White Mountain National Forest Figure 1 (Cover)
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Monitoring and United States Department of Agriculture Evaluation Report Forest Service Eastern 2009 Region White Mountain National Forest Figure 1 (Cover). Plant monitoring in Tuckerman Ravine. Photo courtesy of Diane Allen. This document is available in large print. Contact the Forest Supervisor’s Office 603 536-6100 TTY 603 536-3665 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program infor- mation (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Printed on Recycled Paper Monitoring and Evaluation Report 2009 Contents From the Forest Supervisor . 4 Introduction . 6 Required Monitoring . 7 Objective Attainment . 14 Standard and Guideline Implementation . 22 Effects of Management Practices . 35 Project Reviews . 38 Other Monitoring . 42 Literature Cited . 53 3 White Mountain National Forest From the Forest Supervisor I am pleased to share with you the most recent White Mountain National Forest Monitoring Report, which summarizes many of our monitoring efforts in fiscal year 2009 (FY09). As in the past, this report considers how well we are imple- menting the management direction in the Forest Plan and what effects our management is having on natural, cultural, and social resources. We remain committed to looking at all of our programs, identifying what is working well and what isn’t, sharing the results, and learning from all that we do. This report shows that we continue to work toward meeting our Forest goals and objectives and most of the standards and guidelines evaluated in FY09 were being implemented and working effectively. As is to be expected when managing a large, complex landscape for multiple uses, there is always more that needs to be done and challenges arise. This report identifies three standards or guidelines that are not working quite as was expected when the Forest Plan was revised. I do not believe we need to amend the Forest Plan to modify any of this direction at this time for the following reasons (see Standard and Guideline Implementation section of this document for more details): • While we have not implemented a personal use permit for recreational mineral collecting yet (Forest Plan p. 2-5, Recreational Mineral Collecting S-3), this report clearly indicates that the standard is appropriate. We will begin the process to establish a mineral collection permit and work with the public to implement it. • The Heritage Resource guideline regarding data management (Plan p. 2-7, G-4) also remains appropriate. We are making considerable progress in our efforts to meet national standards. We will not have all legacy data input this Fiscal Year, but we will continue the work until everything is in the appropriate system, which is consistent with the intent of this guideline. • We are meeting the intent of the slash retention standard (Plan, p. 2-29, Vegetation S-3) to keep nutrients on-site. However we will work with con- tractors to better disperse residual slash across the units to result in more evenly distributed soil nutrient levels, especially on low nutrient soils. I find that the monitoring we did in FY09 and this report meet the intent of both the Forest Plan (Chapter 4) and the planning regulations at 36 CFR 219. The Plan Record of Decision emphasizes that the Forest does not exist in iso- lation; it is part of larger state and regional landscapes, and our management affects surrounding communities and ecosystems. Forest Plan direction helps us make decisions within the context of broader ecological and landscape level considerations. However applying that direction is not enough. Some of the issues that face the forests of the northeast cannot be addressed by looking at just one particular property or jurisdiction. Concerns around climate change, invasive species, air quality, and watershed restoration require working across boundaries. Therefore, when I evaluate how well we are implementing the Forest Plan, I also consider whether we are working with our partners and others in the area to address landscape-scale issues. In FY09, we worked with many partners, state agencies, and others on key topics. A few examples include: 4 Monitoring and Evaluation Report 2009 • Working with State Foresters and sharing data as they develop their strategic plans for managing forests across the states of New Hampshire, • Working with state, federal, and non-government partners to track occur- rences of non-native invasive insects and take measures to prevent their introduction and spread, • Sharing information and ideas with many partners regarding climate change and how it should be considered in land management in northern New England, and • Participating in advisory boards and working groups, such as the Keeping Maine’s Forest’s, New England Governor’s Commission on Land Conservation, New Hampshire’s Legacy Board, Good Forestry in the Granite State review team and many other local and regional efforts. All of this cooperative work helps ensure our actions will contribute to sustain- able management of resources and communities across northern New England and is a critical part of achieving Forest Plan goals. I am proud of the efforts of our employees and the many volunteers and part- ners who make this ongoing monitoring and adaptation effort possible. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns after reading the document. Thomas G Wagner 5 White Mountain National Forest Introduction Effective monitoring and evaluation help the Agency and the public determine how well a Forest Plan is being implemented, whether Plan implementation is achieving desired outcomes, and whether assumptions made in the plan- ning process are valid. They help us improve our management and determine when we need to adjust desired conditions, goals, objectives, standards, and guidelines. The White Mountain National Forest’s Monitoring Plan (Chapter 4 of the Forest Plan) describes what we will monitor and what we expect to learn from that monitoring. The Monitoring Plan identifies several types of required monitoring, including monitoring of sustainability, outputs, services, and costs, management indicator species, objective attainment, standard and guideline implementation, and effects of management practices (pages 4-8 to 4-10). Our Monitoring Plan also identifies the need to conduct monitoring on a variety of topics or resources to evaluate resource conditions and ecosystem health, and help answer the question “Are we accomplishing the overall goals of the Forest Plan?” Monitoring is not performed on every activity, nor is most of it expected to meet the statistical rigor of formal research. There is monitoring we do, such as construction and timber sale administration, that is difficult to summarize in a report like this, but that is still a valuable part of our land management efforts. Some monitoring is conducted weekly or annually, some is done at longer intervals to track changes over time, and other items are monitored when funds and staffing are available. Monitoring that is specifically required by law or regulation is always given the highest priority. The annual monitoring report summarizes and, at scheduled intervals, evalu- ates monitoring results. It also provides the public and Forest personnel with updated information about Forest Plan implementation. Some monitoring leads to immediate conclusions while other topics require a decade or more of data collection to produce informative results. As a result, our annual monitoring report changes every year and the level of detail provided varies by topic. 6 Monitoring and Evaluation Report 2009 Required Monitoring The Forest Planning regulations (36 CFR 219) under which the WMNF Forest Plan was revised require that we monitor several factors related to the sustain- ability of timber harvest, the levels of outputs and services the Forest provides, and population trends and habitat relationships of management indicator species. While not all of these items need to be evaluated annually, they are covered in every monitoring report to demonstrate our commitment to meeting our responsibilities toward management sustainability, outputs and services, and management indicator species. Sustainability This section addresses topics in Table 4-02 of the Forest Plan. This year, we moni- tored the two annual items, restocking success and insect and disease levels. Are lands adequately restocked following harvest? Monitoring regeneration is a legal requirement to ensure adequate restocking of tree species following regeneration harvests such as clearcut, shelterwood seed cut, single-tree or group selection cut. Within five years following such harvests, we must certify that we expect an adequate number of seedlings to be estab- lished. We typically conduct a field survey about three years after the harvest. Surveys are conducted by Forest staff as they walk through the harvested area. Typically, surveyors establish several sample