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Forest Plan Amendment

Kensington Gold Project

This amendment to the Forest Plan modifies the Small Old Growth Reserves in VCUs 160, 190, and 200 to better meet size, location and habitat composition criteria.

The decision to amend the Forest Plan was documented in the Record of Decision for the Kensington Gole Project signed by the Forest Supervisor on December 9, 2004.

December 9, 2004
Juneau Ranger District

Small Old Growth Habitat Reserve Adjustments in VCUs 160, 190, and 200
Non-significant Forest Plan Amendment

During the development of the 1997 Forest Plan Final Environmental Impact Statement, a conservation strategy was designed to ensure that implementation of the Forest Plan would provide a reasonable assurance of maintaining viable and well-distributed wildlife populations across the Tongass National Forest for 100 years. As part of this conservation strategy, a forest-wide system of large, medium, and small Old-Growth Habitats or Reserves (OGRs) was established and a set of standards and guidelines developed to preserve the integrity of the forest’s old-growth ecosystem. The habitats have been identified and mapped in the 1997 Forest Plan.

The Old-Growth Habitat land use designation provides for evaluation and possible adjustment of the location of the habitats based on site-specific information. Where feasible, the boundaries should follow geographic features so that they can be recognized in the field. The 1997 Forest Plan Record of Decision committed the Forest Service to work with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADG&G) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to review the location, size, and suitability of the OGRs during project-level planning.

As part of the Kensington Gold Project analysis, three small OGRs were identified within the project area (Figure 1). Small OGRs require a contiguous landscape of at least 16 percent of the total Value Comparison Unit (VCU) area and 50 percent of this area must be productive old-growth timber. Along with the general criteria of size and productivity, connectivity is also a criterion. The design of each habitat should be based on wildlife concerns specific to the area. Criteria commonly used in designing small habitats include important deer winter range, probable goshawk nesting habitat, probable marbled murrelet nesting habitat, large forest blocks, rare plant associations, and landscape linkages. VCUs are distinct geographic areas encompassing one or more large stream systems with boundaries that follow watershed divides.

The study area includes three VCUs (160, 190, and 200) with a small OGR within each. The Forest Service, ADF&G, and USFWS conducted an interagency review of the existing mapped small OGRs in November 2003. The review team determined that none of the mapped small OGRs in the study area met the requirements for size or the amount of productive old growth established under the Forest Plan and recommended nonsignificant modifications to each of the small OGRs. The findings and recommendation of the interagency review team are summarized below by VCU and explained in more detail in Appendix F of the 2004 Kensington Gold Project Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS).

VCU 160

Finding: The small OGR in VCU 160 does not meet Forest Plan standards and guidelines for size. This small OGR covers 802 acres and is 573 acres short of the 16 percent of VCU requirement.

Recommendation: Increase the size of the small OGR in VCU 160. The redrawn boundaries of this OGR will border but not include the tailings storage facility, access roads, pipeline, and maintenance access facilities.

VCU 190

Finding: The small OGR in VCU 190 does not meet the Forest Plan standards and guidelines for size nor percentage of productive old growth (POG) needed. This small OGR covers 1,299 acres and is 106 acres short of the 16 percent of VCU requirement. Existing POG is 615 acres; 106 acres short of the 50 percent POG requirement.

Recommendation: Expand to the north in light of existing natural fragmentation and limited amounts of productive old growth.

VCU 200

Finding: The small OGR within VCU 200 does not meet the Forest Plan standards and guidelines for productive old growth. Existing POG is 648 acres; 227 acres short of the 50 percent POG requirement.

Recommendation: Due to the naturally fragmented area, additional acres were used in the adjacent VCU160. Appendix K of the Forest Plan allows for up to 30 percent of an OGR to be mapped in an adjacent VCU if the resulting habitat achieves the objectives of the old-growth habitats. The interagency review team agreed that expanding the small OGR in VCU 200 to include portions of VCU 160 would increase connectivity values, capture important beach and estuary fringe habitats and riparian habitats, and include highervolume stands. The approximately 36 percent of the recommended modified OGR would extend into VCU 160.

The Secretary of Agriculture's implementing regulation indicates the determination of significance is to be "…based on an analysis of the objectives, guidelines and other contents of the forest plan" (36 CFR 219.10(f)). The Forest Service has issued guidance for determining what constitutes a "significant amendment" under the National Forest Management Act. This guidance, in Forest Service Handbook (FSH) 1909.12 - Chapter 5.32, identifies four factors to be used in determining whether a proposed change to a forest plan is significant or not significant. These four factors are (1) timing; (2) location and size; (3) goals, objectives, and outputs; and (4) management prescriptions. An analysis of the factors is presented below.

Timing - The Tongass Forest Plan Revision was completed in 1997. The Old-Growth Habitat land use designation provides for evaluation and possible adjustment of the location of the habitats based on site-specific information. Project level analysis for the Kensington Gold Project in 2003 determined that existing OGRs in the study area did not meet Forest Plan standards and guidelines.

Location and Size - These modifications increase the size of three small OGRs to meet Forest Plan standards and guidelines and better preserve areas of old-growth forest and their associated natural ecological processes to provide habitat for old-growth associated resources. OGRs in VCUs 160, 190, and 200 will be increased in size by 652,163, and 458 acres, respectively.

Goals, Objectives, and Outputs

The boundary modifications approved here will increase the connectivity from higher elevations to the beach and estuary fringe habitats and additional riparian habitat, and would increase the number of intact patches of medium- and high-volume old-growth stands. Maintaining forested corridors between OGRs or other non-development land use designations is a key component to maintaining viable wildlife populations on the forest.

Management Prescriptions - These recommendations would move 1,615 acres of productive old growth in land use designations suitable for timber harvest, into OGRs unsuited for timber harvest. Table A- 1 summarizes the cumulative effects of small OGR adjustments on the Forest to date. Individually and cumulatively the changes to acres suitable for timber harvest are minor.

Table A-1. Effects of Forest Plan Amendments on Acres Suitable for Timber Harvest as of December 2004

Conclusion - Based on the analysis and recommendations of the interagency review team and the significance analysis above, the OGRs within VCUs 160, 190, and 200 will be modified as described in Appendix F of the 2004 Kensington Gold Project SEIS and shown in Figure 2. No direct or indirect effects on OGR is expected other than the positive effect of adjusting the boundaries of the existing small OGRs to comply with Forest Plan standards and guidelines. This amendment is fully consistent with current Forest Plan goals and objectives.

This analysis in combination with the 2004 Kensington Gold Project SEIS and ROD document my decision to amend the Forest Plan with a non-significant amendment expanded OGRs in VCUs 160, 190, and 200.

USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest
Last Modified: February 06, 2006