Unlted States Department of Agriculture Forest Sarvice Southern Region Januaty 1993 FINAL REVISED LAND AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN GEORGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL FOREST Virginia West Virginia GEORGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL FOREST THE REVISED LAND AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 .INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED FOREST PIAN ........... 1-1 CHAPTER 2 .HOW THE REVISED PIAN ADDRESSES YOUR ISSUES Issue 1: Biodiversity ................................ 2.1 Issue 2. Below-Cost Timber Sales ....................... 2.12 Issue 3: Forest Access ............. ............2-17 Issue 4: All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Use .................... 2-20 Issue 5: Roadless Area Management ...................... 2.21 Issue 6 . Special Management Areas ..... ................2-23 Issue 7: Aesthetics ................................ 2-25 Issue 8 Vegetation Manipulation .... ................2-27 Issue 9. Resource Sustainability ....................... 2.30 Issue 10: Minerals ........ ........ ............2.33 Issue 11’ Gypsy Moth ...... ........ .......... 2-35 Issue 12: Adequacy of the Revision ...................2-37 Issue 13: The Mix of Goods and Services ..... ......... 2-38 CHAPTER 3 .MANAGEMENT OF THE FOREST Under the Preferred Alternative Introduction .................................... 3-1 AnOvelview ..................................... 3-1 Management Area 4 Special Interest Areas Research Natural Areas .............. 3-4 Management Area 5: Massanutten Mountain Sensitive Viewshed ....3.1 9 Management Area 6: The Appalachian Trail ................ 3-22 Management Area 7: Scenic Corridors and the Highlands Scenic Tour ........... 3-29 Management Area 8 Wildernessr/VildernessStudy .............3-35 Management Area 9: Remote Highlands ...................3.43 Management Area IO: Scenic Rivers & Recreational Rivers ........346 Management Area 11 . All-Terrain/Off-Highway Vehicle Routes ......3.54 Management Area 12. Developed Recreation ................3.61 Management Area 13: Dispersed Recreation Areas .............3.69 Management Area 14: Remote Habitat for Wildlife .............3.74 Management Area 15. Mosaics of Wildlife Habitat .............. 3-79 Management Area 16Early Successional Forested Habitats ....3.84 Management Area 17. Timber Production ...... ..... 3-88 Management Area 18 Riparian Areas (Streams and Shorelines) .3-92 Management Area 20 Administrative Sites, Utilty Corridors & Communications Sltes ....... ... .3-101 Management Area 21 : Special Management Areas ... .... 3-107 Management Area 22 HabltatSmall Gamewatchable Wildlife .3-117 Common Standards Aesthetics ............ ....... ....3-119 Air ...... ............. ...... .3-121 Caves .... ............. ....... .... .3-122 Cultural Resources ........ ...... .3-123 Fire ......... ................ 3-127 Grazing ....... ......... ....... .3-130 Integrated Pest Management ..... ..... .3-130 Law Enforcement ....... ........ .....3-139 Minerals ....... ...... ..... 3-140 Recreation. ....... ....... .3-141 Roads ......... ........ ..... .3-143 Soil and Water , I ...... ..... .3-143 Special Uses and Access Easements . ...... 3-149 Threatened, Endangered, and Sensltive Species . , , . 3-149 Timber ........ ...... ...... .3-150 Vegetation ....... ...... ...... .....3-I 57 Weeds ........................................ 3-157 Wildlife ....... ........ .... ,3-157 CHAPTER 4 - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REVISED FOREST PLAN . .4-1 CHAPTER 5 - MONITORING AND EVALUATION .... ..... .....5-1 APPENDIX A - TIMBER SALE SCHEDULEFOTAL TIMBER SALE PROGRAM/ LANDS SUITABLE FOR TIMBER PRODUCTION ... .... A-1 APPENDIX B - LIST OF PROJECTS ........ ....... ....... B-1 APPENDIX C - INTERPRETATION PLAN ..... ...... .... c-1 APPENDIX D - EVALUATION OF CAVES ....... ....... ..... D-1 APPENDIX E - LANDS MANAGEMENT ...... ...... .... E-1 APPENDIX F - PROGRAM BUDGET DEVELOPMENT ..... .... F-1 APPENDIX G - ROAD STANDARDS ............. ...... .G-1 APPENDIX H - VEGETATION MANAGEMENT . ....... ..... H-1 APPENDIX I - ADOPTION OF RECREATION OPPORTUNITY SPECTRUM CLASSES AND VISUAL QUALITY OBJECTIVES ..... ....... 1-1 APPENDIX J - ADDITIONAL FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE ROADS ... ..... J-1 APPENDIX K - DEFINITION OF RIPARIAN AREA MANAGEMENT .... K-1 APPENDIX L - THREATENED, ENDANGERED, AND SENSITIVE (r€S) SPECIES ON THE FOREST ....... ...... ..... L-1 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED FOREST PLAN PURPOSE This Revised National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan: - Establishes natural resource management direction for the George Wash- ington National Forest (the Forest) for the next 10 to 15 years Forest multiple use goals and objectives are contained in Chapter 2 Forest standards are listed under 'Common Standards' in Chapter 3 - Explains, issue-by-issue, how the Revised Plan responds to issues that evolved from concerns of the public, concerns of other agencies, and concerns of Forest staff - Chapter 2. - Summarizes the management sltuation in terms of the existing resource conditions and the potentialfor resource development including the anticipated demand for goods and sewices from the Forest - Chapter 2 - Allocates twenty-four roadless areas to management areas which permit a range of uses - Chapter 2 and the management area map for Alternative 8A. - Speclfies what we would like the Forest to be -- physically, biologically -- as we work toward resolution of the issues Chapter 3 presents each management area and the standards that apply. This chapter includes oblectives designed to move the Forest toward Its desired future condition. - Determines what lands are available for leasable mineral development based on the objectives and desired future condition of dfferent management areas - Management Area Standards in Chapter 3. - Speclfies how the Revised Plan will be put into practice - Implementation in Chapter 4. Speclfies time-tables for reviewingthe Revised Plan, for updating It, for amending or revising It - Chapter 4. - Establishes a qualty control system that determines how well direction in the Revised Plan is carried out and determines the accuracy of outputs and effects projected in the Revised Plan - Monitoring and Evaluation in Chapter 5. - Identifies land that is sultable for timber production - Appendix A The National Forest Management Act requires that 'scheduled timber sales' using 1-1 Introduction to the Revised Plan even-aged and uneven-aged regeneration hawest methods be limited to lands that are classtied as sutable for timber production. - Establishes the Allowable Sale Quantrty (ASQ) and the Timber Sale Sched- ule - Appendix A The allowable sale quantity is the most timber volume that can be hawested during any decade on lands that are classtied as suitable for timber production The National Forest Management Act, the Code of Federal Regulations, and other guiding documents determined the content of this Revised Plan. Land allocations and standards set forth here constfiute the management direction the Forest will follow. The projected levels of forest products and services offered, however, and the associated time-frames are dependent on the amount of the budget allocated to the Forest annually. RELATIONSHIP This Revised Plan is a detailed description of the Forest Sewice preferred TO EIS alternative The procedures used in developing the Revised Plan and in analyz- ing all alternatives are described or referenced in the accompanying Environ- mental lmpact Statement (EIS). The Revised Plan incorporates management direction from four other environ- mental impact statements. 0 FinalEnvironmentallmpact Statement for Suppression of SouthernPine Beetle (USDA Forest Sewice - Southern Region, April 1987) 0 Final Environmental lmpact Statement as Supplemented [in] 7985 - USDA Gypsy Moth Suppression and Eradication Propcts (1 985); 0 FinalEnvironmental lmpact Statement-Appalachian lntegratedPest Manage- ment (AIPM) - Gypsy Moth Demonstration Project (1 989); 0 Final Environmentallmpact Statement - Vegetation Management in the Ap- palachian Mountains [USDA Forest Sewice - Southern Region, July 19891. The Revised Plan provides general, program-level direction for projects and activities on the six ranger districts of the Forest All must meet certain legal requirements that are discussed in Chapter 4 of this document. Introduction to the Revised Plan 1-2 FOREST The George Washington National Forest extends for 140 miles along the INFORMATION Appalachian Mountains of northwestern Virginia and adlacent West Virginia. The Forest includes approximately 956,000 acres of National Forest System Location land in 13 Virginia counties and approximately 105,000 acres in four counties in West Virginia -- a total of 1,061,000 acres. GEORGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL FOREST 1-3 Introduction to the Revised Plan Structure The Forest is divided into six ranger districts: the James River, Warm Springs, Pedlar, Deerfield, Diy River, and Lee ranger districts The Forest Supervisor’s Office is in downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia The Forest Management Team includes the Forest Supervisor, eight staff officers, and six district rangers. George Washington National Forest ADDITIONAL Supporting information is incorporated-by-referencein this document and in INFORMATION the accompanying Environmental Impact Statement. The information that AVAILABLE is incorporated-by-referenceis available for review at the Supervisor’s Office in Harrison Plaza, 101 North Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia The phone num- ber is (703)433-2491. Introduction to the Revised Plan 1-4 CHAPTER 2 HOW THE REVISED PUNADDRESSES YOUR ISSUES INTRODUCTION This chapter describes how