United States Department of Black Hills Resilient Landscapes Project Agriculture Forest Service Draft Environmental Impact Statement September 2017 USDA Forest Service Black Hills National Forest Commonly Used Acronyms AMZ Aquatic management zone NEPA National Environmental Policy Act BE Biological evaluation NFMA National Forest Management Act BHNF Black Hills National Forest NFS National Forest System BHRL Black Hills Resilient Landscapes Project NHPA National Historic Preservation Act BMP Best management practice NLEB Northern long-eared bat CDA Connected disturbed area NRHP National Register of Historic Places CMAI Culmination of mean annual increment OHV Off-highway vehicle CTA Commercial treatment area PA Programmatic agreement CWPP Community wildfire protection plan POL Products other than logs DEIS Draft environmental impact statement ROD Record of decision EPA Environmental Protection Agency ROS Recreation opportunity spectrum ESA Endangered Species Act SDGFP SD Department of Game, Fish and Parks FEIS Final environmental impact statement SHPO State Historic Preservation Officer FRCC Fire regime condition class SIO Scenic integrity objective FSH Forest Service handbook SOLC Species of local concern FSM Forest Service manual SS Structural stage GIS Geographic information system USFWS US Fish and Wildlife Service HFRA Healthy Forest Restoration Act WCPH Watershed Conservation Practices hdbk. HUC Hydrologic unit code WUI Wildland-urban interface MA Management area MIS Management indicator species MVUM Motor vehicle use map In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. 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Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: [email protected]. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. Black Hills Resilient Landscapes Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement Custer, Fall River, Lawrence, Meade, and Pennington Counties, South Dakota, and Crook and Weston Counties, Wyoming Lead Agency: USDA Forest Service Cooperating Agency: Wyoming State Forestry Division Responsible Official: Mark Van Every Forest Supervisor 1019 North 5th Street Custer, SD 57730 For Information Contact: Anne Davy 217 Buds Drive Hill City, SD 57745 406-273-1836 Abstract: This Draft Environmental Impact Statement documents the detailed analysis of the Proposed Action and No Action Alternative for the Black Hills Resilient Landscapes Project. The project focuses on increasing ecosystem resilience to disturbances such as severe wildfire and mountain pine beetle infestation. Project development and documentation are being carried out in accordance with the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, as amended. The Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board is serving as a collaborator for this project. The Proposed Action includes mechanical and manual fuel reduction, prescribed fire, hazard tree removal, timber harvest, precommercial thinning, pine planting, site preparation, maintenance of quaking aspen, bur oak, and grasslands, and enhancement of within-stand diversity. This document also describes and analyzes an amendment to the Black Hills National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, as amended. Comments on this Draft Environmental Impact Statement must be received by October 30, 2017. It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times and in such a way that they are useful to the Agency’s preparation of the EIS. Therefore, comments should be provided prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly articulate the reviewer’s concerns and contentions. The submission of timely and specific comments can affect a reviewer’s ability to participate in subsequent administrative review or judicial review. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide the respondent with standing to participate in subsequent administrative review or judicial review. i ii Summary Purpose and Need The Black Hills Resilient Landscapes Project area includes most of the Black Hills National Forest (BHNF). Recent mountain pine beetle infestation and response actions have changed forest conditions. The forest is more open and there are many dead trees. Forest structure has moved away from objectives of the BHNF Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan), as amended. The project’s purpose is to reduce hazards, move forest structure and composition toward objectives, and increase resilience to disturbance. The project is within the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) Designated Areas as requested by the Governors of South Dakota and Wyoming and is proposed under HFRA authority. Collaboration with the National Forest Advisory Board and involvement of Tribes, agencies, and other interested parties has occurred and is continuing. Public comments on the initial proposal resulted in identification of issues regarding scenery, noxious weeds, and landscape-level structural diversity. Proposal The Proposed Action includes: • Fuel treatments (manual, mechanical, and prescribed fire) • Hazard tree reduction • Enhancement of aspen, grasslands, oak, and uneven-aged pine stands • Pine structural stage modification (commercial timber harvest, non-commercial thinning, tree planting, and site preparation) • Road construction and improvement The Proposed Action would amend the Forest Plan (page 36) to update existing language regarding slash retention with more recent direction found in the Regional Watershed Conservation Practices Handbook. The No Action alternative was analyzed in detail. Other action alternatives were considered but, for various reasons, were not analyzed in detail. Environmental Consequences Ponderosa Pine The Proposed Action would result in progress toward achievement of forest structure objectives. If no action is taken, progress toward objectives would generally occur more slowly, if at all. Development of dense, older stands would take time. Proposed thinning of small pine would result in an increase in individual tree diameter growth as compared to the No Action alternative. Snags and down woody material would generally continue to exist at Forest Plan objective levels. Forest Pathogens Due to the recent mountain pine beetle epidemic and timber harvest, the amount of forest at risk of infestation has been significantly reduced. Even where dense stands still exist, they are at a much lower risk of attack due to surrounding forest conditions. As compared to taking no action, proposed activities would allow new stands to develop at different rates and densities iii and further diversify the forest, delaying redevelopment of landscape-level susceptibility to beetle infestation. Aspen and Oak Proposed activities would maintain species diversity in mixed pine/aspen and pine/oak stands and perpetuate aspen and oak stands by reducing competition with conifers. If no action is taken, conifer encroachment would continue to pose a risk to some aspen and oak stands. Fire and Fuels As compared to taking no action, the Proposed Action would generally result in more manageable potential fire behavior. Most fires in treated areas would burn on the surface at low to moderate severity with isolated pockets of trees burning. Fire hazard would generally decrease in treated areas. Proposed activities would increase resilience to future wildfires as compared to the No Action alternative. Botanical The Proposed Action would not affect threatened or endangered plant Resources species. It may adversely impact individuals of Region 2 Sensitive plant species but would not be likely to result in a loss of viability in the Planning Area nor cause a trend toward federal listing or a loss of species viability range-wide. Plant species of local concern would persist in the Black Hills