6th Biennial Report Submitted to National Marine Fisheries Service and United States Fish and Wildlife Service By Green Diamond Resource Company in fulfillment of requirements pursuant to NMFS Permit No. 1613 and USFWS Permit No. TE156839-0 March 15, 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I. Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 II. AHCP Compliance ..................................................................................... 2 A. AHCP Implementation Plan ........................................................................ 2 B. Field Trials with Mechanized Equipment .................................................... 2 C. Commercial Thinning ................................................................................. 5 D. AHCP Minor Modifications ......................................................................... 6 1. Minor Modification to AHCP Sections 6.2.3.5.9, 6.2.1.2.6 and 6.2.1.4.5 (Road Construction in RMZs) ............................................................... 7 2. Minor Modification to AHCP Sections 6.2.4.5.2 and 6.2.4.7 (Limited Use of Existing Skid Trails on Slopes Greater than 45 percent) ......... 10 3. Minor Modification to AHCP Sections 6.2.3.9.3 and 6.2.3.9.4 (Modifications to the Routine Road Maintenance and Inspection Plan: Schedule for RMAs and Mainline Roads) ........................................... 13 E. Forms for RPFs and Conservation Planning Staff to Document Pre- Harvest Conservation Measures for Each THP and Compliance with Those Measures Post-Harvest ................................................................. 16 F. Summary of THP Conservation Measures and Compliance with Those Measures While Operating Under the AHCP ........................................... 16 1. Notice of Filings .................................................................................. 16 2. Summary of Conservation Measures for Approved AHCP THPs ....... 17 3. Summary of Conservation Measures for Completed AHCP THPs ..... 17 III. Land Transactions and Plan Area Adjustments ....................................... 27 A. Notice of Transactions ............................................................................. 27 B. Land Transactions .................................................................................... 28 1. Plan Area Additions ............................................................................ 28 2. Plan Area Deletions ............................................................................ 28 3. Limitations on Plan Area Transactions ............................................... 28 4. Minor Modifications to the Plan Area .................................................. 29 C. Summary of Land Transactions and Plan Area Adjustments ................... 29 IV. AHCP Training Programs ......................................................................... 31 A. 2017 Training Programs ........................................................................... 31 B. 2018 Training Programs ........................................................................... 32 V. Road Management Measures .................................................................. 32 ii A. Programmatic Road Permits .................................................................... 32 B. Road Assessment Process ...................................................................... 34 C. Road Implementation Plan ....................................................................... 35 D. Road Maintenance and Inspection Plan ................................................... 44 VI. Geology .................................................................................................... 46 A. CMZ/Floodplain Delineation ..................................................................... 46 B. SSS Delineation Plan (AHCP Section 6.2.5.3.2) ...................................... 46 C. SSS Assessment (AHCP Section 6.2.5.3.3) ............................................ 47 1. Current Status of the SSS Assessment .............................................. 47 D. Mass Wasting Assessment (AHCP Section 6.2.5.3.4) ............................. 48 1. Purpose and Scope of the Assessment .............................................. 48 2. Current Status ..................................................................................... 48 VII. Budget ...................................................................................................... 49 VIII. Effectiveness Monitoring .......................................................................... 51 A. Rapid Response Monitoring ..................................................................... 52 1. Property-wide Water Temperature Monitoring .................................... 52 2. Tailed Frog Monitoring ........................................................................ 57 3. Southern Torrent Salamander Monitoring ........................................... 61 4. Road Treatment Implementation and Effectiveness Monitoring .......... 65 B. Response Monitoring ............................................................................... 66 1. Class I Channel Monitoring ................................................................. 67 2. Class III Sediment Monitoring ............................................................. 72 C. Long-Term Trend Monitoring .................................................................... 73 1. Long-Term Habitat Assessment ......................................................... 74 2. LWD Monitoring .................................................................................. 81 3. Summer Juvenile Population Estimates.............................................. 90 4. Outmigrant Trapping ........................................................................... 98 5. Turbidity Threshold Sampling ........................................................... 108 D. Experimental Watersheds ...................................................................... 109 1. Riparian Canopy Modification Experiment ........................................ 111 2. Pilot Project: SF Ah Pah Creek ........................................................ 113 3. Tectah Creek Riparian Canopy Experiment ...................................... 125 E. Protocol Updates .................................................................................... 128 iii IX. Adaptive Management Account ............................................................. 128 X. Changed Circumstances ........................................................................ 129 XI. Literature Cited ....................................................................................... 131 XII. Glossary ................................................................................................. 136 A. Abbreviations ......................................................................................... 136 B. Definitions .............................................................................................. 137 XIII. Appendices ............................................................................................ 151 A. Post-Harvest Forms of Completed THPs ............................................... A-1 B. Steep Streamside Slope (SSS) Assessment Field Data Sheet .............. B-1 C. Summary Table of Road Treatment Implementation and Effectiveness Monitoring Results from 2017 and 2018 ................................................ C-1 LIST OF TABLES PAGE Table 1. Summary of areas (acres) for each harvest type for the 98 approved THPs. .................................................................................................................. 19 Table 2. Summary of areas (acres) for each harvest type for 62 completed THPs. .................................................................................................................. 19 Table 3. Summary of the riparian features and the average length of each feature in the 62 completed THPs with prescribed AHCP protection measures, during the reporting period. ................................................................................. 20 Table 4. Summary of proposed road work and the average length of proposed road work in the 61 completed THPs with road work, during the reporting period. ............................................................................................................................ 20 Table 5. Summary of geomorphic features observed within THPs during the reporting period. .................................................................................................. 21 Table 6. The distribution of geomorphic features by watercourse type. ............. 22 Table 7. Summary of SSS prescriptions associated by watercourse type. ........ 22 Table 8. Summary of AHCP exceptions. ............................................................ 23 Table 9. Summary of timber harvest plans with alternative geologic prescriptions. ...................................................................................................... 23 Table 10. Summary of harvest-related alternative geologic prescriptions and area of alternative geologic prescriptions applied per THP. ................................ 24 Table 11. Summary of hazard abatement activities. .......................................... 25 Table 12. Summary of land transactions and minor modifications that occurred between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018. ..........................................