L ANDSCAPE S CALE V ISION AND NEPA Payette National Forest, USFS R4 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

L ANDSCAPE S CALE V ISION AND NEPA Payette National Forest, USFS R4 Intermountain Region

GUIDING PRINCIPLES NEW VISION FOR NEPA – LANDSCAPE SCALE Leading Change – John P. Kotter  Establishing a sense of urgency (PRIORITY)  Creating the guiding coalition (COLLABORATIVES)  Developing a vision and strategy  Communicating the change vision and new reality  Assessing what’s working (and what’s not) and developing improvement  Successes integrate change in the culture

URGENCY/PRIORITY Weiser – Little Salmon Headwaters Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project  Landscape scale approach to managing 970,000 acres  One of 10 nationally selected Collaborative Forest Restoration Programs in 2012 – receive annual funding  Collaborative effort working with the Payette Forest Coalition (PFC)  Provides opportunities for the Payette NF to leverage funding to increase the rate of restoration and to contribute to local job retention and creation

CLEAR VISION Weiser – Little Salmon Headwaters Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project  Purpose:  Restore a significant portion of ponderosa pine dominated forests to historic stand structure and function  Restore habitat connectivity and quality for aquatic species and improve water quality ;  Restore a more natural fire interval on the landscape  Increase economic activity in Adams and Valley counties through forestry biomass utilization, and natural resource jobs.

VISION/STRATEGY Lost Creek Boulder Creek Landscape Restoration Project  Project area - 80,000 acres  Multiple Listed species – required consultation with USFWS and NOAA fisheries  Tribal Consultation - 3 separate tribes  Implementation of this project will result in landscape restoration through a combination of timber harvest, prescribed fire, and recreation improvement activities that will improve watershed conditions, wildlife habitat and contribute to economy and jobs .

ENABLE ACTION NEPA and NFMA The Forest Committed to a very aggressive timeline:  1 year NFMA - data gathering, developing a proposal, working with the public, partners, and PFC  Targeted field work  Utilized research and models to focus needs  Focused entire program of work for the District  1 year NEPA  Programmatic NEPA (Conceptual) approach  Project design features for implementation  Transparency in process steps – many public meetings and field trips  Worked collaboratively with the Payette Forest Coalition

ENABLE ACTION Lost Creek Boulder Creek Landscape Restoration Project Vegetation Management Commercial Thin - 12,200 acres • Commercial Thin/Mature Plantations - 8,100 acres • Patch Cut - 1,800 acres • Total Commercial Vegetation Treatments - 22,100 acres • Riparian Conservation Areas - 1,530 acres Total Non-commercial Thinning Treatments - 17,700 acres Prescribed fire treatments - 45,000 acres Recreation Management and Travel Management Improved dispersed campsites, vault toilet installations, major recreation • improvements, OHV trail creation, 35 miles of trail maintenance, trailhead improvement Road Management, Watershed Restoration, Fisheries Habitat Improvements Road graveling - 34 miles, Roads converted to long term closure status - 61 miles • System road decommissioning - 68 miles, Unauthorized route treatment - 117 miles • Fish passage improvements (Total) - 36 •

WHAT WORKED Success Strategies  Invested time up front to explain the Forest Plan - standards, guidelines, requirements, restrictions, limitations  Monthly meetings with the Payette Forest Coalition – open to the public for real time updates, presentations, field trips  Explain the rationale- In presentations, meetings, documents, and decisions  Subcommittees - Vegetation subcommittee met between monthly meetings to discuss desired outcomes, non-negotiables

WHAT WORKED Success Strategies  Engaged Regulatory Agencies and Tribes (USFWS, NMFS) very early and throughout the process  Engaged Technical Teams for threatened species to understand and propose restoration and vegetation treatment needs  Stewardship Proposals - Proposals approved by the Region to include a variety of treatment and work

BUILD ON CHANGE Challenges/Opportunities  “Implementation Wedge” - project design and mitigation workload  Working Together - Looking at using Good NA to use Idaho Department of Lands staff for prep and layout  Retained Receipts – opportunity for additional contract work for restoration  Litigation – LCBC was litigated – Judge denied temporary restraining order  PFC and Adams County were interveners on the Litigation

INTEGRATE CHANGE Anchoring new approaches  Continue Landscape Level Projects - 50,000 acre Middle Fork Weiser River, 75,000 acre Huckleberry, 45,000 acre proposed Meadows Valley  Analysis Area – identify opportunities upfront, draw project boundary after NFMA data collected, limit NEPA boundary to those areas where proposed activities would actually occur