Analysis of the management situation : John Day Basin resource management plan

2006·60.1 MB·English

by  United States. Bureau of Land Management. Prineville District

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John Day Basin
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Resource Management Plan c
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Analysis of the Management Situation
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Preliminary Public Involvement
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2006
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As the Nation’s principal
conservation agency, the Department
of the Interior has responsibility for
most of our nationally owned public
lands and natural resources. This
includes fostering the wisest use
of our land and water resources,
protecting our fish and wildlife,
preserving the environmental and
cultural values of our national
parks and historical places, and
providing for the enjoyment of life
through outdoor recreation. The
Department assesses our energy
and mineral resources and works to
assure that their development is in
the best interest of all our people.
The Department also has a major
responsibility for American Indian
reservation communities and for
people who live in Island Territories
under U.S. administration.
Privacy
Comments, including names and street addresses of
respondents, will be retained on file in the Prineville
District Office as part of the public record for this planning
effort. Individual respondents may request confidentiality.
If you wish to withhold your name or street address from
public inspection, or from disclosure under the Freedom
of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management beginning of your written comment. Such requests will
John Day Basin RMP be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions
3050 NE 3rd Street from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
Prineville, Oregon 97754
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
541416-6700
organizations or businesses, will be made available for
Email: [email protected]
public inspection in their entirety.
Website: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/prineville
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Analysis of the
Management Situation
John Day Basin
Resource Management Plan
Fall 2006
John Day Basin Resource Management Plan
Analysis of the Management Situation and Preliminary Public Involvement
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Prineville District Office
Take Pride*
3050 NE Third Street
'n^M ERICA
Prineville, Oregon 97754
In Reply Refer to:
1610 JD (OR-054)
Greetings:
We are pleased to present to you the Analysis of the Management Situation (AMS) for the BLM
administered Public Lands in the John Day Basin. This AMS evaluates existing management guidance,
summarizes resource conditions and trends, and summarizes what we have heard the public say to us
during our initial efforts to update and consolidate the John Day, Two Rivers, and Baker Resource
Management Plans as they apply to the John Day Basin. We believe these two efforts - obtaining
feedback from public land users, interests and stakeholders, and assessing the existing situation - has
helped to focus the planning effort so that it will respond to identified concerns and problems.
The Central Oregon Resource Area began to work on updating the Resource Management Plan for BLM
managed lands in 2005. One-day economic workshops were co-sponsored with several communities,
several open forum public meetings were held, and contracts have been let to gather social, economic and
resource data. The BLM also invited letters and email responses all of which resulted in a wealth of
public response. We believe you will find the summary in Chapter 7thoughtful and interesting.
Our next steps will be to work with you to develop alternative ways of addressing the identified issues.
We will be holding public meetings, working with the Stiake-John Day Resource Advisory Council, and
with our Co-operators Group of governmental and tribal representatives. In addition, we will be available
informally to listen to your thoughts and ideas. We are excited about a web-based tool developed for us
by the University of Colorado at Denver to help understand the travel and access issues in the area around
the North Fork of the John Day River. We encourage you to participate in a survey on this topic by
accessing http://agf.colorado.edu/JohnDayRMP. Included with this document is a CD containing an
electronic version of this document plus other information, including Records of Decision for each of the
RMPs reviewed in the AMS. These same documents may be viewed over the internet at:
http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/prineville.
We appreciate your time and involvement in the planning process so far and encourage your continued
participation. You may contact us by any of the methods indicated on the opposite page.
Working together we can generate effective and innovative strategies that will guide your Public Lands
into the future. Together we can develop guidance that effectively protects resources while contributing
to the social fabric and economic resilience of those who use and enjoy these lands.
Sincerely,
i kk
Christina M. Welch
Field Manager, Central Oregon Resource Area
John Day Basin Resource Management Plan
Analysis of the Management Situation and Preliminary Public Involvement
Editor’s
Thoughts
The sun crested the ridge and light beamed down, illuminating the tent wall. After a day and night of intermittent,
sometimes intense rain the light announced the dawn of a new day along the North Fork John Day River.
Emerging from the tent I encountered a brilliant blue sky and grass sparkling with drops of the previous night’s
rain. A layer cake of basalt rose above both banks of the river. To the south the slopes were covered by a jungle
of green—trees, brush and shrubs. To the north I could clearly make out the dark cliffs separated by grassy
slopes and punctuated by cinnamon bark ponderosa pine. My companion and guide, the river ranger, still slept in
his tent a few feet away.
A morning stroll was in order. Though we were floating the river there is a road a few yards from our camp. I
traveled down the road to a spot we had noticed the previous evening. The road squeezed between the river and
a dark basalt outcrop some 20 to 30 feet high. From the distance it appeared that a small fire had burned through
the rocks and some of the grassy bench above. After the rain there was no evidence of recent travel on the road.
We had not seen another person since we had launched. We would not see another person for a day and a half.
Approaching the outcropping I discovered we were misled by appearances. The darker rock was not scorched,
it was wet. The patch of “burned” grass was, in fact, the top of the dark basalt rock over which soil had not yet
formed, so hardly any grass had gained a foothold. What appeared to be barren rock outcropping from the
distance up close was a sparsely planted rock garden with flowers and grasses establishing tenuous residence in
random niches in the rock. A small gray hornet nest hung from a shallow indentation in the rock face. Since it was
still cool the inhabitants were not yet up. Fine with me!
Ambling back to camp I reflected on the nature of a communal dwelling located in a beautiful yet harsh
environment. One cannot help but be struck by the beauty surrounding you in the John Day Basin. From the
windblown sea of grass at Horn Butte, to the river canyons of the John Day, to the broad Fox Creek and Long
Creek valleys, and to the highlands of Sutton, Rudio, and the Aldrich Mountains the basin provides an expanse
and variety of beautiful scenes. The rock outcropping is a microcosm of the basin—beautiful but harsh. The
community of hornets is not unlike the communities in the basin—isolated. Many inhabitants scratch out a
living but tenuously hang to their niche just as the hornets in their nest cling to the sloping ceiling of rock. Make
no mistake this is a harsh land. During the summer the hornet nest is likely to experience 110° weather with
temperatures off the rock as high as 130° or more. Inhabitants that survive the summer then must survive cold as
low as -20° or lower.
It takes a special kind of person to adapt to these conditions in the basin-isolation, changing local economies,
harsh climate, beautiful setting. These breed a community of fiercely independent yet interdependent inhabitants.
They may quarrel amongst themselves but proudly note that when a member of the community is in need,
everyone pitches in to help. But if they perceive a threat from outside the community even the hornets might learn
something about defending “turf.”
Humbled by the responsibility that has been entrusted to the BLM, it is with a profound sense of responsibility that
our team of specialists embarks upon this planning effort. We will listen and we will learn. In the ebb and flow of
social changes, economic shifts and ecologic variation, we will strive to balance the varied concerns and desires
of those interested in using and preserving public lands for the benefit of generations to come.
Analysis of the Management Situation and Preliminary Public Involvement ill —
John Day Basin Resource Management Plan
Analysis of the Management Situation and Preliminary Public Involvement
Table of Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations.ix
Chapter 1 - Purpose and Need.1
Introduction.3
Purpose of the Analysis of the.3
Management Situation.3
Oregon Land Exchange Act of 2000.4
Need for a New Resource.4
Management Plan.4
Purpose.4
Geographic Scope.6
Key Findings.6
Preliminary Issues.9
Contents of the AMS.11
Chapter 2 - Legal Authorities.13
Chapter 3 - Resource Area Profile.21
Ecoregions.23
Minerals Resources.36
Soils.39
Vegetation.44
Riparian Vegetation.45
Terrestrial Vegetation.49
Special Status Plants.57
Noxious Weeds.58
Hydrology.59
Stream Channels and Floodplains.59
Water Quality.63
Water Quantity.68
Fisheries.71
Terrestrial Wildlife.74
Wild Horses.84
Visual Resources.84
Special Management Designations.86
Cultural Resources.93
Paleontological Resources.95
People Today in the John Day Basin.96
Socioeconomic Context.96
Resource Uses.105
Native American Uses.105
Recreation.106
Transportation and Access.113
Rights-of-way and Easements.131
Withdrawals.132
Land Ownership.132
Leases and Permits (Recreation and Public Purposes Act).133
Water.133
Livestock Grazing.135
Forest Products.138
Analysis of the Management Situation and Preliminary Public Involvement — v —
John Day Basin Resource Management Plan
Fire and Fuels.141
Mineral Uses.148
Chapter 4 - Resource Management Guidance from Existing Plans and Other Sources.155
Soils.155
Air.155
Vegetation.156
Livestock Grazing Management.156
Forest Management.158
Woodlands.159
Riparian Vegetation.159
Special Status Plants.159
Noxious Weed Control.160
Fire Management.160
Water Quality and Quantity.162
Fish.162
Wildlife.163
Wild Horse and Burro Management.164
Visual Resources.165
Special Management Designations.168
Cultural Resource Management.169
Native American Uses.170
Paleontological Resources.170
Recreation Management.170
Transportation.172
Realty.173
Leases and Permits and the Recreation and Public Purposes Act.176
Mining and Minerals.177
Public Information and Education.177
Law Enforcement and Emergency Services.178
Monitoring.178
Chapter 5 - Management Opportunities.179
Newly Acquired Lands.181
Public Lands Managed by BLM Prior to Land Exchange.181
Water Quality and Quantity, and Riparian Areas.181
Terrestrial Vegetation and Wildlife Habitat.183
Special Designations, Wilderness Study Areas, and Wild and Scenic Rivers.184
Land Ownership, Rights-of-Way and Easements .185
Transportation and Access .185
Recreation.186
Livestock Grazing.187
Chapter 6 - Collaborative Planning.189
Cooperating Agencies.191
Resource Advisory Council.193
Public Involvement.193
Chapter 7 - Scoping Report.195
Public Involvement.197
Public Response via BLM Meetings, Letters and Comments .202
Preliminary Issues.203
— vi — Analysis of the Management Situation and Preliminary Public Involvement