Appendix C Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Evaluation Table of Contents Page No. Abstract ..................................................................................................................... C-1 Introduction............................................................................................................... C-2 Part One: The Roadless Inventory Process .............................................................. C-2 Direction for a Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Evaluation ................. C-2 Description of the Roadless Area Inventory Criteria........................................... C-4 Application of Selection Criteria – Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs) ............. C-8 Part Two: Matrix Summary of Potential IRAs ...................................................... C-10 Summary of Potential Inventoried Roadless Areas ........................................... C-10 Maps of Roadless Review and Inventoried Roadless Areas.............................. C-23 Part Three: The Wilderness Evaluation Process .................................................... C-25 Part Four: Evaluation of Potential Wilderness Areas ............................................. C-31 Consequences of a Wilderness or Non-Wilderness Designation....................... C-31 Big Draft ............................................................................................................ C-37 Canaan Loop ...................................................................................................... C-41 Cheat Mountain.................................................................................................. C-45 Cranberry Expansion.......................................................................................... C-50 Dolly Sods North ............................................................................................... C-54 Dry Fork............................................................................................................. C-59 East Fork Greenbrier.......................................................................................... C-63 Gaudineer ........................................................................................................... C-67 Gauley Mountain East........................................................................................ C-72 Gauley Mountain West ...................................................................................... C-76 Middle Mountain................................................................................................ C-80 Roaring Plains East ............................................................................................ C-84 Roaring Plains North.......................................................................................... C-89 Roaring Plains West........................................................................................... C-93 Seneca Creek...................................................................................................... C-97 Spice Run ......................................................................................................... C-102 Tea Creek Mountain......................................................................................... C-106 Turkey Mountain.............................................................................................. C-110 Roadless Area Conservation Rule Areas .............................................................. C-114 Appendix C Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Evaluation ABSTRACT The Appendix C displays the process used to conduct the roadless area inventory and wilderness evaluation for the Monongahela National Forest, Forest Plan Revision and the results of this analysis. This evaluation is divided into four parts: (1) roadless inventory process, (2) matrix summary of potential inventoried roadless areas, (3) The potential inventoried roadless area evaluation process, and (4) wilderness evaluation of inventoried roadless areas. The Roadless Inventory Process used a variety of Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping exercises to initially identify 41 potential inventoried roadless areas (an estimated 326,539 acres). Each of these 41 potential areas was evaluated using the eight criteria for roadless areas east of the 100th meridian. Based on this evaluation, 18 areas (143,234 acres) met the criteria to be included in the new Roadless Area Inventory. A wilderness evaluation based on availability, capability, and need was completed for each of the 18 areas. Below is a summary of areas that met the roadless area criteria: Inventory Result – These 18 areas (143,234 acres) received further evaluation as potential wildernesses because they met the eight criteria for potential wilderness in the East. Area Acres Area Acres Big Draft 5,395 Gauley Mountain West 6,624 Canaan Loop 7,850 Middle Mountain 12,197 Cheat Mountain 7,955 Roaring Plains East 2,962 Cranberry Expansion 12,165 Roaring Plains North 3,119 Dolly Sods North 7,215 Roaring Plains West 6,825 Dry Fork 739 Seneca Creek 24,974 East Fork Greenbrier 10,153 Spice Run 6,171 Gaudineer 6,727 Tea Creek Mountain 8,272 Gauley Mountain East 7,780 Turkey Mountain 6,111 For the action alternatives (2, 2M, 3, and 4) in the Final EIS, management prescriptions were allocated for the 18 areas that were evaluated for wilderness potential as follows: Alternative 2 – Thirteen areas receive a 6.2 Backcountry Recreation prescription, four areas receive a 5.1 Recommended Wilderness prescription, and one area receives a 6.2 and 8.1 SPNM prescription. Alternative 2M – Thirteen areas receive a 6.2 Backcountry Recreation prescription, four areas receive a 5.1 Recommended Wilderness prescription, and one area receives a 6.2 and 8.1 SPNM prescription. Alternative 3 – Eleven areas receive a 5.1 Recommended Wilderness prescription, and the other seven areas receive a 6.2 Backcountry Recreation prescription. Alternative 4 –Six areas receive a 6.2 Backcountry Recreation prescription, six areas receive a 4.1 Spruce-Hardwood Restoration prescription, four areas receive a 6.1 Wildlife Habitat Emphasis prescription, one area receives a mix of 4.1 and 6.1 prescriptions, and one area receives a mix of 6.2 and 8.1 SPNM prescriptions. C - 1 Appendix C Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Evaluation INTRODUCTION This appendix displays the process used to conduct a roadless area inventory and wilderness evaluation and the results of that analysis. The planning record document in which the entire roadless inventory and Wilderness evaluation is located is titled, “Monongahela National Forest - Forest Plan Revision Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Evaluation.” This document is divided into four parts. Part One describes the inventory process. It displays authorities and requirements, criteria used during inventory, and a detailed description of steps taken on the Monongahela National Forest to accomplish the roadless inventory. All areas inventoried during the RARE II process (Roadless Area Review and Evaluation of 1979), as well as all other Monongahela National Forest System lands were considered in the inventory process. Part Two gives the results of the inventory. It lists each area that met criteria during the inventory process and summarizes results of the inventory criteria measures. Eighteen areas continued into evaluation of Wilderness attributes. Fourteen of those are RARE II inventoried areas and were also mapped as roadless areas in the Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation Final Environmental Impact Statement. Part Three describes the wilderness evaluation process, including an overview of the process and specific criteria to be used to evaluate an area’s capability, availability and need for wilderness. Part Four presents the Wilderness evaluation for each of the areas that met inventory requirements, as listed in Part Two. It also displays the results of the Wilderness evaluation and summarizes how each of the potential Wilderness was considered in alternatives in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Monongahela Forest Plan Revision. PART ONE: THE ROADLESS INVENTORY PROCESS Direction for a Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Evaluation Purpose The primary purpose of the roadless area inventory and wilderness evaluation is to determine which areas on the Forest have the best potential for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Forest is identifying this pool of potential areas for Forest Plan revision in order to help develop a range of alternatives for recommended wilderness in the Draft EIS. Recommended wilderness is one of the 6 planning decisions to be made in Forest Plan revision. Although the updated roadless area inventory is replacing roadless inventories of the past (RARE I, RARE II, Roadless Area Conservation Rule areas), this is not an inventory primarily to determine roadless areas but rather part of a process to determine which of those roadless areas have the best potential for wilderness. Therefore, criteria related to wilderness attributes are part of the inventory process, as described by the Forest Service Handbook and Regional direction. For the inventory process, the Forest reviewed every area that would potentially qualify as wilderness under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Eastern Wilderness Act of 1975. These areas included: C - 2 Appendix C Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Evaluation • RARE II roadless areas • Roadless Area Conservation Rule roadless