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Appendix C—Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Area Evaluation Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................C-1 PART ONE: THE ROADLESS AREA INVENTORY............................................................................C-2 PURPOSE..........................................................................................................................................................C-2 PREVIOUSLY INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS........................................................................................C-2 INVENTORY CRITERIA ....................................................................................................................................C-3 Forest Service Region 9 (Eastern Region) GUIDELINES .............................................................................C-4 INVENTORY PROCESS AND RESULTS.........................................................................................................C-5 Step One........................................................................................................................................................C-5 Step Two......................................................................................................................................................C-12 Step Three ...................................................................................................................................................C-24 Step Four .....................................................................................................................................................C-28 PART TWO: WILDERNESS EVALUATION ......................................................................................C-31 OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................................................................C-31 EVALUATION OF NEW WILDERNESS OPPORTUNITIES...........................................................................C-31 MANAGEMENT Of WILDERNESS.................................................................................................................C-31 CONSEQUENCES OF A WILDERNESS OR NON-WILDERNESS AREA DESIGNATION..........................C-34 INDIVIDUAL ROADLESS AREA EVALUATIONS .........................................................................................C-39 ROADLESS AREA 19001 (TRACY RIDGE) ...............................................................................................C-39 ROADLESS AREA 19002 (CHESTNUT RIDGE)........................................................................................C-49 ROADLESS AREA 19003 (MINISTER VALLEY) ........................................................................................C-55 ROADLESS AREA 19004 (ALLEGHENY FRONT).....................................................................................C-66 CAPABILITY....................................................................................................................................................C-69 AVAILABILITY.................................................................................................................................................C-71 NEED FOR WILDERNESS ON THE ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FOREST ....................................................C-73 Ecosystem Representation..........................................................................................................................C-74 Geographic Representation.........................................................................................................................C-74 Accessibility..................................................................................................................................................C-75 Regional Wild and Natural Areas.................................................................................................................C-77 National Visitor Use Monitoring Project (Wilderness Areas) .......................................................................C-78 Passive Use Values .....................................................................................................................................C-80 Public Involvement.......................................................................................................................................C-80 Summary of Wilderness Need .....................................................................................................................C-81 Process for Determining Wilderness Recommendations..........................................................................C-81 Allegheny National Forest Final Environmental Impact Statement i Appendix C. Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Area Evaluation List of Tables Table C-1. Summary of Step One (Areas 5,000 acres or more)............................................................................C-8 Table C-2. Summary of Step One (Areas 2,500 to 4,999 acres) ...........................................................................C-9 Table C-3. Summary of Step One (Areas less than 2,500 acres)........................................................................C-10 Table C-4. Reasons for Eliminating Areas 3-7 thru 3-17......................................................................................C-11 Table C-5. Summary of RARE II and Special Interest Areas...............................................................................C-12 Table C-6. Summary of Existing Improvements (Areas >5,000 acres)................................................................C-15 Table C-7. Summary of Existing Improvements (Areas <5,000 acres)................................................................C-16 Table C-8. Summary of Reconfigured Areas .......................................................................................................C-21 Table C-9. Evaluation of Morrison, Tracy Ridge and Minister Valley...................................................................C-25 Table C-10. Evaluation of Allegheny Front, Clarion River and Allegheny Reservoir (South Cornplanter) ..........C-26 Table C-11. Evaluation of Chestnut Ridge, Cornplanter and Hearts Content......................................................C-27 Table C-12. Evaluation of Hickory Creek Addition, Verbeck Island and Clark Island ..........................................C-28 Table C-13. Supplemental Reasons for Eliminating Areas ..................................................................................C-29 Table C-14. Areas Evaluated for Wilderness Area Designation ..........................................................................C-39 Table C-14. Status of Roads within the Minister Valley RA .................................................................................C-60 Table C-15. Distribution and Amount of Wilderness in the East ..........................................................................C-75 Table C-16. Population Centers within 250 Miles of a Wilderness Area..............................................................C-76 Table C-17. Percentage Use of ANF Facilities and Specially Designated Areas ................................................C-79 Table C-18. Projected Wilderness Visits for the ANF...........................................................................................C-79 ii Allegheny National Forest Final Environmental Impact Statement Appendix C—Roadless Area Inventory and Wilderness Area Evaluation INTRODUCTION The National Forest Management Act and the 1982 Planning Rule require an evaluation of potential wilderness area designations during forest plan revision. To fulfill this requirement, an inventory and evaluation of roadlesss areas that may be suitable for congressional wilderness area designation is needed. The first step is the inventory in which roadless areas are identified for further evaluation as potential wilderness areas. The second step evaluates the potential addition of the inventoried roadless areas to the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) to determine the mix of land and resource uses that best meet public needs. According to the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act of 1975, areas in the East are considered for wilderness study area (WSA) designation. Any area designated a wilderness study area is subsequently studied to determine its suitability or non-suitability for preservation as a wilderness area, and a recommendation must be submitted to congress within ten years from the date of designation as a wilderness study area. Appendix C is divided into two parts: • Part One describes the process and requirements used to inventory roadless areas. All areas inventoried during the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation of 1979 (known as RARE II) and other Allegheny National Forest (ANF) lands were considered in the inventory process for the revision of the Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP). • Part Two presents the wilderness evaluations for each of the areas that met inventory requirements in Part One. Part Two discusses in detail the capability, availability and need for wilderness area designation and includes a summary of the current congressionally designated wilderness areas on the ANF. The planning record contains supplemental data and maps used in