United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Coos Bay District Office 1300 Airport Lane, North Bend, OR 97459 Web Address: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/coosbay E-mail: [email protected] 1792/5400 (ORC040) DOI-BLM-ORWA-C040-2018-0002-CX Chetco Bar Fire Salvage Scoping Document Dear Citizen: The Coos Bay District Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Myrtlewood Field Office is in the process of planning the salvage of dead or dying trees that burned in the Chetco Bar Fire earlier this year. Reported on July 12, 2017, the Chetco Bar Fire started in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness on U.S. Forest Service Land from lightning strikes. The fire burned within the 2002 Biscuit Fire and 1987 Silver Fire scars between Brookings, Oregon on the west and Cave Junction on the east. Winds pushed the fire southward towards Brookings and onto private and BLM administered lands in Curry County. The fire burned on approximately 185,920 acres of which 6,501 acres are BLM administered lands. The fire burned on steep slopes (elevations range from 3420 ft. on ridge tops to 1200 ft. in drainages) within two watersheds (North Fork Chetco River and South Fork Pistol River). A Burned Area Emergency Response Team (BAER) produced a Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) map and field reviewed it to create a soil burn severity map. Soil Burn Severity (SBS) acres for BLM administered lands equated to 2,143.65 acres (High SBS), 1,227.02 acres (Moderate SBS), 992.81 acres (Low SBS), and 2,136.97 acres unburned. Project location Table 1 Township, Range, and Sections of Proposed Treatment Area. Township & Range Sections 39 South, 13 West 1, 2, 11-15, 22-27 Proposed Project Summary The BLM proposes to salvage harvest a maximum of 250 acres of dead or dying trees and construct no more than 0.5 miles of temporary road located within the Chetco Bar Fire scar. The BLM would salvage trees within the 2,143.65 acres found to have the highest soil burn severity as described above. Currently, the Interdisciplinary Team is in the process of field review and planning for each potential site location (Map1). The team is evaluating stand quality and resource concerns in each location and is narrowing down the proposed locations based on their findings. The BLM has elected to fulfill the necessary National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidelines by administering this project under a Categorical Exclusion (CX) established by the Department of the Interior or the BLM. Pursuant to 516 Department Manual 11.9 (C) (8): Salvage of dead or dying trees not to exceed 250 acres, require no more than 0.5 mile of temporary road construction. Such activities: a) May include incidental removal of live or dead trees for landings, skid trails, and road clearing. b) May include temporary roads which are defined as roads authorized by contract, permit, lease, other written authorization, or emergency operation not intended to be part of the BLM 2 transportation system and not necessary for long-term resource management. Temporary roads shall be designed to standards appropriate for the intended uses, considering safety, cost of transportation, and impacts on land and resources; and c) Shall require the treatment of temporary roads constructed or used so to permit the reestablishment, by artificial or natural means, of vegetative cover on the roadway and areas where the vegetation cover was distributed by the construction or use of the road, as necessary to minimize erosion from the disturbed area. Such treatment shall be designated to reestablish vegetation cover as soon as practicable, but at least within 10 years after the termination of the contract. d) For this CX, dying tree is defined as a standing tree that has been severely damaged by forces such as fire, wind, ice, insect, or disease, and that in the judgement of an experienced forest professional or someone technically trained for the work, is likely to die within a few years. Examples include, but are not limited to: i. Harvesting a portion of a stand damaged by a wind or ice event. ii. Harvesting fire damaged trees, Project Objectives (Purpose) The purpose of the proposed project is to implement the management direction of the 2016 ROD/RMP. The BLM would carry out timber management activities in the Harvest Land Base as directed by the 2016 ROD/RMP, to accomplish the following objectives: Harvest Land Base • Recover economic value from timber following disturbances, such as fires, windstorms, disease, or insect infestation (p. 59) Need for the Project Within the Harvest Land Base, there is a need to offer for sale the declared Allowable Sale Quantity (ASQ) for the Coos Bay District. The BLM has a statutory obligation under the O&C Act (The Oregon and California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant Lands Act of 1937) to manage O&C lands for permanent forest production in accordance with the sustained yield principle (ROD/RMP p. 5). The 2016 ROD/RMP directs that forest stands in the Harvest Land Base be managed to provide permanent forest production in conformity with the principles of sustained yield, consistent with the O&C Act (2016 ROD/RMP p. 5). In response to providing permanent forest production, the RMP declared an ASQ of 12 million board feet (MMbf) for the Coos Bay District. Timber harvested within the Harvest Land Base as part of the Chetco Bar Fire Salvage project would contribute to meeting the District’s annual ASQ. Public Input The Coos Bay District invites you to submit written comments on any issues or concerns you may have regarding the proposed timber harvest by November 28, 2017. Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the address listed below during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays, and may be published as part of the final document. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publically available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. 3 Please direct questions to Ryan Desliu at 541-756-0100. You may send your comments to the Bureau of Land Management, Myrtlewood Field Office, 1300 Airport Lane, North Bend, OR 97459, Attn: Ryan Desliu. Comments may be submitted electronically to [email protected], Attn: Ryan Desliu. /s/ Jeffrey K. Davis November 20, 2017 Jeffrey K. Davis Date Myrtlewood Field Manager Enclosures: Map 1: Location of Proposed Project Map 4 .