United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Grants Pass Resource Area
2164N.E. Spalding
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526
IN KKI'LY RKFKRTO
1790(ORM070)
FEB072013
Dear Interested Party:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Grants Pass Resource Area, is inviting you to participate in
the development of the proposed Lower Graves Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) Project.
This project will consider timber harvesting and fuels treatments east of the town of Sunny Valley in
Township 33 South, Ranges 5 West and 6 West; Township 34 South, Ranges 4 West, 5 West and 6
West (see enclosed map). The proposed project will be analyzed in the Lower Graves IVM
Environmental Assessment.
The Lower Graves Planning Area is 10,625 acres located within the Graves Creek Watershed. The
Planning Area consists of 9,514 acres in the North General Forest Management Area (NGFMA) land
use allocation (LUA), 611 acres within the Southern General Forest Management LUA and 500 acres
of Connectivity Diversity Block LUA.
The Lower Graves Planning Area occurs within the northern spotted owl Revised Critical Habitat
(2012) with about 54% of proposed forest management activities occurring in either subunit KLE-2 or
KLE-3. The KLE-2 and KLE-3 subunits are expected to function primarily for east-west connectivity
between subunits and critical habitat units, but also for demographic support. These subunits facilitate
northern spotted owl movement between the western Cascades and Coastal Oregon and the Klamath
Mountains.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) evaluation of sites known to be occupied at the time of
listing indicates that these subunits were occupied at the time of listing. The USFWS has determined
that all of the unoccupied and likely occupied areas in these subunits are essential for the conservation
of the species to meet the recovery criterion that calls for the continued maintenance and recruitment of
northern spotted owl habitat (USFWS 2011, p. ix). The increase and enhancement of northern spotted
owl habitat is necessary to provide for viable populations of northern spotted owls over the long term
by providing for population growth, successful dispersal, and buffering from competition with the
barred owl.
The BLM will complete consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Lower Graves
IVM Project. Proposed treatment units will be evaluated for active forest management and will
consider fire risk and fire resiliency.
Objectives in northern spotted owl (NSO) habitat:
• Maintain/Improve nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat within critical habitat units and in
occupied northern spotted owl sites.
• Improve northern spotted owl dispersal habitat in critical habitat units and northern spotted owl
sites.
Objectives in Matrix land use allocation outside of northern spotted owl sites and critical habitat units:
• Improve forest vigor and health
• Provide timber and other forest products
• Assist in meeting Allowable Sale Quantity (ASQ) for timber production
The BLM is proposing to evaluate 1,922 acres for forest management activities. Depending on the
alternative chosen, silviculture treatments could include a combination of commercial thinning,
variable density thinning, regeneration harvest, restoration thinning, density management/stewardship,
and hazardous fuels reduction. Forest management activities could occur in Riparian Reserves but
would retain 50-60% canopy cover (See attached proposal for more information).
Harvest trees would be removed using tractor/ground based, cable/skyline, or helicopter yarding
methods. Activity fuels resulting from harvest activities would be treated by under burning, piling and
burning, removing biomass, or lop and scatter. Road reconstruction, temporary route construction,
road maintenance and permanent road construction are being considered to access tree harvest units
and to facilitate tree/biomass removal. The proposal also includes related road work such as road
closures and road decommissioning to maintain or improve aquatic and watershed conditions. The
number of acres and miles of road being considered for this project will be refined as this project
develops (See attached proposal for more information).
We are requesting comments regarding issues and concerns you may have that will help shape or
further develop this project. We recognize that people place a wide range of values on forest resources
and resource use on public lands. Opinions agreeing or disagreeing with current laws and policies are
not helpful in refining the proposed action. Your comments will be most useful for alternative
development if they are received by March 13, 2013. However, we appreciate your comments and
they will be accepted and reviewed up until a decision document on the project is issued.
Please submit your comments to the Grants Pass Resource Area Field Office, 2164 NE Spalding Ave.,
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526 (Attention: Ferris Fisher) or email your comments to
[email protected]
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying
information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment ~ including your personal
identifying information — may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your
comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee
that we will be able to do so. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses,
available for public disclosure in their entirety.
This is not the only opportunity you will have to comment on this project. There is an opportunity for
a public meeting followed by a field trip on February 23, 2013. Further information will be provided
for the public meeting and field trip to those who express an interest. The BLM is preparing extensive
written documentation of the project proposal and the possible environmental effects. This
documentation will be distributed to the public in the Lower Graves Integrated Vegetation
Management (IVM) Project Environmental Assessment (EA). When the EA has been prepared and
distributed you will have an opportunity to make further comments. If you would like to be informed
on the Lower Graves Integrated Vegetation Management Project please state this prominently at the
beginning of your comment letter. Those that choose not to respond to this letter will be removed from
further mailings regarding this project.
For additional information concerning this project, contact Ferris Fisher at 541-471-6639. Thank you
for your interest in this project.
Sincerely,
Allen Bollschweiler
Field Manager
Grants Pass Resource Area
Proposed silviculture prescriptions to be analyzed in the Lower Graves environmental
assessment (1,922 acres)
Commercial thinning (-499 acres):
• In previously entered plantations to enhance stand growth, quality and vigor
Variable density thinning (-800 acres):
• In heterogeneous stands (mixed species and several ages)
• Canopy cover retention varying from 40 to 60%
• Potential gap openings of 1A to 2 acres
• Skips of 10 to 15% of the management unit (including the Riparian Reserves)
Regeneration harvest (-120 acres):
• Adhere to the Medford District Resource Management Plan prescription of 6-8 trees per acre in
the North General Forest Management Area
• No regeneration harvests are proposed in South General Forest Management land use
allocation.
Riparian thinning
• Riparian Reserves would be thinned to improve stand vigor
• Treatments would be in compliance with the Aquatic Conservation Strategy objectives.
• Riparian Reserves would retain a minimum of 50% to 60% canopy cover.
Restoration thinning (~66 acres):
• Reduce stand density, increase vigor and reduce mortality
Density management (-175 acres):
• Reduce stocking level to maintain or enhance forest health, stand structure and function
Hazardous fuels reduction (-262 acres):
• Thinning up to 8 inches diameter at breast height (dbh) for conifer species and 4 inches dbh for
hardwood species
• Biomass extraction based upon economic feasibility
• Hand piling, hand pile & burn, or under burning
• Treatments could occur within Ecological Protection Zones (EPZ) but would remain 25 feet
from stream channels on either side. Canopy cover retention would not be altered within the
EPZ.
Summary of proposed road work to be analyzed in the Lower Graves environmental assessment
Road Reconstruction (-0.70 miles)
• Restores an existing road to the original modified condition
• Decommissioned after harvest and activity fuels are treated
Temporary Route Construction (-1.44 miles)
• Facilitate removal of commercial products and biomass
• Not part of permanent or designated transportation network system
• Decommissioned after use as close to possible to pre-treatment conditions
• Temporary routes decommissioned by ripping, mulching, and seeding
• Barricaded after use
Road Maintenance (-0.08 miles)
• Occur on existing roads to keep the original design standards
• Includes: road blading, reshaping, spot rocking, surface replacement, ditch cleaning, culvert
inlet/outlet cleaning, culvert replacement, removing roadside vegetation
Road Construction (-1.18 miles)
• Vehicle route which is improved and maintained by mechanical means
• Regular and continuous use
• Developed and maintained system that serves the needs of users in an environmentally sound
manner
Road Decommissioning (-2.86 miles)(will be analyzed in a separate Environmental Assessment)
• Identified through interdisciplinary process
• Would be sub soiled (or tilled), seeded, mulched, and planted to reestablish vegetation
• Cross drains, fills in stream channels, remove unstable areas, to restore hydrologic flow
• Closed with an earthen barrier or equivalent
• Road will not require further maintenance
Lower Graves Project Scoping Map
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No warranty is made by the Bureau of Land Management as to the accuracy,
reliability, or completeness of these data for individual or aggregate use
with other data. Original data were compiled from various sources and may
be updated without notification.
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