Final Land Management Plan for El Yunque National Forest
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Revised Land Management Plan El Yunque National Forest Responsible Agency: USDA Forest Service Responsible Official: Sharon Wallace, Forest Supervisor El Yunque National Forest HC-01, Box 13490 Rio Grande, PR 00745-9625 For Information Contact: Pedro Rios, Project Leader El Yunque National Forest HC-01, Box 13490 Rio Grande, PR 00745-9625 http://www.fs.usda.gov/elyunque This page left intentionally blank El Yunque National Forest Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Plan Purpose .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Plan Components .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Forest Plan Structure ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Location of the Plan Area ............................................................................................................. 4 1.5 Plan Relationship to Other Documents ......................................................................................... 6 1.6 Distinctive Roles and Contributions of El Yunque ....................................................................... 6 1.7 Vision and Management Themes .................................................................................................. 8 What is Shared Stewardship? ................................................................................................................ 9 2 Geographic Management Area Direction ........................................................................................... 11 2.1 Geographic Areas ........................................................................................................................ 11 2.1.1 El Yunque Region: Current Conditions and Trends ......................................................... 11 2.1.2 Benefits of Identifying Geographic Areas for El Yunque Region .................................... 15 2.1.3 El Yunque National Forest Geographic Areas .................................................................. 16 2.1.4 El Yunque National Forest Management Areas ............................................................... 21 2.2 Suitability of Lands ..................................................................................................................... 43 2.3 Suitability for Timber Harvesting ............................................................................................... 44 3 Desired Conditions for El Yunque National Forest ............................................................................ 47 3.1 Ecological Sustainability and Diversity of Plant and Animal Communities .............................. 48 3.1.1 Climate Change Response ................................................................................................ 48 3.1.2 Terrestrial Ecosystem: Vegetation .................................................................................... 48 3.1.3 Functional Wetland ........................................................................................................... 51 3.1.4 Aquatic Ecosystems .......................................................................................................... 54 3.1.5 Riparian Management Zones ............................................................................................ 54 3.1.6 Air/Resource Quality ........................................................................................................ 55 3.1.7 Soils .................................................................................................................................. 56 3.1.8 Water Resources ............................................................................................................... 57 3.1.9 Wildlife and Fisheries ....................................................................................................... 58 3.1.10 At-Risk Species: Fauna ..................................................................................................... 59 3.1.11 At-Risk Species: Flora ...................................................................................................... 61 3.2 Social and Economic Sustainability and Multiple Use ............................................................... 62 3.2.1 Socio-economics ............................................................................................................... 62 3.2.2 Broader Landscape and Lands .......................................................................................... 64 3.2.3 Environmental Education.................................................................................................. 65 3.3 Multiple Uses .............................................................................................................................. 67 3.3.1 Ecosystem Services ........................................................................................................... 67 3.3.2 Recreation ......................................................................................................................... 68 3.3.3 Forest Products ................................................................................................................. 75 3.3.4 Watershed ......................................................................................................................... 77 3.3.5 Special Uses ...................................................................................................................... 78 3.3.6 Scenic Character ............................................................................................................... 79 3.3.7 Cultural and Historic Resources ....................................................................................... 83 3.3.8 Facilities and Transportation............................................................................................. 86 3.3.9 Minerals ............................................................................................................................ 88 3.3.10 Large-scale Disturbances .................................................................................................. 88 4 Monitoring and Evaluation ................................................................................................................. 91 4.1 Focal Species for Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 92 i Revised Land Management Plan 4.2 Monitoring Questions, Indicators and Adaptive Management Strategies ................................... 95 5 References Cited ............................................................................................................................... 113 Appendix A: Management Situations for the Elfin-woods Warbler in the New Land Management Plan for El Yunque National Forest ........................................................................................................................ 117 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 117 Appendix B: Forest Products within the Community Interface Resource Management Area ................. 121 Silvicultural Products 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