United States Department of Agriculture Chewuch Transportation Plan Draft Decision Notice and FONSI Okanogan- Wenatchee Methow Valley May Forest Service National Forest Ranger District 2016 DRAFT DECISION NOTICE Formatted: Font: Bold And Finding of No Significant Impact Chewuch Transportation Plan Formatted: Font: Bold USDA Forest Service Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Methow Valley Ranger District Okanogan County, Washington INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION Based on the analysis presented in the Chewuch Transportation Plan Environmental Assessment, I have decided to select a modified Alternative 1. The difference between Alternatives 1 and 2 for this project is that Alternative 1 included the Falls Creek Road (Forest Road [(FR] 5140000) pavement reclamation and the Twentymile Creek Ford Decommissioning (FR 5010000) which will decommission the East Chewuch Road ford to restore fish passage for spring Chinook, steelhead, and bull trout, thereby creating a gap in the road and eliminating the existing road and snowmobile loop. These actions were not included in Alternative 2. The Falls Creek Road project includes pavement removal and downgrades the maintenance level from Maintenance Level (ML) 4 to Maintenance Level 3, while the Twentymile project includes the decommissioning of 0.46 miles of road across the Twentymile ford for disconnecting Forest Road (FR) 5100000 from FR 5010000. Project Location The Chewuch Transportation Plan (CTP) Analysis Area encompasses approximately 316,000 acres of National Forest System lands in the Upper and Lower Chewuch River watersheds, located mostly north of Winthrop, Washington in Okanogan County into portions of the Pasayten Wilderness. A vicinity map of the project is contained in the CTP Environmental Assessment on page 9. Background Documented road construction on National Forest System lands (NFS) in the Chewuch Watershed started in the 1920s and ended in the 1990s, culminating in 394 total miles of roads in the analysis area. The primary reason behind road construction was to access timber and provide recreation opportunities, but throughout the years the road network also provided access to other uses such as fuels reduction, fire suppression, and range activities. In the 1920s and 1930s, timber harvest averaged a modest one million board feet per year and directed most road development. Road construction was focused along the Chewuch River. By 1922, the West Chewuch Road (FR 5100000) had extended to Falls Creek, and by 1931 it extended to Thirty Mile Creek. This road became the transportation “backbone” of the area creating a north-south route. Numerous roads were then constructed into the adjoining sub-watersheds, typically following tributaries of the Chewuch River: Eightmile Creek (FR 5130000), Cub Creek (FR 5200000), Boulder Creek (FR 3700000), and East Chewuch (FR 5010000). With the decline in timber outputs in the 1990s, the prevailing use of the Chewuch River watershed roads transitioned to recreation. Currently the primary recreational uses in the watershed are driving for pleasure, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, camping, hunting, bicycling, hiking, and use of private recreation residences. Chewuch Transportation Plan Draft Decision Notice and FONSI Page 1 Until the early 1980s, roads were often viewed as benign infrastructure, providing access for administrative and recreation uses. In the 1980’s researchers formally documented that roads can catch and collect precipitation and accelerate erosion and run-off into streams at road crossings, which has negative impacts to aquatic habitats. In response, new Forest Service direction reflected this growing knowledge. The Okanogan Forest Plan (1989) contained guidance that directed the Forest to manage roads in a manner that prevents adverse impacts on aquatic habitat resources (Forest Plan, page 4-50). In 1994 the Forest Service and other federal natural resource agencies developed the Record of Decision for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning Documents within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl (USDA & UDSI, 1994), commonly referred to as the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP). The NWFP covers the western portion of the Chewuch Watershed and identified this area as a Key Watershed, which is important to the recovery of at-risk fish stocks, such as spring Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout. A similar plan was created in 1995 for Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead outside of the range of the Northern Spotted Owl, which covers the east side of the Chewuch watersheds: Decision Notice/Environmental Assessment for the Interim Strategies for Managing Anadromous Fish-producing Watersheds in Eastern Oregon and Washington, Idaho, and Portions of California (USDA & USDI, 1995); commonly known as PACFISH. The Chewuch River originates northeast of Remmel Mountain at the junction of Remmel Creek and Cathedral Creek. It flows generally south to join the Methow River at Winthrop. The Methow empties into the Columbia River at Pateros. Tributaries of the Chewuch River include Andrews Creek, Lake Creek, Windy Creek, Thirtymile Creek, Boulder Creek, Doe Creek, Eightmile Creek, Falls Creek, North Fork Boulder Creek, Pearrygin Creek, Twentymile Creek, and Cub Creek. The Environmental Assessment is hereby incorporated by reference. DECISION AND RATIONALE Decision This Decision Notice (DN) documents my decision for the Chewuch Transportation Plan (CTP) Environmental Assessment (EA) as well as the rationale for this decision. Of the two action alternatives considered in detail, I have decided to select a modified Alternative 1. The difference between Alternatives 1 and 2 is mainly that Alternative 1 included both the Falls Creek Road (FR 5140000) pavement reclamation and the Twentymile Creek Ford Decommissioning (FR 5010000). The selected alternative, a modified Alternative 1, will not decommission the Twentymile Creek Ford. However, it will decommission about 91.7 miles of roads, convert 34 miles of roads to administrative use only, change the maintenance from ML-2 to ML-3 for FR 3700000 and FR 3900000, and construct 0.4 miles of new road to replace existing riparian road (refer to EA, Table 1.2 on page 17). Alternatives are more fully detailed in Chapter 2 of the CTP Environmental Assessment on pages 19 – 44. I have decided to not decommission Forest Road 5010000 (0.46 miles) at the Twentymile ford stream crossing to retain the emergency egress route along the Eastside of the Chewuch River. The spawning habitat that would benefit from the decommissioning of the ford is limited and other alternatives (although expensive) does exist. This crossing will be looked at this summer and fall exploring different solutions such as relocating the road, building a bridge, or improving aquatic habitat at the crossing to improve fish passage over the existing ford. The Forest Service cannot afford maintaining the Falls Creek road to its current standard based on the current and projected use. By changing the maintenance level from ML-4 to ML-3, costs will be reduced considerably. I have decided to continue patching the road until the surface deterioration becomes too costly to patch and safety concerns necessitate roto-milling or some other way of converting the pavement to a gradable surface that the Forest Service can manage. This management of the road may happen in sections, over time and will accommodate use by road bikes until it is converted to a gradable surface. Chewuch Transportation Plan Draft Decision Notice and FONSI Page 2 This Environmental Assessment proposes how each of the approximately 394 miles of National Forest roads (FR) in the Chewuch Transportation Plan (CTP) Analysis Area will be managed, 352 miles of National Forest System roads and 42 miles of unauthorized roads. The current road network provides about 228 miles of open roads, while action Alternatives 1 and 2 will decrease the open-road mileage to 173.4 and 173.8 miles respectively; see EA, Table 1.2 on page 17 and Appendix B, pages 148 - 152. This is approximately a 24% reduction in open roads. The current road network has detrimental effects on the environment and costs more to maintain than the District typically receives for road maintenance. Therefore, the purpose of the Chewuch Transportation Plan is to identify an appropriate road network that addresses three primary needs: Reduce environmental impacts of the road system; Reduce road maintenance costs; and Maintain adequate access for safe public and administrative use. Reduce Environmental Impacts of the Road System Quality fish habitat has been diminished by certain roads within the Chewuch River watersheds. Fine sediment in streams exceeds desired conditions and adversely impacts spawning and rearing substrate and pools. Further, high road densities in portions of the Chewuch watersheds have compromised wildlife habitat suitability by displacing reclusive species to relatively unroaded portions of the watershed. Finally, roads reduce available habitat for native plants and serve as the primary routes for the introduction and spread of invasive (non-native) plants. Emphasis was given to close or decommission high and moderate environmental risk roads that have limited public and administrative use. Reduce Road Maintenance Costs The Methow Valley Ranger District typically receives an average of $80,000 of funding for road maintenance of which approximately $35,000 is allocated to the Chewuch watersheds road system. Based on estimated average annual maintenance costs of $318,309