United States Department of Agriculture

Revised Draft Land Management Plan for the Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa Counties,

Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region R5-MB-319 2019 Cover: Image of Bass Lake, Sierra National Forest.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. El USDA es un proveedor, empleador y prestamista que ofrece igualdad de oportunidad Revised Draft Land Management Plan for the Sierra National Forest

Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa Counties, California

Responsible Official: Dean Gould Forest Supervisor Sierra National Forest 1600 Tollhouse Rd. Clovis, CA 93611 (559)297-0706 For more information contact: Judith Tapia Forest Planning Officer/Business Manager (559)297-0706 ext. 4938

Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction ...... 1 Location ...... 1 Distinctive Roles and Contributions of the Plan Area ...... 1 Purpose of the Forest Plan ...... 5 Adaptive Planning ...... 6 Plan Structure ...... 6 Plan Components ...... 7 Other Plan Content ...... 9 Chapter 2. Forestwide Desired Conditions and Management Direction ...... 11 Introduction ...... 11 Ecological Sustainability and Diversity of Plant and Animal Communities ...... 11 Air ...... 11 Watershed Conditions ...... 13 Desired Conditions ...... 14 Terrestrial Ecosystems ...... 23 Animal and Plant Species ...... 46 Invasive Species ...... 62 Fire ...... 64 Social and Economic Sustainability and Multiple Uses ...... 71 Sustainable Recreation ...... 71 Scenery ...... 74 Timber ...... 76 Range ...... 77 Tribal Relations and Uses ...... 81 Cultural Resources ...... 82 Local Communities ...... 84 Volunteers, Interpretation, Partnerships, and Stewardship ...... 85 Geology and Minerals ...... 86 Energy ...... 87 Infrastructure ...... 88 Lands ...... 89 Chapter 3. Area-specific Desired Conditions and Management Direction ...... 91 Management Areas ...... 91 Wildlife Habitat...... 91 Conservation Watersheds ...... 93 Sustainable Recreation ...... 94 Eligible or Recommended Wild and Scenic Rivers ...... 97 Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail ...... 98 McKinley and Giant Sequoia Grove ...... 99 Designated Areas ...... 100 Wilderness ...... 100 Wild and Scenic Rivers ...... 103 Special Management Area ...... 104 Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail ...... 104 Teakettle Experimental Forest ...... 105 Inventoried Roadless Areas ...... 106 National Recreation Trails ...... 106 Research Natural Areas ...... 107

Revised Draft Land Management Plan for the Sierra National Forest i Contents

Special Interest Areas ...... 108 Scenic Byways ...... 108 Chapter 4. Forest Plan Monitoring ...... 109 Introduction ...... 109 Monitoring Program ...... 111 Appendices ...... 121 Appendix A: Maps ...... 122 Appendix B: Proposed and Possible Actions ...... 135 Appendix C: A Renewed Partnership Focus for the Sierra National Forest ...... 141 Appendix D: Management Strategies for Resolving Recreation Resource Conflicts ...... 147 Appendix E: Timber Suitability and Management ...... 149 Appendix F: Aquatic and Riparian Conservation Strategy ...... 159 Glossary ...... 165

Tables

Table 1. Percent of seral stage patches (larger than 10 acres) by vegetation type at the landscape scale (tens of thousands of acres) ...... 30 Table 2. Structure within forested patches (10s to 100s of acre areas with similar forest) ...... 32 Table 3. Snags and large logs in unburned and low to moderate severity burn patches at the landscape scale (tens of thousands of acres)*...... 33 Table 4. Amount of seral stage patches (larger than 10 acre) by vegetation type at the landscape scale (tens of thousands of acres) ...... 37 Table 5. Structure within forested patches (10s to 100s of acre areas with similar forest) ...... 37 Table 6. Snags and large logs in unburned and low to moderate severity burn patches at the landscape scale (tens of thousands of acres)*...... 38 Table 7. Large/old trees at landscape scale, except where high severity fires have occurred (greater than 75 percent basal area mortality) ...... 44 Table 8. Yosemite toad probability of occupancy or reproduction and rangeland management practices ...... 81 Table 9. Acres of land within each recreation opportunity spectrum class in Destination Recreation Areas ...... 94 Table 10. Acres of land within each recreation opportunity spectrum class in general recreation areas ...... 95 Table 11. Acres of land within each recreation opportunity spectrum class in the challenging backroad areas ...... 97 Table 12. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that evaluate watershed conditions .. 111 Table 13. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that evaluate conditions for terrestrial ecosystems ...... 112 Table 14. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that evaluate ecological conditions for aquatic and riparian ecosystems ...... 113 Table 15. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that evaluate the status of focal species ...... 114 Table 16. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that evaluate ecological conditions for select at-risk species ...... 115 Table 17. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that evaluate visitor use, visitor satisfaction, and progress toward meeting recreation objectives ...... 116 Table 18. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that measure changes on the plan area resulting from climate change and other stressors ...... 117

Revised Draft Land Management Plan for the Sierra National Forest ii Contents

Table 19. Monitoring questions and associated indicators that evaluate progress toward meeting desired conditions not addressed elsewhere in the monitoring program, particularly those related to social a