United States Department of Agriculture Province Integrated Resource Forest Service Management Project Township of Chatham Carroll County, New Hampshire June 2013 30 Day Comment Report Prepared By Saco Ranger District, White Mountain National Forest View of Province project area from Kearsarge North For Information Contact: Desiree Johnston Saco Ranger District White Mountain National Forest 33 Kancamagus Highway Conway, NH 03818 603-447-5448, ext. 128 http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=39435 The United States 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). 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Printed on Recycled Paper Province Project Vicinity Contents Chapter 1 — Proposed Action and Purpose and Need 1.1 Introduction . 1 1.2 Description of the Province Project Area . 3 1.3 Need For Action . 8 1.4 Decision Framework . 19 1.5 Public Involvement . 19 1.6 Issues . 20 Chapter 2 — Alternatives 2.1 Introduction . 21 2.2 Description of Alternatives . 21 Alternative 1: No Action . 21 Alternative 2: Proposed Action . 22 Alternative 3 . 26 2.3 Project Design Features . 30 2.4 Monitoring . 33 2.5 Other Alternatives Considered But Not Analyzed in Detail . 33 2.6 Comparison of Alternatives . 34 Chapter 3 — Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences 3.1 Introduction . 36 3.2 Inventoried Roadless Areas . .. 37 3.3 Fisheries and Aquatic Habitat . 63 3.4 Heritage Resources . 75 3.5 Non-native Invasive Plants. 77 3.6 Recreation. 84 3.7 Scenery. 93 3.8 Socio-Economic . 101 3.9 Soil Resources. 109 3.10 Water Resources. 121 3.11 Wildlife . 141 3.12 Federal Threatened, Endangered & Proposed Species (TEPS), Regional Forester Sensitive Species (RFSS), and Rare Communities . 161 3.13 Vegetation . 168 Chapter 4 — Preparers and Consultants . 184 References . 185 Appendix A — Glossary . 208 Appendix B — Silvicultural Treatments . 211 Appendix C — Project Design Features . ...215 Province Project - 30-Day Comment Report Chapter 1. Proposed Action and Purpose and Need 1.1 Introduction The Saco Ranger District of the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is initiating a 30-day public comment period for an integrated resource management project in the town of Chatham in Carroll County, New Hampshire. The Province Integrated Resource Management Project is designed to promote desired wildlife habitat and vegetation conditions outlined in the 2005 White Mountain National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan); improve recreational opportunities and watershed conditions; provide a sustained yield of high quality sawtimber and other forest products; and manage the transportation system to meet administrative and public needs. This document provides the details of an environmental analysis of the Proposed Action as well as two other alternatives, including No Action, which were analyzed for this project. This document, based on and tiered to the 2005 White Mountain National Forest Plan Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), analyzes the effects from implementation of the proposed Province Integrated Resource Management Project to physical, biological, and social resources. Chapters 1 and 2 of this document provide background information, public involvement, issues, and a detailed description of the Proposed Action and other alternatives considered for the project. The effects of alternatives analyzed in detail, including the Proposed Action, on recreation; scenery; soils; water; fisheries; roadless/wilderness; wildlife habitat, including Federal Threatened, Endangered, and Proposed Species (TEPS), Regional Forester Sensitive Species (RFSS) and Non-Native Invasive Species (NNIS)); social/economic resources and heritage resources are described in Chapter 3. Forest Plan goals, objectives, standards and guidelines provide resource management direction for the White Mountain National Forest (USDA-Forest Service, 2005c, WMNF). Applicable Forest Plan goals, objectives and standards and guidelines were used to design the Province Integrated Resource Management Project. The proposed action for Province Integrated Resource Management Project includes implementation of the following site-specific activities: • Managing forest vegetation to improve wildlife habitat and forest health conditions on approximately 2,100 acres, with an estimated 8 million board feet (MMBF) of associated timber harvest; 1 White Mountain National Forest – Saco Ranger District • Site preparation treatments in about 579 acres of timber harvest units; • Release treatments in about 79 acres of timber harvest units; • Timber stand improvement in approximately 67 acres of forest stands • Creation of one new and expansion of two existing permanent wildlife openings in about 15 acres of timber harvest units; • Replacing one undersized culvert on Weeks Brook Road (FR 303) and another on Hardwood Hill Road (FR 317); • Relocating an estimated 0.8 miles of the Weeks Brook Trail; • Reconstructing and maintaining portions of 8 existing Forest Roads, totaling an estimated 8.6 miles, and • Decommissioning approximately 0.6 miles of an existing road that is not included within the Forest Transportation System. • Reclassifying 2 short existing roads (FR 5471, FR 5471A) as Maintenance Level 1 (closed), and adding them to the Forest Transportation System. Most of the proposed project activities would be implemented within the next 3 to 5 years. This project also incorporates a variety of project design features to minimize impacts to air quality and public health from prescribed burning, reduce adverse impacts to scenic quality from timber harvest activities, protect cultural resource areas, minimize impacts to forest visitors recreating in the project area, protect trail integrity and maintain high quality wildlife habitat features. All proposed project activities would be undertaken within the scope of the Forest Plan’s standards and guidelines. Chapter 2 of this document describes additional details on the Proposed Action and other alternatives analyzed for this project. The Proposed Action and alternatives for the Province Integrated Resource Management project, as well as the analysis of their effects described in this document, are confined in scope to the area of the White Mountain National Forest within which they are contained. Neither the environmental assessment, nor the eventual decision document will apply to or set precedent for any area outside of this project. 2 Province Project - 30-Day Comment Report 1.2 Description of the Province Project Area The Province Integrated Resource Management project area is bounded within the Province Habitat Management Unit (HMU), which includes approximately 7,700 acres of National Forest lands located within the Saco River watershed, in the town of Chatham, New Hampshire (Figure 1.1). The project area is located primarily north and west of Upper Kimball Pond, extending from near Mount Shaw south and east to the Forest boundaries. Perennial and intermittent streams, ponds, small seeps and wetlands occur within the project area. Tributaries of the Saco River located within the project area include Weeks Brook; the other mapped streams that occur within the project area, including Province , Anderson and Middle Brook, drain into Upper and Lower Kimball Ponds. Several small unnamed tributaries, small seeps and wetlands are also located within the project area, including Province Pond and Shingle Pond. The terrain within the project area is variable but ranges from flat to moderately steep. Elevations range from about 400 feet near Upper Kimball Pond to 3220 feet at the summit of Kearsarge North. Forest habitats within this area include a mix of northern hardwoods, oak-pine, mixedwoods, and hemlock/spruce/fir softwood stands. Existing forest types and ages have been largely determined by past management activities that occurred within the project area prior to it becoming National Forest land, such as turn of the century railroad logging, as well as more recent logging since 1940 (truck roads, landings and skid trails). Timber harvesting that has occurred within the project area in the past 20 years included the Anderson Brook, Hurricane Mountain, Mack Hill, Middle Brook and Province Pond timber sales. The project area does not contain any Congressionally-designated wilderness areas. Presidential Range/Dry River and Sandwich Range are the closest designated wilderness areas to the project area, and are located approximately 8.5 and 9 miles away respectively. The Province project area includes approximately 2,150 acres of lands that were identified as Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA) under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RACR). No activities are proposed in these portions of the