United States Department Mt. Hood National Forest of Agriculture Forest Service Annual Monitoring Report PNW 2009 FY 2008 “Every forest has a story. Forest-scale sustainability monitoring needs to have enough of a common framework to tell the stories at each scale of the organization. In the end, the vital few Criteria and Indicators must be able to help us tell the stories.” Gary Larsen, Forest Supervisor Mt. Hood National Forest Table of Contents 5 Introduction 15 Summary 33 Strategy A 33 Partnerships and Volunteers 34 Financial Review 36 Forest Plan Amendments 39 Strategy B 39 Recreation 44 Heritage Resources 46 Transportation/Roads 48 Range Management 50 Minerals 53 Strategy C 53 Forest Resources and Timber Supply 65 Strategy D 65 Water Resources 72 Soil Resources 73 Strategy E 73 Fisheries 79 Wildlife 85 Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive (TES) Plants 89 Strategy F 89 Fire Management 91 Invasive Plants 94 Geology 95 Air Quality 99 Strategy G 101 Appendix B 105 Appendix C 2009 Annual Monitoring Report Stewardship Challenges for the Mt. Hood National Forest catalyst for learning and change on the part of the Mt. Hood is an Oregon icon. People care Forest Service and the citizens it serves to better deeply about public lands in the Pacific care for the land. Northwest. People in the greater Portland/ The plan is formulated around three guiding Vancouver metropolitan area in particular, principles: as well as those in surrounding urban and Ecosystem Restoration: Working actively to rural communities, recognize the important restore the forest’s ecosystems, ecosystem contribution Mt Hood National Forest processes, ecosystem functions, and makes to livability and sustainability of our recognizing people as part of the ecosystem. communities. It is therefore no surprise that Citizen Stewardship: Engaging people in so many citizens are dedicated to learning stewardship of their National Forest and its natural resources. about, protecting, and conserving our Economic Sustainability: Securing economic collective heritage and legacy of public sustainability of the Forest and its associated lands and their associated natural resources. programs of natural resource management and management of peoples’ use and occupancy of the Forest. The Mt. Hood National Forest as an organization People all across the Pacific Northwest regard and its employees are all similarly dedicated Mt. Hood and its environs as their own. The Forest to protecting and conserving the Forest and its hosts four and one-half million visitors every year. natural resources and to serving people. We They greatly enjoy first hand experiences of the are especially interested in developing a better mountain and its natural resources through all understanding of the unique contributions the forms of recreation and tourism. The forest’s Forest can make to the livability and sustainability beauty reminds us all that we care about of the greater Portland/Vancouver metropolitan something greater than ourselves. We care about area as well as surrounding communities. We fish, wildlife, forests, and the watersheds in which published a strategic stewardship plan on Earth we live. Ninety-eight percent of the Forest is Day, April 22, 2006, that frames and organizes the somebody’s municipal water supply. We stand in stewardship of Mt. Hood National Forest around a awe of the ebb and flow of natural processes in set of stewardship challenges. We have done so the ecosystem. For all these reasons and more, the with the aim of better understanding and meeting Mt. Hood National Forest is truly the Peoples’ Forest! the needs of citizens, fostering citizen stewardship, and providing a starting point for dialogue and 1 Mt. Hood National Forest Citizens are increasingly recognizing that We view these stewardship challenges as a stewardship of the Forest is not the sole starting point for dialogue between the agency responsibility of government officials, but is instead and current and potential partners in designing a shared civic responsibility. And increasingly, opportunities for public lands stewardship — citizens are recognizing that stewardship is more including other federal, state, and local than a duty; it is a privilege and an honor. Over agencies; citizens; state and local governments; 1,000 people roll up their sleeves every year corporations; and non-governmental volunteering their time and effort to help take care organizations. These are also offered in of their National Forest. Citizens help maintain recognition that many organizations, corporations, trails, administer Wilderness areas, maintain historic communities, and public agencies are becoming structures, conduct conservation education, greener and desire to redeem their conservation improve fish passage on and off the Forest, teach responsibilities or take conservation initiatives. While mountaineering skills, and a myriad of other we will be looking for opportunities for collaboration activities. in joint stewardship for public lands, we will also be looking to design our own organization for the In addition, through business relationships— future which maximizes the efficiency of a much- permits, contracts, partnership agreements, and smaller workforce that is still committed to meeting memoranda of understanding—many more the demands of the public on our well-loved people help us deliver services to and for the National Forest. The challenges articulated in the public. Included among these are the many Strategic Stewardship Plan are shown in Table 1. outfitter guides who operate on the Forest, five ski The rationale behind the challenges is outlined areas, the concessionaire who helps us run and below. maintain our campgrounds, Oregon Department of Transportation who cooperates with us in 1. The Forest is challenged to protect maintenance of roads, Portland State University, communities from wildfire through fuels Portland General Electric, the City of Portland with treatments on public lands and in cooperation whom we co-manage Bull Run Watershed to with local and state fire fighting agencies. provide drinking water to the residents of Portland, Fuel treatments need to be accomplished and many many others. in the wildland urban interface, municipal watersheds, and other strategic locations As I look ahead to the next decades, I have come on the Forest. Fire has been excluded from to recognize that the Forest faces significant many eastside forest stands where ecosystem challenges. These challenges are daunting. I processes are dependent on relatively frequent believe citizen stewardship is the key to securing natural fires. The result is that for the small the Mt. Hood National Forest and its associated number of fires that escape initial attack on natural resources as a legacy for our children. the east-side, many stands are destroyed by fire rather than sustained—to the detriment of The Mt. Hood National Forest Strategic Stewardship watershed, wildlife, and community values. The Plan aims toward weaving together the west-side forests are naturally characterized environment, the people who care about the by much longer return frequency forest Forest, and the economic benefit of the flow of stand replacement fires. For the west-side, goods and services from the Forest, including fuel management is aimed at protecting environmental services. In the Plan, we offer the communities and providing anchors for following stewardship challenges as a catalyst strategic defense against large-scale fires. In for learning and change on the part of the Forest both cases, protection of communities from Service and also for the citizens we serve to better fire is dependent on strategically designed care for the land. and placed fuels treatments and strong cooperation and collaboration among all fire- fighting agencies for fighting wildfire. 2 2009 Annual Monitoring Report 2. Public and private lands stream habitat 4. Public, private, and civic interests must restoration is critical to the recovery of work together to foster sustainable regional aquatic species. Many of Oregon’s most recreation which is essential to our spirits important fish species have declined and our economy. Tourism and recreation dramatically to the point where they are associated with the mountain not only listed under the Endangered Species Act. reinvigorates peoples’ spirits and brings families While the Forest is endowed with much and friends closer together, but plays an preeminent high quality fish habitat, some important role in the regional economy. We problem areas remain within the Forest, and estimate that tourism and recreation alone many opportunities for restoration exist on generate 34 million dollars of spending in public and private lands outside the Forest the regional economy every year. Public boundary. As an organization, the Forest is lands recreation is an integral part of regional also endowed with high quality professional recreation and tourism—we must therefore fisheries expertise. Every year we collaborate ensure that (a) opportunities for public lands with citizens—volunteers and landowners, recreation are well-matched to both the counties, watershed councils, sportsmen’s capabilities of the land and regional demand associations, schools, conservation and so that people’s needs are met and the natural environmental organizations, other agencies, resources upon which recreation depends and private companies, to find, assess, plan, are protected and conserved, (b) conflicts and implement high priority stream habitat in