Table Of Content

Historic, Archive Document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. USDA United States Departmentof Agriculture Scratchings Final ForestService Tongass National Environmental Impact Forest R10-MB-606a Statement March 2007 Suemez Island United States Department of Agriculture ACRONYMS ACHP Advisory Council - ACMP AlaskaCoastal Ms ADEC AlaskaDepartmen Conservation ADF&G AlaskaDepartmer pecies ADNR AlaskaDepartmer AFRPA AlaskaForestRes National Agricultural Library AHMU AquaticHabitatIV »is Tool ANCSA AlaskaNative Ck PolicyAct ANILCA AlaskaNational InterestLands Conservation NFMA NationalForestManagementAct(1976) Act(1980) NFS National Forest System ASQ Allowable Sale Quantity NHPA National HistoricPreservationAct BA BiologicalAssessment NMFS NationalMarineFisheries Service BE BiologicalEvaluation NOI NoticeofIntent BMP BestManagementPractice NWI National WetlandInventory CCF HundredCubicFeet OGR Old-growthReserve CEQ Council onEnvironmental Quality OHV Off-HighwayVehicle CFR CodeofFederal Regulations PNW PacificNorthwestForestandRange CRM CopperRiverMeridian Experiment Station CT Commercial Thinning POG ProductiveOldGrowth CZMA Coastal ZoneManagementAct(1972) RIO Region 10 (AlaskaRegion ofForest Service) DBH Diameter(ofatree) atBreastHeight(about RAW ReasonableAssuranceofWindfirmness 4.5 feethigh) RCS RoadCondition Survey DOF DivisionofForestry(AlaskaDepartment of RMA RiparianManagementArea Natural Resources) ROD RecordofDecision EFH EssentialFishHabitat ROS Recreation Opportunity Spectrum EIS Environmental Impact Statement EPA Environmental ProtectionAgency RPA ForestandRangelandRenewableResources ProtectionAct(1974) ESA Endangered SpeciesAct SEIS SupplementalEnvironmental Impact FSH Forest ServiceHandbook Statement FSL Forestry Sciences Laboratory SHPO StateHistoricPreservationOffice FSM Forest ServiceManual TES ThreatenedandEndangeredSspecies FVS ForestVegetation Simulator TTRA Tongass TimberReformAct(1990) GIS GeographicInformation System U.S.C. United States Code GMU GameManagementUnit USDA United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture GPS Global PositioningUnit USFWS United StatesFish andWildlife Service HIS Habitat Suitability Index VCU ValueComparisonUnit HUC HydrologicUnit Code (UnitedStates VPA Visual PriorityArea Geological Survey) VQO Visual Quality Objective IDT InterdisciplinaryTeam VRM Visual ResourceManagement LCR Live CrownRatio WAA WildlifeAnalysis Area LTF Log TransferFacility LSTA Logging System & TransportationAnalysis Final Environmental Impact Statement Scratchings Timber Sale 4 ?00S Tongass National Forest USDA Forest Service Alaska Region USDA Lead Agency: Forest Service Tongass National Forest 648 Mission Street AK Ketchikan, 99901 Responsible Official: Forrest Cole, Forest Supervisor Tongass National Forest For Further Information Greg Killinger, District Ranger Contact: Craig Ranger District P.O. Box 500 AK Craig, 99921-9998 907-826-3271 or Dennis Sylvia, Planning StaffOfficer Thome Bay Ranger District P.O. Box 19001 AK Thorne Bay, 99919-0001 907-828-3304 Abstract The USDA Forest Service proposes to harvest approximately 36 million board feet (MMBF) oftimber in the Scratchings project area on Suemez Island. Craig Ranger District, Tongass National Forest. Timber volume would be offered through the Tongass timber sale program. The actions analyzed in this Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are designed to implement direction contained in the 1997 Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan, as amended (Forest Plan) and the Tongass Timber Reform Act. The Final EIS describes five alternatives, which provide different combinations of resource outputs and spatial locations ofharvest units. The action alternatives would make MMBF between 17 and 36 oftimber available for harvest within the project area. The significant issues addressed by the alternatives and the Final EIS include: 1) timber harvest economics; 2) cumulative impacts in the Port Dolores Watershed; and 3) roadless areas. This page intentionally left blank Summary i Summary Scratchings Final Summary EIS Introduction This summary describes the effects ofproposed timber sale(s) and an access management plan and several alternatives on Suemez Island in the Scratchings project area. It describes the “No Action” alternative (Alternative 1), a “Proposed Action” (Alternative 2) and three other alternative strategies for timber harvest. The four action alternatives include road building, road storage, and road decommissioning activities, as well as use and maintenance ofan existing log transfer facility (LTF) at Port Refugio. The details ofthe Scratchings Timber Sale project are fully presented in the Scratchings Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Final EIS discloses the environmental effects that are expected from the Proposed Action and each ofthe other alternatives, including the No-action Alternative. The Scratchings Timber Sale project is located on Suemez Island in Southeastern Alaska on the Craig Ranger District, Tongass National Forest, Alaska Region (Region 10), ofthe Forest Service, U.S. Department ofAgriculture (Figure 1-1 in Chapter 1 ofthe Final EIS). Suemez Island is located west ofPrince ofWales Island and 12 miles southwest ofCraig, Alaska. Proposed Action The proposed action for the Scratchings Timber Sale project includes timber harvest and the development ofan access management plan. The proposed timber harvest would provide for timber sale opportunities resulting in the production ofup to 36 million board feet (MMBF) oftimber from approximately 1,919 acres. Within this area, approximately 1,565 acres would be harvested. The Proposed Action would build about 7 miles oftemporary roads and 12 miles ofNational Forest System (NFS) road; all newly constructed roads would be placed in storage or decommissioned. About 1 1 miles ofexisting NFS road would be placed in storage or decommissioned after timber harvest. Logs would be transported to the Port Refugio LTF for shipping by barge or log raft, see Figure 2-2 in Chapter 2 ofthe Final EIS. The Proposed Action modifies the project area small old-growth reserves (OGRs) to meet the minimum Forest Plan standards and Scratchings Timber Sale Final EIS SUMMARY Summary guidelines (Figure 2-2). The Proposed Action and the other alternatives are discussed in detail in Chapter 2 ofthe Final EIS. Purpose and Need The Scratchings Timber Sale project is proposed at this time to respond to goals and objectives ofthe Forest Plan, and to help move the project area toward desired conditions described in that plan. The Forest Plan includes forest-wide goals and objectives. Land Use Designations (LUDs) identify area-specific goals, objectives, and desired conditions. Applicable forest-wide goals and objectives found in the Forest Plan (pages 2-3 and 2-4) include: • “Manage the timber resource for production ofsawtimber and other wood products from suitable timber lands made available for timber harvest, on an even-flow, long-term sustained yield basis and in an economically efficient manner.” • “Seek to provide a timber supply sufficient to meet the annual market demand for Tongass National Forest timber, and the market demand for the planning cycle.” • “Provide a diversity ofopportunities for resource uses that contribute to the local and regional economies ofSoutheast Alaska.” Decisions to be Made The Forest Supervisor will decide whether and how to implement activities within the Scratchings Timber Sale project area in accordance with Forest Plan goals, objectives, and desired conditions. The decision may include the following: • the location, amount, and method oftimber harvest, road construction, log transfer facilities, and silvicultural practices; • road management objectives; • any necessary project-specific design criteria, mitigation measures, and monitoring requirements; • significant restrictions on subsistence uses; and • changes in Small Old-growth Habitat Reserves, approved as a non-significant amendment to the Forest Plan. The Scratchings Timber Sale project area includes four Land Use Designations (LUDs) to focus the management ofthe National Forest System lands within different areas ofthe Tongass National Forest: Timber Production, Modified Landscape, Special Interest Area, and Old-growth Habitat. Approximately 3 percent ofthe project area is non-National Forest System Land. SUMMARY Scratchings Timber Sale Final EIS ii