GEORGE D. AIKEN WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE U.S.D.A. Forest Service Green Mountain National Forest Manchester Ranger District Prepared by: \ $2- ^- Dick Andrew~,Vt. Wilderness Assoc. Date Recommended By: ^K/(^f^;^^ ~fchaelK. Schrotz +strictRanger -- - - 2 &, / ^t-^^l^L Robert Pramuk, ~ecredtionPlanner Date Approved By: >(MA&A*È. Forest Supervisor TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ...............................................I Introduction Preface ....................................................3 Area Description ...........................................4 Summary of Current Situation ...............................5 Process ....................................................5 Summary of Management Recommendations ......................6 Explanation of Format ......................................6 Recreation Management Recreation Overview ........................................8 Access and Trailheads .....................................12 Trails ....................................................16 Camping ...................................................20 Pack and Saddle Animals ...................................22 Domestic Pets (Dogs)...................................... 24 Outfitters and Guides .....................................26 Information and Education .................................28 Resource Management Air .......................................................32 Water .....................................................34 Soils .....................................................36 . Minerals ..................................................38 Vegetation ................................................39 Cultural Resources ........................................43 Wildlife ..................................................46 Fisheries .................................................53 Fire ......................................................56 Insects and Disease .......................................58 Administration Vehicle Intrusion .........................................59 Search and Rescue .........................................62 Private Structures ........................................64 Management of Surrounding Lands ...........................67 Research ..................................................72 Implementation Schedules Explanation and Abbreviations .............................75 Schedule A: Management nativities by Topic ................77 Schedule 8: Management Activities by Fiscal Year ..........31 Appendices Mppendix A: pub1 1; Involvement Process ...................117 Appendix 8: Wilderness Policy Background: Excerpts ....... 123 Appendix C: Actions Requiring E.nvironmental Analysis ..... 139 EXECUTIUE SUMMflRV This Plan and Implementation Schedule for George 0. Aiken Wilderness was preoared as a cooperative venture uith interested members of the pu~lic. It essentially calls for maintaining the wild character of the area, as set by Congress and directed by the Forest Plan, with increased protection against adverse influences and more attention to research and public eaucation. George D. Aiken Wilderness should continue to be a lightly used trailless area primarily affected by natural forces. Ideally, it will be biologically connected with other areas of mature forest, so wide-ranging interior-dwelling species of wildlife can live in it. Subject to environmental assessment, exotic species may be eradicated and extirpated species reintroduced. Fish stocking will be ended, and fish habitat may be restored. Visitation will be managed by the least restrictive means, with education first and regulation last. Information and interpretation, but not promotion, will be provided by publications, rangers, office displays, entry point bulletin boards, and similar efforts at Woodford State Park. Some provision for improved public parking will be made. Control of off-road vehicles in Aiken Wilderness, including snowmobiles, will be effected through signs and on-site monitoring, and by informing vehicle users that the entire Forest is closed to vehicles except for designated trails or areas. George D. Aiken Wilderness will be closed to pack and saddle animals, but open to dogs under owner control. Commercial outfitter-guiding wlll be prohibited, and applicants directed to other areas of the Forest. Leased camps will be removed unless found to be historically significant. Groups will be limited to 10 people, with a recommended maximum of six. There will be no trails or designated campsites unless they become necessary to limit damage. Video and audio tapes will be the only special accommodation for people uith disabilities, unless trails are built, in which case special trail construction uill be considered. Physical and social resources will be monitored for deterioration. Research will be encouraged, with the least intrusive methods required. This plan depends on managers of George D. Aiken Wilderness to advocate on its behalf for coordination with influencing entities, ranging from other Forest Service employees to the State of Vermont, and from planning commissions to military commanders. Only through managers and a public who care can the vision embodied in this document become a reality. INTRODUCTION The goal of wilderness management is to give free play to the forces of nature, while making wilderness available for the use and enjoyment of the American people--forever. Wilderness management is nore than setting land aside and leaving it alone. To retain the enduring value of wilderness, the Forest Service controls uses and activities to preserve natural c nditions, and to keep the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable. George D. Aiken Wilderness was designated in 1984. Until now there has been no strategy to ensure its lasting wil derness character. Wilderness integrity is already compromised by vehicl e trespass, and with increasing population pressure, it could be affected by human use and air or water pollution. A sound management strategy is necessary to address these and other issues. This Wilderness Plan and Implementation Schedule specifies activities to accomplishthisgoalforGeorgeD.AikenWilderness,inaccordancewiththe 1964 Wilderness Act, the 1975 Eastern Wilderness Act and the 1984 Uermont Wilderness Act. It enables continuity for long-term wilderness management. The Wilderness Plan compares Forest Service goals, objectives, standards and guidelines for wilderness management and Acts of Congress to conditions in George 0. Aiken Wilderness. It identifies management actions needed to brin~wilderness conditions into conformance with this management direction. Where wilderness conditions conform to this direction, the Plan lists management actions to maintain or to improve conditions. Monitoring outlined in the Plan should ensure a quality wilderness experience for future generations. This Plan is addressed primarily to Forest Service employees responsible for managing George D. Aiken Wilderness. Management direction can become effective only through than. - - - - In some cases, achieving the desired results will require changes in Forest policies outside the scope of this Wilderness Plan (for instance, the fire policy in the Forest Plan). In other cases, it will require the cooperation of entities outside the Forest Service (such as military authorities or regional planning commissions). In all such instances, the management direction in this Plan asks those responsible for managing the wilderness to work to influence the appropriate policies or entities on behalf of wilderness goals. The authorsofthePlandonothavetheauthoritytorequirecomplementary policies, so diplomatic and skilled action by wilderness managers is the only instrument that can obtain them. This Wilderness Plan &s not a oecision document. Rather, it provides guidance to move this area of land closer to an untrammeled condition.. It is an intermediate document between the Forest Plan and subsequent environmental analyses outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act, which will be required before an:' actions that could have significant environmental impacts. Examples of such actions are new trail construction and use of prescribed fire. Low impact activities that will not require further environmental analysis include resource inventories, removal of incompatible structures, wilderness ranger coverage and public education. Following approval of this Wilderness Plan, management policies that differ from or further refine those outlined in the Forest Plan for wilderness (Management Area 5.1) will be incorporated in a proposed Forest Plan amendment. Examples of such policies are those calling for no trails in George 0. Aiken Wilderness and for a recommended limit of six on the size of groups (with an absolute limit of 10). An environmental assessment of these policies will be prepared and public comment solicited before the Forest Supervisor decides whether to incorporate them in the Forest Plan. In the interim, the recommended policies will be implemented, because they are more protective of wilderness character than the existing Forest Plan. AREA DESCRIPTION George D. Aiken Wilderness is south of Vermont Route 9 in the town of Woodford in the southern Green Mountains of Vermont. The 1984 Vermont Wilderness Bill (P.L. 98-322) designated the 5,060-acre wilderness. George 0. Aiken Wilderness is named after the late U.S. Senator George D. Aiken of Uermont, who valued the remote, undeveloped areas of his state as much as the settled portions. Senator