United States Department of Agriculture Environmental Forest Service Assessment July 2016 Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Project Darby Ranger District, Bitterroot National Forest Ravalli County, Montana Lead Agency USDA Forest Service Responsible Official Julie K. King Bitterroot National Forest 1801 N. First St. Hamilton, MT 59840 For Further Information Ryan Domsalla West Fork District Ranger Bitterroot National Forest 6735 West Fork Road Darby, MT 59829 406-821-3269 The 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 of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDAs 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, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795- 3272 (voice) or (202)720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Environmental Assessment Chapter 1: Purpose and Need The Forest Service prepared this environmental assessment in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other relevant Federal and State laws and regulations. The Forest Service discloses the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of implementing the proposed action and alternatives to it in this environmental assessment. Project Development The Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Project (Westside Project) area is approximately 5,700 acres and administered by the Darby Ranger District, Bitterroot National Forest in Ravalli County (legal location: T.5N. R.21W., sections 16, 21, 27, 28, 32-33; T.4N. R.22W. sections 1, 12; and T.4N., R.21W. Sections 4-8, 17, 18 PMM). Drainages within the Westside project area include Roaring Lion Creek, Judd Creek, Gold Creek, Camas Creek, Coyote Coulee, Hayes Creek, and Lost Horse Creek, all of which drain toward the Bitterroot River (Fig. 1-1). The project area also includes about 930 acres of the Selway-Bitterroot Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA) and 91 acres of private land. This project does not analyze any activities on private lands. Bitterroot Restoration Committee The Bitterroot Restoration Committee (BRC) is a local collaborative group whose members represent conservation, community, agency, business, and industry interests. The BRC is interested in: · restoring low-to-mid-elevation ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests to a more open and resilient condition · reducing the potential for wildfire, originating on National Forest System land, to threaten adjacent private properties · creating opportunities for managing natural fire The BRC works on projects that support the application of restoration principles (www.montanarestoration.org/restoration-principles). The BRC encouraged the Bitterroot National Forest to look at thinning the forests between Roaring Lion Creek and Camas Creek that are potentially prone to severe wildfire and supports fuel reduction and forest restoration. The northern half of this area is in the Selway-Bitterroot Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA). In the past few years, BRC members met with individual landowners and hosted an informal neighborhood gathering in November 2014, followed by another meeting in April 2015. The reasons for thinning as well as the challenges presented by steep topography, difficult access, and roadless area designation were discussed at these gatherings. The Forest Service was developing a proposal to treat the area north of Lost Horse Canyon at the time the BRC was exploring treatments between Camas and Roaring Lion creeks. The Forest Service agreed to consider the BRC proposal, and added it to the larger project north of Lost Horse Creek. The project was renamed Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Project. The Forest Service proposal would continue treatments in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) along the Bitterroot front and improve forest resilience to insects, disease, and fire, as recommended in the Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan (RC&D 2006). 1-1 Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Environmental Assessment Healthy Forest Restoration Act Every five years, Congress passes legislation that sets national agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy. In 2014, Congress approved the Agriculture Act of 2014, commonly referred to as the “2014 Farm Bill.” Section (§) 8204 of the 2014 Farm Bill amended Title VI of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 ((HFRA) 16 U.S.C. 6591)) by adding §602, and §603 to provide treatment in areas of declining forest health. The projects are carried out in accordance with HFRA Title I §102(b), (c), (d), and sections 104, 105, and 106. Section 603 allows the use of categorical exclusions for projects that meet specific criteria. The HFRA encourages collaboration, emphasizes community protection, focuses the environmental analysis process, and provides a “pre-decisional” objection process. Under HFRA Title VI, §602 (b)(1), the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, was required to designate areas requested by state Governors as part of an insect and disease treatment program. An area may be designated as part of an insect and disease treatment program if it meets as least one of the following criteria: · Experiencing forest health decline based on annual forest health surveys · At risk of experiencing substantially increased tree mortality over the next 15 years based on the most recent National Insect and Disease Map published by the Forest Service · In an area in which hazard trees pose imminent risk to public infrastructure, health, or safety On May 20, 2014, Secretary Vilsack announced the designation of approximately 45.6 million acres of National Forest System lands in 35 states to address insect and disease threats that weaken forests and increase the risk of forest fire. The Governor of Montana requested designation of nearly 5 million acres in Montana, and asked that project development in these designated landscapes be given priority. Approximately 3,731 acres of the proposed Westside project area were included in the Governor’s priority landscape designation (Fig. 1-2) as part of a national insect and disease treatment program. The Selway-Bitterroot IRA in the project area was not designated as part of the initial insect and disease treatment program. In addition, a mapping error did not include lands in the project area that had been added to the National Forest system. The Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor submitted a request to the Secretary, which is supported by the State Forester, for these areas to be designated as part of the insect and disease treatment program. The request to designate the additional 1,876 acres is pending; however, the areas are within the WUI (Fig. 1- 3) and activities are proposed as part of the Westside project to reduce hazardous fuels. If the areas are not designated under HFRA Title VI, they can be treated using HFRA Title I. Therefore, the Westside Project is eligible for analysis under Titles I and VI of the HFRA. Title I authorizes hazardous fuel reduction projects located in the WUI. Title VI, Section 602 (d), authorizes projects where areas have been designated as part of a national insect and disease treatment program (USDA 2015, R1-15-11). All proposed treatment units in the Westside project area are in the WUI (Fig. 1-3) and some of these units are in areas designated as part of the national insect and disease treatment program due to stands that are increasingly susceptible to mountain pine beetle infestation and Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe infection. Stand susceptibility to mountain pine beetle infestation is based on 2015 Forest Health Aerial survey maps and Forest Health Protection field evaluations (PF-SILV-001). 1-2 Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Environmental Assessment Figure 1-1: Vicinity Map of the Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Project between Lost Horse and Roaring Lion Creeks, south of Hamilton, Montana and North of Darby, Montana. 1-3 Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Environmental Assessment A project designated under HFRA Title I or VI does not change or exempt the Forest Service from complying with any other existing law, regulation, or policy that applies, such as the National Environmental Policy Act. Under HFRA Title I §104, which applies to both Titles I and VI §602, the project can be analyzed using an EA or EIS. Projects in the WUI (within 1.5 miles of the boundary of an at-risk community) are not required to study, develop, and describe any alternative other than the proposed agency action if the proposed agency action implements the recommendations of the Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) regarding general location and basic methods of treatment (HFRA §104(d)(2) (3)). The National Forest boundary is the boundary of the at-risk community because of the density of homes with basic infrastructure and services within or adjacent