Management Area 12 - HARVEY A. DESCRIPTION Location The Harvey Management Area bor- Management Most of the larger-sized trees in ders the northern edge of the Eagle Lake Dis- the area have been harvested Cattle graze the trict The southern boundary isjust northeast of Harvey Valley, Grays Valley, Upper Pine Creek, and a sliver of the Dixie Valley Range Allot- State Highway 44 The most prominent feature is Harvey Mountain, topped by a Forest Servlce ments Hunting is the primary recreation activ- fire lookout ity The Harvey Valley Demonstration Range contains 127 research plots which are monitored intermittently. The eastern boundary of the Physical Environment Slopes on the 7,354 foot Harvey Mountain are moderate to gentle, Blacks Mountain Expenmental Forest adjoins this area Harvey Valley (5,550 feet) and Grays Valley (5,600 feet) in the southwest are almost flat Precipitation averages 33 inches a year Soils Facilities The Lassen and Nobles Emigrant are moderately deep, and surface rock is common Trails cross the area A cinder pit lies on the on the timbered slopes Grays Valley and Harvey western edge Geothermal lease applications Valley have deep alluvial soils, and Harvey Val- have been filed for lands in the area The area is ley soils are clayey Ephemeral streams drain linked to Highway 44 by a well-developed Forest the mountain slopes into Pine Creek in Harvey road system, and the Union Pacific Railroad Valley parallels Highway 44 Biological Environment Eastside pine and B. STANDARDSAND mixed conifer forests, most of them havlng com- GUIDELINES mercial value, and brushfields cover the slopes Grass-sagebrush and wet meadow communities Recreation occupy the flats Fuel loads in the north half of the area are heavy, due pnmanly to timber 1 Manage the undeveloped camping area at harvest. The southern half has light to moderate White Horse Reservoir as a dispersed camp- fuel loads in forested areas among the sagebrush site flats. In 1955, a fire burned about 500 acres on the southeast side of Harvey Mountain An Sensitive Plants average of twelve small fires, caused mostly by lightning, burn here each decade Habitat for 1 Monitor and protect Egg Lake monkeyflower goshawk, sandhill crane, mule deer, pileated (Mimulus pygmaeus) populations, and in- woodpecker, pronghorn antelope, black bear, and ventory for additional populations in season- mallard is present The Blacks Mountain State ally wet areas Game Refuge (Refuge 1-F)extends into the north- western part of the area Several large 2 Inventory for Modoc County knotweed (Poly- prehistorical cultural sites have been discovered gonumpolygalozdes ssp esoterzcum)in adobe herein flat and dry pond basin areas Chapter 4-Management Direction 4-129 Water and Riparian Areas E. DESIRED STATE FOR DIVERSITY 1 Improve riparian conditions along Pine Creek. Consider fencing, grazing manage- Vegetation Acres ment and improvement projects. Shrub Wildlife Chauarral 0 MoLtane Shrub 5 1. Provlde “high” habitat capability for prong- Sagebrush 260 horn antelope through seeding, planting, and coordinating with other resource-use actwi- Conifer Forest ties Eastside Pine 570 Mixed Conifer 420 2. Protect and enhancenesting habitatfor sand- Red Fir 0 hill cranes F. WGEALLOTMENT C. PRESCRIPTION ALLOCATION STRATEGIES Prescnption Acres Allotment Strategy A Non-Timber Wildlife 200 Dixie Valley (~5%) D B Range-Wildlife 500 Grays Valley (25%) D E Early Successional 200 Harvey Valley (50%) D F Ripanaflish 200 Upper Pine Creek (5%) D K Rocky/Sparse Timber 400 R Range 9,000 T Timber 16,430 V Viewfl’imber 1,510 Total 28,440 D. WILDLIFE HABITAT ALLOCATIONS Goshawk Territories 3 Other Emphasis Species. Pileated woodpecker, deer (summer range), mallard, pronghorn antelope, sandhill crane 4-130 Chapter 4-Management Direction Chapter 4-Management Direction 4-131 Management Area Q3ASHURST Scale 0- .5 1 2 3 4 5Niles 1/2" 1 = Mile January 1992 4 k DESCRIPTION Location The Ashurst Management Area is Management The area was logged in the 1930’s locatedaboutfivemles northwest ofEagleLake. and much of the remainmg overstory of larger The southern boundary generally parallels Pine diameter trees has been removed in subsequent Creek, and the northern boundary abuts private timber sales. Large parts of the Champs Flat land The only private land wthin the area is at and Harvey Valley Range Allotments he wthin Champs Flat the area. Hunting is the major recreation activ- ity, an undeveloped campsite at Ashurst Lake 1s Physical Environment Most of the area is frequently used by hunters wthin the watershed of Pine Creek, a tnbutary of Eagle Lake The moderately deep soils are Facilities Oil and gas lease applications have weathered from lavas, and surface rock is com- been filed for lands in the area, but no leases mon Deep alluwal clayey soils occur in Little have been issued Access is from County Road Harvey Valley, Squaw Valley, and Champs Flat. 105, and the area has a network oflow-standard Elevations range from 5,200 to 7,089 feet Slopes Forest roads are generally moderate, the flanks of Ashurst Mountain, Little Harvey Mountam, and the west side of Cave Mountain are steeper. Precipitation B. STANDARDSAND averages 27 inches a year Northeast ofAshurst GUIDELINES Mountain is Ashurst Lake, a wetland marsh Biological Environment Flat, well-drained Fish areas support grass-sage communities. Slopes support eastside pine and mixed conifer stands. 1 Investigate the potential of developing a Ripanan vegetation grows along Pine Creek and warm water fishery at Ashurst Lake around Ashurst Lake Fuel loads in logged areas are generally light to moderate, but occasionally Recreation heavy Lightning caused only four small fires in thelastdecade,butin 1930 alargefirestartedon 1 Manage the undeveloped camping area at the north side of Ashurst Lake and burned into Ashurst Lake as dispersed campsites the adjacent management area Ashurst Lake is a wetland developed for waterfowl and sandhill Sensitive Plants crane production The area also provides habi- tat for bald eagle, goshawk, mule deer, prong- 1 Monitor and protect populations of Egg Lake horn antelope, and pileated woodpecker Sev- monkeytlower (Mzmuluspygmaeus) Inven- eral large prehistoncal cultural sites and some tory for additional populations in seasonally historical ranch structures are located in this wet areas area. 2 Inventory for Modoc County knotweed (Poly- gonumpolygalozdes ssp esotencum)in adobe flat and dry pond basin areas ~ Chapter 4-Management Direction 4-133 Water and Riparian Areas D. WILDLIFE HABITAT ALLOCATIONS 1. Improve riparian conditions along Pine Creek. Consider fencing, grazing manage- Goshawk Temtones 3 ment and improvement projects Other Emphasis Species: Pileated woodpecker, Wildlife deer (summer range), mallard, sandhlll crane, pronghorn antelope 1 Manage Ashurst Lake for waterfowl and sandhill crane nesting habitat. E. DESIRED STATE 2. Improve ensting wetland habitat in Little Harvey Valley to increase waterfowl and FOR DIVERSITY sandhill crane production and improve m- gratory waterfowl habitat Vegetation Acres 3. Provlde “high” habitat capability for prong- Shrub horn antelope through seedmg, plantmg, and Chaparral 0 coordinating mth other resource-use activi- Montane Shrub 2 ties Sagebrush 190 Conifer Forest Eastside Pine 810 C. PRESCRIPTIONALLOCATION Mixed Comfer 300 Red Fir 0 Prescnption Acres A Non-Timber Wildlife 200 B Range-Wildhfe 4,700 F. RANGEALLOTMENT E Early Successional 200 STRATEGIES F Ripanaflish 1,190 K Rocky/Sparse mmber 7,870 Allotment Strategy R Range 1,000 T Timber 11,900 Champs Flat (>70%) D Harvey Valley (25%) D Total 27,060 4-134 Chapter 4-Management Direction Chapter 4-Management Direction 4-135 Management Area Scale -- 0-- .5 1 2 3 4 5 Miles EAGLE 3/8" = 1 Mile January 1992 Management Area 14 - EAGLE A. DESCRIPTION Location Eagle Lake is the prominent land- cluding the Gallatin Burn (1951), Mernll Burn mark in the Eagle Management Area, located in (19551, and the Eagle Lake Burns (1939 and the eastern central portion of the Forest Most 1984) have occurred on and adjacent to National NationalForestlandisnorthwestofthelake,but Forest lands The 1984 Eagle Lake Fire burned the area boundary is extended to include scat- the edges of two campgrounds and threatened tered National Forest parcels south and east of the historic Gallatin House Fire occurrence is the lake The Bureau of Land Management also relatively high, annually averagmg four small adnnnisters land within the area, and the Cali- fires caused equally by lightning and people fornia State Lands Commission has jurisdiction Eagle Lake boasts one of the highest wintenng over the land under the lake The remainder is populations of bald eagles in the state, it is not private land uncommon to view 50-60 individuals dunng December and January. Several breeding terri- Physical Environment Elevations range from tones also exist on Forest Service land, as well as the current lake level of about 5,105 feet to 7,609 Bureau of Land Management and private lands feet on Roop Mountain The lake level is ex- within the basin Other important emphasis pected to meto its historic level of about 5,117 species present are mule deer, pronghorn ante- feetwiththe pluggingoftheBlighTunne1 Slopes lope, mallard, pileated woodpecker, bufflehead, vary from almost flat to very steep Annual sandhill crane, goshawk, and osprey A special precipitation averages 27 inches, but ranges osprey management area has been established widely from 16 to 40 inches Virtually all lands on Forest land at Brockman Flat. The lake is a wthm the area are within the Eagle Lake water- trophy-trout fishery for the Eagle Lake trout, the shed Pine, Mernll, and Papoose Creeks are only trout capable of surviving in the lake’s Eagle Lake’s major tributaries, the lake has no alkaline water A California Department of Fish natural outlet and is moderately alkaline. Al- and Game fish trap for hatchery purposes is though a few rock outcrops are granitic, most of located at the mouth of Pine Creek Important the area’s landscape is the result of volcanism cultural resources in the area include rock nngs, Basalt lava flows are highly evident, and soils petroglyphs, pictographs, and historical cabins are generally shallow and very rocky.