North Fork Eel River Watershed Analysis Version 1.0 June 1996 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and the United States Department of Interior (USDI) Bureau of Land Management are diverse organizations committed to equal opportunity in employment and program delivery. USDA and USDI prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, political affiliation and familial status. Persons believing they have been discriminated against should contact the department Secretary, U. S., Department of Agriculture or Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20250 or call 202/720-7327. Preparers David Fuller, Team Leader, Fisheries Biologist, BLM-Arcata Elaine Adams, Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service Kathy Heffner-McClellan, Social Scientist, Six Rivers National Forest Tom Keter, Anthropologist, Six Rivers National Forest Lisa Hoover, Botanist, Six Rivers National Forest Jeff Mattison, Wildlife Biologist, Six Rivers National Forest Liz McGee, Assistant Ecologist, Six Rivers National Forest Lisa Mizuno, Fisheries Biologist, Six Rivers National Forest Lance Rieland, Engineer, Six Rivers National Forest Lucy Salazar, Fire Specialist, Six Rivers National Forest Mark Smith, Geologist, Six Rivers National Forest Joanne Spitler, Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service Jan Werren, GIS Specialist, Six Rivers National Forest Leslie Wolff, Hydrologist, Six Rivers National Forest Ken Wright, Planning Analyst, Six Rivers National Forest Contributors/Technical Support Marcia Andre, District Ranger, Six Rivers National Forest Anita Bowen, Biological Technician, Six Rivers National Forest Bruce Bryan, Vegetation Mapper, Six Rivers National Forest Gil Craven, Geologist, Six Rivers National Forest Carolyn Cook, Hydrologist, Six Rivers National Forest Scott Downie, Habitat Manager, California Department of Fish and Game Mike Furniss, Hydrologist, Six Rivers National Forest Hank Harrison, Forester, BLM-Arcata Steve Hawks, Wildlife Biologist, BLM-Arcata Tom Jimerson, Forest Ecologist, Six Rivers National Forest Jeff Jones, Vegetation Mapper, Six Rivers National Forest Dave Lamphear, GIS Specialist, USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station John McRae, Botanist, Six Rivers National Forest Kemset Moore, AmeriCorps Watershed Steward Project Sam Morrison, Geologist, USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station Cynthia Nelson, Editor, Six Rivers National Forest John Price, GIS Specialist, BLM-Arcata Paul Roush, Wildlife Biologist, BLM-Arcata Jeff TenPas, Soil Scientist, Six Rivers National Forest Stan Thiesen, Geologist, Six Rivers National Forest Katherine Worn, GIS Specialist, Six Rivers National Forest List of Figures Figure 1. Location of North Fork Eel River watershed located in northwestern California. Figure 2. Public and private land ownership in North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 3. Wildlife Habitat Relationships (WHR) classification of land within North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 4. Size class distribution for commercial tree species within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 5. Canopy closure of commercial tree species within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Source: Timberland Task Force. Figure 6. Closure class of commercial tree species within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Source: Timberland Task Force. Figure 7. Vegetation series map of Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel watershed. (14) Figure 8. Map of seral stage distribution of all vegetation types for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 9. Map of seral stage distribution of commercial tree species for Late-Successional Reserves in Six Rivers National Forest within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 10. Distribution of vegetation series and sub-series relating to oak woodlands for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 11. Fire hazard rating for flame length during August for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River Basin. Figure 12. Fire hazard rating for flame length during June for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River Basin. Figure 13. Fire hazard rating for rate-of-spread during June for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 14. Fire hazard rating for rate-of-spread during August for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 15. Commercial tree species seral stage distribution for Matrix land and major roads for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 16. Northern spotted owl habitat for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 17. Late-Successional Reserves and Northern spotted owl critical habitat for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 18. Deer habitat zones and roads for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 19. Northwest Forest Plan land allocations and wetland habitats for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 20. Dispersal habitat for the Northern spotted owl for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 21. Streams, roads, and subwatershed boundaries within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Figure 22. Bedrock geology and roads for Six Rivers National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. List of Tables (Page number) Table 1. The distribution of Wildlife Habitat Relationship (WHR) vegetation types in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 2. The distribution of vegetation types on BLM land in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 3. The distribution of the vegetation series within the National Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 4. The allocation of seral stages for all vegetation types within the National Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 5. The seral stages and allocations of the dominant vegetation series within the National Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 6. The harvested and naturally occurring acres of each seral stage in the commercial series (tanoak, white fir, Douglas-fir) within the National Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 7. Threatened (FT), Endangered (FE), Proposed (PFT) and Special Status wildlife species in the Eel River Basin. Table 8. National Forest range/grazing allotments on National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 9. The subseries in the white oak series within the National Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 10. Number of fire occurrences and acres burned per decade in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 11. Fuel model combinations for the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 12. Fuel model moisture conditions. Table 13. Fire suppression effectiveness. Table 14. Relative proportions of calculated ROS and FL for the June and August weather scenarios for National Forest land within the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 15. The percent of each seral stage in the Douglas-fir series for all lands (includes private) within the Six Rivers national Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed and the South Zone. Table 16. The percent of each seral stage in the tanoak series for all lands (includes private) within the Six Rivers national Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed and the South Zone. Table 17. The percent of each seral stage in the white fir series for all lands (includes private) within the Six Rivers National Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed and the South Zone. Table 18. The percent of each seral stage in the Douglas-fir series for Six Rivers National Forest in the North Fork Eel River watershed and the South Zone. Table 19. The percent of each seral stage in the tanoak series for Six Rivers National Forest in the North Fork Eel River watershed and the South Zone. Table 20. The percent of each seral stage in the white fir series for Six Rivers National Forest in the North Fork Eel River watershed and the South Zone. Table 21. Threatened, Endangered, Proposed and Special Status species in the Eel River Basin. Table 22. Northern spotted owl pairs and territorial singles occurring in LSRs, Wilderness, Matrix and private land in the North Fork Eel River watershed. List of Tables continued Table 23. Allocations and seral stages of northern spotted owl Nesting, Roosting, and Foraging habitat within the National Forest boundary in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 24. Road densities by subwatershed in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 25.Late-Successional Reserve acreage in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Table 26. Historic livestock numbers by county. Table 27. Range allotments within the Six Rivers National Forest boundary of the Eel River. Table 28. Estimated stream crossings in the North Fork Eel River watershed. Acronym Definitions AWC - Available Water Capacity BLM - USDI-Bureau of Land Management CDF - California Department of Forestry CDFG - California Department of Fish and Game CFF - Cartographic Feature Files - map components taken from 7.5 quad maps CFI - Continuous Forest Inventory CHU - Critical Habitat Unit CRMP - Coordinated Resource Management Plan CWD - Coarse Woody Debris EUI - Ecological Unit Inventory FLPMA - Federal Land and Policy Management Act FSEIS