although canyon live oak, jeffrey pine, sugar pine and gray pine form small inclusions, notably on southeastern aspects. Scattered individuals of knobcone pine are also present on southeastern aspects within the upper-third of the Olsen drainage. The Hyampom Earthflows characterize an area of undulating earthflow-mantled slopes. Vegetation is comprised of mixed conifer and Douglas-fir hardwood plant communities, with poison oak and graminoids in the understory. Ultramafic outcrops and numerous small meadow openings, including Grassy Flats, contribute to floristic diversity. The area is bounded on the North and East by Hayfork Creek, which supports an important anadromous fishery. Walker and Grassy Flat Creeks fall within the Analysis Area. The Halfway Ridgelands are characterized by steep, highly dissected slopes. Big Canyon Creek is in this Analysis Area as is Hayfork Creek, an important anadromous fish stream. The relatively harsh, steep and rocky sites support Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine and mixed conifer plant communities. The 1987 Burn area is located in the northwestern portion of the Lower Hayfork Creek watershed. Due to the fires and subsequent salvage activities, extensive plantations with patches of remnant, late and mid-seral Douglas-fir stands are present within the Bear and Gulch burns. Ultramafic soils within the Gulch burn support incense cedar, jeffrey and gray pine, and black oak. Within the lower half of the drainage, madrone, grey pine, buckbrush and manzanita dominate those areas experiencing stand replacement fires and now occupied by pine plantations. Within the upper half, canyon live oak is the dominant hardwood species. Grey pine and incense cedar occur patchily throughout the burns. Northwestern aspects generally experienced lighter burns, leaving most of the mid to late seral stands of mixed conifer and Douglas-fir in the Olsen Creek drainage relatively intact. When viewed in 1944 and 1990 aerial photos, canopy closure within the Bear burn appears to have been little affected by the 1987 fire. This suggests that the area has either been relatively devoid of overstory cover historically, as is true for the harsher gray pine sites existing within the canyonlands, and/or that it was recovering from fire in the 1940s much as it is today. Shasta-Trinity National Forest - 2 Lower Hayfork Creek Watershed Analysis – March 1996 The Jud-Rusch Area is characterized by the moderate to steep slopes surrounding the Jud and Rusch Creek drainages. Low gradient areas, including small ultramafic inclusions dominated by mixed conifer stands, occur at higher elevations within the upper end of the Rusch Creek drainage. The majority of the analysis area is dominated by late to mid-seral Douglas-fir and Douglas-fir canyon live oak communities, with numerous, widely dispersed harvest units and pine plantations scattered in between. Stringers of old growth Douglas-fir are present within the riparian zone up through mid-elevation reaches of the Jud and Rusch Creek drainages. The Pattison Area is the largest of the analysis areas and is characterized by steep, highly dissected south-facing slopes and shallow, droughty metavolcanic soils. Extensive, undisturbed stands of Douglas-fir and canyon live oak are interspersed with pure hardwood stands on the upper slopes and ridgelines. Although these communities are doubtless maintained by fire, there is relatively little evidence that the area has burned within the last 100 years. Miner's Creek, West Fork Miner's Creek, and Bear Creek are the major drainages within the area. Because the Pattison Area has not been surveyed, little is known about the area botanically. The Little Creek Area extends from Hayfork Bally south to Hayfork Creek. Approximately 60% of the analysis area burned in 1955, leaving a matrix of mid to late seral Douglas-fir and plantations. Road density in the area is relatively high. Core Topics and Questions Erosion Processes · What erosion processes are the dominant within the watershed? Where have they occurred or are they likely to occur? Mass Movement and Surface Erosion - Over the entire analysis area, mass wasting processes are the dominant erosion processes. These include translational-rotational landslides, debris slides, debris avalanches, debris torrents, internested translational-rotational slides, and slump earthflows. These mass wasting processes are most common at the valley inner gorges along the lower reaches of Hayfork Creek, and at the area south of Hayfork Creek between Hyampom and Halfway Ridge. REGIONAL GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY The Lower Hayfork Creek watershed is located within the Klamath Mountain geologic province. The Klamath Mountain geomorphic province is one of the more complex provinces in North America. It is a west-facing arcuate form region which extends from northwestern California into southwestern Oregon. It consists predominantly of marine volcanic arc-related volcanic and sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic ages. Ultramafic and associated ophiolitic rocks are also important components. Granitic plutons intruded many parts of the province during Jurassic time. Structurally, the province consists of a series of north to northwest trending slices of tectonically acreted ancient crust that form an imbricate eastward dipping sequence. Shasta-Trinity National Forest - 3 Lower Hayfork Creek Watershed Analysis – March 1996 The province has been subdivided into four major lithotectonic units that from east to west are called the Eastern Klamath belt, the Central Metamorphic belt, the Western Paleozoic and Triassic belt, and the Western Jurassic belt. The Lower Hayfork Creek Watershed lies within the Western Paleozoic and Triassic belt. The regional geomorphology of the Klamath Mountains is also quite diverse. Geomorphic types which are actively occurring or occurred within the Pleistocene include glaciation, mass wasting, fluvial and tectonic processes including relatively rapid uplift and faulting. During the Paleocene epoch (65-53 Million Years Before Present), the Klamath Mountains were sufficiently high to shed sediment to adjacent basins, and to block transport of sediment from the interior of the continent to the Pacific Coast.