OPAC QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER of MEETINGS & ACTIVITIES Issue 6 May 23, 2003
Olympic Forest Supervisor Dale Hom welcomed the group to the May 23, 2003 meeting held in Forks, WA and gave a short overview of the history of the group.
The Olympic Province Advisory Committee was created in 1994 when the Northwest Forest Plan was implemented. The purpose of the committee was to engage interested parties in activities on the Olympic National Forest. The OPAC has been very active since its inception. It has been recognized for successes in collaboration and was recently re-chartered to continue functioning in the future.
INFORMATION UPDATE
Dale Hom
Dale shared the following issues facing the Forest Service nationally:
Fire/Fuels: We had a record fire season in 2002. Local forest practices over the past 50 years have changed the composition of the National Forest in regards to fire. Olympic National Forest is not currently threatened, but major fires occurred in the early 1700¹s on the Olympic Peninsula.
Forest Fragmentation: We¹re dealing with more fragmentation of ownerships, ecosystems, habitat and loss of open space to development.
Unmanaged Recreation: Lands are being loved to death with sophisticated ³toys² which are creating damage to the land. OHVs are powerful and versatile and can do extensive damage unless the use is carefully managed.
Invasive Species: These species present a large concern throughout the National Forest System and are impacting forest and range ecosystems. Invasive species are not always obvious. Some even look good on the landscape, so it doesn¹t necessarily look like you have a big problem.
Competitive Sourcing: Many are talking about privatizing government services. We are studying the organization to determine the most efficient level of doing work. Competitive Sourcing studies will compare government jobs to private options and determine if there is a better, more efficient way of doing business. About 3000 jobs are being looked at in the agency this year. Over a five year period, about 10,000 jobs will be studied, but this doesn¹t mean that all will be converted. This issue is generating a lot of opinions and media coverage.
OLYMPIC NATIONAL FOREST ACCESS AND TRAVEL MANAGEMENT UPDATE
Ward Hoffman
We started the ATM planning process in spring of 2002 and the plan has gone through many stages of development at both the District and Forest levels. The objective of the planning process was to develop a framework for managing the Forest¹s present road system in a safe and environmentally sound manner with substantially reduced road maintenance funding.
During November 2002, the Forest held meetings with local tribes and the public throughout the communities surrounding the Forest. As a result, we received 73 formal comments. The ATM will aid the Forest in determining our maintenance priorities. Currently, we are looking at needs that are three times greater than our funding. Over 800 miles of roads are targeted for decommissioning
The ATM is not a decision document. It is a tool for planning. It is a starting point for analysis on each road. The actual analysis will lead to a decision. This process will take a long time. With 800 miles targeted for decommissioning, this could equate to a 40 year process. We will focus on the high risk areas first. There may be options at the time of decommissioning to convert the road to a trail depending on funding and opportunity.
The initial final product will be used to make future informed decisions. The ATM is available on our Forest website (http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic).
NW FOREST PLAN IMPLEMENTATION MONITORING
Ward Hoffman
Ward invited OPAC members to participate in the NW Forest Plan implementation monitoring program for FY03. The schedule will be developed in the near future. The plan for this year will include two commercial thinning projects and two watersheds: Watershed-scale monitoring, Hood Canal Tributaries Watershed. Project monitoring, Triton Commercial Thinning, Hood Canal. Watershed-scale monitoring, Cook Creek Watershed, Quinault. This is a small watershed but key due to fisheries. Project monitoring, Black Lab Commercial Thinning (Cook Creek/Quinault)
The field review will be July 21-23. Ward will finalize the schedule and send out preliminary data, questionnaire and watershed information to participants.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MONITORING IN RELATION TO THE NW FOREST PLAN
Susan Charnley, PNW Research Station, Portland, OR
Susan used a power point presentation to give an overview of social and economic monitoring related to the NW Forest Plan.
The Record of Decision for the Northwest Forest Plan requires monitoring the social and economic impacts of federal forest management on forest-associated communities. Are they experiencing positive or negative changes that are associated with federal forest management? The monitoring program will identify communities experiencing significant changes or trends and those that are not, and try to improve our understanding of the relationship between federal forest management and economic change. This effort will help agency planners and communities to better understand the strength of the relationships by which change in Pacific NW communities is associated with changes in federal forest management. It may also help identify communities that may be vulnerable in the future.
Susan can be contacted at: scharnley@fs.fed.us, (503)808-2051 or visit the following website for further information www.reo.gov/monitoring.
RAC TITLE II PROJECTS
Dale Hom
Title II project proposals have been submitted for FY2004 funding including a wide variety of projects on the Olympic National Forest. Clallam/OPRAC funds available were $235,998. Title II requests totaled $289,338. Projects selected totaled $233,500. Jefferson/OPRAC funds available were $445,618. Projects selected totaled $443.200. Mason/OPRAC funds available were $74,867. Projects selected totaled $74,876. Grays Harbor/GHRAC funds available were $128,663. Projects selected totaled $128,663.
Each county sets the funding for Title II and III projects. Approximately 70 percent are earmarked for Title II projects and 30 percent for Title III projects. Some projects are on-going from year to year so the benefits are actually broader than it appears based on the funding shown on the chart. Projects have been beneficial and counties are helping each other. Partnerships have been formed with schools. Olympic National Forest is working on scheduling a field trip to look at some of these projects in the near future and will keep OPAC members informed.
TIMBER MANAGEMENT
Kathy O¹Halloran
There are 3 main commercial timber sales on the Olympic this year. Donahue Forks was originally planned for FY 2002, but due to key personnel being sent on fire assignments last year, it was delayed until this year. This sale is 175 acres and 5.0 MBF. Overpass is planned to be sold this FY with 395 acres and 8.3 MBF. Grindstone will be the final offering this FY with about 200 acres and 3.0 MBF. (Note: The offerings listed here for 2003 have been updated since the OPAC meeting. Grindstone has been substituted for Rixon. The Rixon sale will now be offered in FY04.)
We received some very positive feedback from Joseph Lint of BLM who had attended a field trip on the Olympic earlier this year. He stated ³the Oly folks are on the right track based on the results of the thinning projects visited last week. They are keyed into the need to innovate and have done a remarkable job incorporating the attention to detail needed to promote biological diversity and set the stage for these younger forests to meet the envisioned older forest conditions in the future. I saw what good teamwork can do on the ground.² OPAC field trip will visit the same site today.
Handouts were provided on the Olympic National Forest timber sale program and land allocation and potential for restoration thinning.
PACIFIC RANGER DISTRICT¹S RECENT ACTIVITIES
Eduardo Olmedo
Eduardo Olmedo, Pacific District Ranger gave a power point presentation which highlighted the recent accomplishments/activities on the Pacific Ranger District including the Olympic Discovery Trail, partnerships, recreation, special use administration, invasive species eradication, wildlife, fisheries, and timber management. Good work being accomplished on the ground.
FIELD TRIP
The group traveled to the ³Two Y² contract area and had spirited discussions over temporary road construction techniques, snag management, CWD protection and overall stand treatment. From there, the group went to the ³K-mark² contract area. The same topics were discussed, but were more focused on road construction.
NEXT MEETING
Ken Eldredge
The next meeting is scheduled for Friday August 15, 2003 in the Grays Harbor area. Ken will send out announcements. Topics suggested for the August meeting include: Owl Presentations, RAC Project Tour (Title II and III), Healthy Forest Initiative, and DNR perspective what is happening? If you have additional ideas for upcoming meeting topics, please contact Ken at (360) 956-2323.