United States Department of Agriculture Chiricahua FireScape Draft Environmental Assessment Forest Service Coronado National Forest Douglas Ranger District September 2018 For More Information Contact: Renee Kuehner Fire Management Officer 1192 West Saddleview Road Douglas, AZ 85607 520-388-8448 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). 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Chiricahua FireScape DRAFT Environmental Assessment Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 Location of the Proposed Project Area ....................................................................................... 1 Need for the Proposal ...................................................................................................................... 2 Management Direction ................................................................................................................ 3 Agencies and Persons Consulted ..................................................................................................... 3 Public Involvement ..................................................................................................................... 4 Proposed Action and Alternatives ................................................................................................... 4 No Action .................................................................................................................................... 4 Proposed Action .......................................................................................................................... 5 Description of Proposed Treatments ....................................................................................... 5 Treatment Units ....................................................................................................................... 8 Project Design Features ........................................................................................................... 9 Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action and Alternatives................................................. 11 Past, Present and Reasonably Foreseeable Actions .................................................................. 11 Cultural Resources .................................................................................................................... 13 Fire and Fuels ............................................................................................................................ 14 Range ........................................................................................................................................ 16 Recreation and Wilderness ........................................................................................................ 21 Scenery ...................................................................................................................................... 27 Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species ....................................................................... 29 Vegetation ................................................................................................................................. 36 Watershed.................................................................................................................................. 40 Appendix A – Design Features ...................................................................................................... 47 Appendix B – Maps ....................................................................................................................... 58 List of Tables Table 1. Chiricahua FireScape proposed vegetation treatments ...................................................... 9 Table 2. Past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions ........................................................... 12 Table 3. Allotment size and current management of the grazing allotments on the project area, Douglas Ranger District. Permitted use is shown in both numbers of livestock and animal unit months (AUMs). ............................................................................................................ 16 Table 4. Summary of determinations for threatened and endangered species............................... 29 Table 5. Summary of effects to Forest Service sensitive species. ................................................. 33 Table 6. Coronado National Forest management indicator species that may occur within the project area ............................................................................................................................ 35 Table 7. Design features for the Chiricahua FireScape Project organized by resource ................. 47 List of Figures Figure 1. Project area vicinity map .................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2. Acres of Treatment Type by Slope Percent ................................................................... 42 i Chiricahua FireScape DRAFT Environmental Assessment List of Maps Map 1. Treatment units in the Chiricahua FireScape project area ................................................ 59 Map 2. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Bruno unit ............................................................... 59 Map 3. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Cave Creek unit ...................................................... 59 Map 4. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Cochise Head unit ................................................... 59 Map 5. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Jackwood unit ......................................................... 59 Map 6. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for John Long unit ........................................................ 59 Map 7. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Limestone unit ........................................................ 59 Map 8. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Onion unit ............................................................... 59 Map 9. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Packsaddle unit ....................................................... 59 Map 10. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Pine Canyon unit .................................................. 59 Map 11. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Pinery unit ............................................................ 59 Map 12. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Price Canyon unit ................................................. 59 Map 13. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Rough Mountain unit ............................................ 59 Map 14. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Rucker unit ........................................................... 59 Map 15. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Rustler Park unit ................................................... 59 Map 16. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Silver Peak unit ..................................................... 59 Map 17. Chiricahua FireScape treatments for Turkey Creek unit ................................................. 59 ii Chiricahua FireScape DRAFT Environmental Assessment Introduction We are proposing to implement ecosystem restoration treatments, including hand thinning, mechanical treatments, wildland fire (planned and unplanned), and selective herbicide use on National Forest System lands on approximately 140,000 acres of the Douglas Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest. We prepared this environmental assessment to determine whether effects of the proposed activities may be significant enough to