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IUIJQL/R/AA United States Sea Level Timber Sale Department of Agriculture Forest Service Tongass National Forest Final RIO - MB-389C Environmental Impact Statement May 1999 Volume II Acronyms ADF&G Alaska DepartmentofFish andGame RM RoadedModified AFHA Aquatic Fish HabitatAssessment RMA Riparian Management Area AFRPA Alaska Forest Resources and Practices Act RN Roaded Natural AHMU Aquatic HabitatManagement Unit ROD RecordofDecision ANCSA AlaskaNativeClaims Settlement Act ROS Recreation Opportunity Spectrum ANILCA AlaskaNational InterestLands Conservation Act SHPO State Historic Preservation Officer ASQ Allowable Sale Quantity SIS Silvicultural Information System BBF One Billion Board Feet SPM Semi-Primitive Motorized BLM Bureau ofLandManagement SPNM Semi-Primitive Nonmotorized BMP BestManagement Practice SRI Sediment Risk Index CEQ Council on Environmental Quality TPIT Tongass Plan Implementation Team CFI Continuous Forest Inventory TLMP Tongass Land Management Plan CFL Commercial ForestLand TRUCS Tongass Resource UseCooperative Survey CFR CodeofFederal Regulations TTRA Tongass TimberReform Act CZMA Coastal Zone Management Actof 1976 USDA United States DepartmentofAgriculture DBH Diameterat Breast Height USDI United States Departmentofthe Interior EIS Environmental Impact Statement USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service EPA Environmental Protection Agency VCU Value Comparison Unit EVC Existing/Expected Visual Condition VQO Visual Quality Objective WAA FSH Forest Service Handbook Wildlife Analysis Area FSL ForestScienceLab FSM ForestServiceManual GIS Geographic Information System IDT Interdisciplinary Team IMEG Interagency Monitoring andEvaluation Group ITS Individual-Tree Selection KPC Ketchikan Pulp Company KV Knutsen-Vandenberg Act LSTA Logging System Transportation Analysis LTF Log-TransferFacility LUD Land-Use Designation LWD LargeWoody Debris MBF OneThousand Board Feet MIS Management Indicator Species MM MaximumModification MMBF OneMillion BoardFeet MM Mass-Movement Index I NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NFMA National ForestManagementAct NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service NOI Notice ofIntent NPDES National Pollution DischargeElimination System P Primitive PR Partial Retention R Retention Acknowledgments Frontcover: ByCindyRossBarber, 1992. ThedesignillustratestherangeofinterconnectedissuesaddressedintheEIS. Volume II Appendices A Reasons for Scheduling the Environmental Analysis ofthe Sea Level Project Area B Maps Subsistence C Biological Assessment and Biological Evaluation D Road Maintenance Levels Traffic Service Levels Road Management Objectives E Recommended Sale Area Improvement Projects F Wetland Values Matrix G Response to Public Comment on the Sea Level Draft EIS A Appendix Reasons Scheduling the for Environmental Analysis of Sea Area the Level Project Appendix Reasons for Scheduling the Environmental Analysis of the Sea Level Project Area Summary Reasons forscheduling the Sea Level Project Area at this time may be summarized as follows: 1. The Sea Level Project Area contains a sufficient numberofacres allocated to development Land Use Designations (LUDs) to make timber harvest in the Area appropriate underthe 1997 Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (TLMP). Available information indicates harvest ofthe amount oftimberbeing considered for this Projectis consistent with the TLMP Standards and Guidelines and otherrequirements forresource protection. 2. Areas with available timberwill be considered for harvest, in order to seek to provide a supply of timber from the TongassNational Forest which (1) meets the annual market demand fortimber from such Forest and (2) meets the market demand from such Forest foreach planning cycle, pursuant to Section 101 ofthe Tongass TimberReform Act(TTRA). 3. Effects on subsistence resources are projected to differ little according to which sequence these areas are subjected to harvest. Because ofwidespread distribution ofsubsistence use and other factors, harvesting otherareas, with available timberon the TongassNational Forest, is expected to have similarpotential effects on resources, including those used forsubsistence. Harvest of these otherareas is foreseeable, in anycase, overthe Forestplanning horizon underthe TLMP. 4. Providing substantially less timbervolume than required to meet TLMP and TTRA Section 101 timber-supply and employment objectives, in orderto avoid harvest in the Sea Level Project Area is not necessary orreasonable. 5. It is reasonable to schedule harvest in the Sea Level Project Area at the present time ratherthan otherareas with respect to the issues ofprevious harvestentry and access, level ofcontroversy oversubsistence and othereffects, and the ability to complete the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and make timberavailable to meet the needs ofdependent industries. Other areas that are reasonable to consider for harvest in the near futureare the subject ofotherproject ElS’s that are currentlyongoing orscheduled to begin soon. More detail regarding the scheduling ofthe environmental analysis forthe Sea Level Project Area is presented in this appendix in three subsections: • Southeast Alaska Timber Demand • Tongass Land Management Plan • Tongass Land Management Plan Implementation — Sea Level Final EIS ReasonsforSchedulingthe EnvironmentalAnalysisofthe Sea Level ProjectArea Appendix A A-1 Appendix Southeast Alaska Timber Demand Meeting Market Demand Timberdemand in Southeast Alaska can vary dramatically from year to year. The level ofdemand is dependent on complex interactions among factors that are difficult, ifnot impossible, for the industry orthe Forest Service to predict with accuracy. Such factors include: fluctuations in interest rates, housing starts, business cycles in the United States and overseas, changes in the value ofthe dollarwith respect to foreign currencies, changes in import tariffs, and changes in export policies in othercountries. The multi-year timber-sale planning process generally requires management offourdifferent groups, or “pools”, of timbervolume: 1. Timber volume in preparation This pool oftimbercontains sales being analyzed and undergoing public comment through the NEPA process. This process can often take from 1 to 4 years and ends when a NEPA decision is made, usually issued in the form ofa Decision Notice or Record ofDecision. 2. Timber volume in appeals or litigation This pool oftimber volume contains sales on which action is stayed ordeferred as a result ofthe administrative appeals process or litigation. As a result, it is not yet available to the program managers forsale. This process can take as little as 60 days, ifno appeals are filed, orup to 4 years iflitigated. 3. Timber volume available for sale This pool oftimbervolume contains sales forwhich environmental analysis has been completed, administrative appeals and litigation (ifany) have been resolved, and is available for managers to schedule forsale offerings. Managers need to maintain enough volume in this pool to beable to schedule future sale offerings in an orderly manner, and to be able to schedule such offerings in the size and configuration which best meets the needs ofthe public. As a matterofpolicy and sound business practice, the Forest Service attempts to announce probable future sale offerings at least year in advance. This allows potential purchasers anopportunity to do theirown 1 evaluations ofthese offerings in order to determine whether to bid on them, and ifso, how much to offer. 4. Timber volume under contract The pool oftimbervolume contains sales which have been sold and a contract issued to a purchaser, but which have not yet been harvested. Timbercontracts typically, but not always, give the purchaser 3 years to harvest and remove the timber purchased. Longstanding Forest Service practice is to attempt to maintain about 2 to 3 years ofunharvested timbervolume undercontract to timberpurchasers. This practice is not limited to the Alaska Region, but is particularly pertinent to Alaska because ofthe nature ofthe land base here. The relative absence ofroads, the island geography, the steep terrain, and the consequent isolation ofmuch ofthe timber land means that timber purchasers need longcr-than-average lead times to plan operations, stage equipment, set up camps, and construct roads, priorto beginning harvest. To be responsive to market demand, the Forest Service attempts to provide an opportunity for the industry as a whole to accumulate a supply ofpurchased but unharvested timber(i.e. volume undercontract) equal to about 3 years oftimberconsumption. There arc a numberofreasons forallowing the accumulation ofvolume under contract. First, this allows the industry ample time to plan an orderlyand systematic harvest schedule that meets all timing restrictions and permit requirements. Second, it allows the industry to better manage its financial resources and to secure financing on the basis oflonger-term timbersupply. Third, it allows time for the necessary infrastructure (roads, log-transfer facilities, and logging camps) to be put in place prior to timber harvest. Fourth, it gives the Forest Service time to develop an orderly progression oftimber-management projects in various stages of — A-2 Appendix A Reasons forScheduling the Environmental AnalysisoftheSea Level ProjectArea Sea Level Final EIS