United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service August 2014 Junction Vegetation Management Project Environmental Assessment Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District, Deschutes National Forest Deschutes County, Oregon Township 20 South, Range 9 East, Sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25; T20S, R10E sections 3, 5-11, 14-22, 27-31; and T19S, R10E, sections 28-33; Willamette Meridian Figure 1: Junction Vegetation Management Project vicinity within the Deschutes National Forest. Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 PURPOSE AND NEED ................................................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 MANAGEMENT DIRECTION ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 PROPOSED ACTION ................................................................................................................................................... 8 1.5 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND SCOPING ............................................................................................................................ 9 1.6 ISSUES .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.7 PROJECT RECORD ................................................................................................................................................... 13 1.8 DECISION TO BE MADE ............................................................................................................................................ 13 CHAPTER 2 – ALTERNATIVES, INCLUDING THE PROPOSED ACTION ...................................................................... 14 2.1 ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ....................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED BUT ELIMINATED FROM DETAILED STUDY AND NON-SIGNIFICANT ISSUES ..................................... 14 2.3 ELEMENTS COMMON TO THE ACTION ALTERNATIVES ..................................................................................................... 15 2.4 ALTERNATIVE DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 20 2.5 RESOURCE PROTECTION MEASURES ........................................................................................................................... 32 2.6 SALE AREA IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS ......................................................................................................................... 40 2.7 COMPARISONS OF ALTERNATIVES .............................................................................................................................. 41 CHAPTER 3 – ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES ................................................................................................ 44 3.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................... 44 3.2 CUMULATIVE ACTIONS AND ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................................... 44 3.3 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ANALYSIS BY RESOURCE ....................................................................................................... 47 CHAPTER 4 – CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION .......................................................................................... 251 4.1 AGENCIES AND PERSONS CONSULTED ....................................................................................................................... 251 LITERATURE CITIED ............................................................................................................................................ 254 APPENDIX A – UNITS AND PRESCRIPTIONS ........................................................................................................ 266 APPENDIX B – UNITS WITH REQUIRED SUBSOILING ........................................................................................... 277 APPENDIX C - RATIONALE FOR WILDLIFE SPECIES NOT CONSIDERED FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS .......................... 279 APPENDIX D – ROADS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................. 286 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) please contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Junction Vegetation Management EA Chapter 1: Purpose and Need Chapter 1: Purpose and Need for Action 1.1 Introduction and Background The Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest has prepared this Environmental Assessment in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other relevant federal and state laws and regulations. This environmental assessment (EA) discloses the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts that would result from the proposed action and any other alternative, including a no action alternative. Additional documentation, including more detailed analyses of project area resources, may be found in the project planning record located at the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District in Bend, Oregon. The purpose of this EA is to evaluate the potential effects of proposed activities that are designed to address forest health and fuels issues as well as timber production objectives. The 17,556 acre Junction Vegetation Management project area is located approximately 15 air miles southwest of the City of Bend and less than 5 miles west of the community of Sunriver (Figure 1). The project area is located within portions of the Spring River, Fall River and Deschutes Braid-Deschutes River subwatersheds (12th field) within the Fall River-Deschutes River watershed (10th field). Major roads that cross the project area include Forest Roads 40, 42, and 45 (figure 2). The legal location for this project are T20S, R9E sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25; T20S, R10E sections 3, 5-11, 14-22, 27-31; and T19S, R10E, sections 28-33, Willamette Meridian. Across most of the project area lodgepole pine is the dominant stand type (70%), due mostly to the relatively flat topography which creates cold conditions. Most of the lodgepole pine stands have been managed in the past creating a mosaic of predominantly younger stands interspersed with older stands. Records of management date back to the 1960s. Most of the past activities within lodgepole stands involved salvage harvest. Ponderosa pine occurs on small buttes and where there is more topography such as Pistol and Sitkum Buttes (see Figure 1 and figure 2). Many ponderosa pine stands include trees of all size classes. Large numbers of understory trees and a heavy brush component compete with the older, generally larger trees for moisture and nutrients. All ponderosa pine stands have been previously entered with the exception of Pistol Butte. The majority of the area is within the General Forest management allocation where the primary goal is to emphasize timber production while providing forage production, visual quality, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities. The objective in General Forest is to continue to convert unmanaged stands to managed stands and manage the forest to have stands in a variety of age classes with all stands utilizing the site growth potential (LRMP p. 4-117). 1 Junction Vegetation Management EA Chapter 1: Purpose and Need Figure 2: Map of Junction project area displaying buttes, elevation contours, roads, and proximity of Fall River and Deschutes River. 2 Junction Vegetation Management EA Chapter 1: Purpose and Need Current Conditions The project area is a relatively flat area interspersed with scattered buttes, and is dominated by stands of lodgepole pine. Due to past harvest activities, stands of younger structural stages are common throughout the area intermixed with other age classes. Salvage harvest took place across much of the lodgepole pine that was killed by mountain pine beetle. The remaining green overstory is infected with dwarf mistletoe. Where understories are developing, they are being infected by overstory dwarf mistletoe. Unmanaged stands of lodgepole pine have experienced and continue to experience mortality associated with mountain pine beetle activity. In