Table Of Content

Historic, Archive Document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. Sea Level Forest Service Timber Sale Tongass National Forest RIO - MB -389b May 1999 Final Environmental Impact Statement Volume I Acronyms ADF&G Alaska Department ofFish and Game RM RoadedModified AFHA Aquatic Fish Habitat Assessment RMA Riparian Management Area AFRPA AlaskaForestResources and PracticesAct RN RoadedNatural AHMU Aquatic Habitat ManagementUnit ROD RecordofDecision ANCSA AlaskaNative Claims SettlementAct ROS Recreation Opportunity Spectrum ANILCA AlaskaNational Interest LandsConservation Act SHPO State Historic PreservationOfficer ASQ Allowable Sale Quantity SIS Silvicultural Information System BBF One Billion BoardFeet SPM Semi-Primitive Motorized BLM Bureau ofLand Management SPNM Semi-Primitive Nonmotorized BMP Best Management Practice SRI SedimentRisk 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 Use Cooperative Survey CFR Code ofFederal Regulations TTRA Tongass TimberReformAct CZMA Coastal Zone Management Act of 1976 USDA United States Department ofAgriculture DBH Diameterat Breast Height USDI United States Department ofthe Interior EIS Environmental Impact Statement USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service EPA Environmental Protection Agency VCU Value ComparisonUnit EVC Existing/Expected Visual Condition VQO Visual Quality Objective FSH Forest Service Handbook WAA Wildlife AnalysisArea FSL Forest Science Lab FSM Forest Service Manual GIS Geographic Information System IDT InterdisciplinaryTeam IMEG Interagency Monitoring and Evaluation 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 Large Woody Debris MBF One Thousand Board Feet MIS Management Indicator Species MM Maximum Modification MMBF One Million Board Feet MMI Mass-Movement Index NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NFMA National Forest Management Act NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service NOI Notice ofIntent NPDES National Pollution Discharge Elimination System P Primitive PR Partial Retention R Retention Acknowledgments Frontcover: ByCindy Ross Barber, 1992. Thedesign illustratestherangeofinterconnectedissuesaddressedin the EIS. Final Environmental Impact Statement Sea Level Timber Sale United States Department of Agriculture — Forest Service ^Alaska Region Lead Agency: U.S.D.A. Forest Service Tongass National Forest Responsible Official: Assistant Forest Supervisor Tongass National Forest Federal Building Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 NEPA For Further Information Contact: Coordinator Ketchikan Ranger District Misty Fiords National Monument Tongass National Forest 3031 Tongass Avenue Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 (907) 228-4100 Abstract TheUSDAForestServiceproposes toharvestapproximately 60million boardfeetoftimberin theSeaLevel ProjectArea, Ketchikan RangerDistrict, TongassNationalForest, underguidanceoftheTongassLand ManagementPlanof 1997 (TLMP). TheProposedActionanalyzedin thisEnvironmental ImpactStatement (EIS) is designedtoimplementdirection containedintheTLMP. Thepurpose andneedforthisProjectis to implementTLMPdirection. Thisdirectionisconsistentwithproviding forthemultipleuseandsustainedyield offorestresourcesandincludes: (1) tohelpprovideasustainedleveloftimber supply tomeetannual and TLMPplanning cyclemarketdemand, (2) toprovidelocal employmentin thewoodsproducts industry. Anotherobjectiveistoprovide timbervolume thatwill contributetothetimbersupply undertheTongass NationalForestUmber-saleprogram. ThisEIS describesthreeaction alternativeswhichprovidedifferent combinations ofresourceoutputsandlocations ofharvestunits. Thereis oneno-actionalternative. Alternative 1 (theNo-Action Alternative) proposesnonewharvestfromtheProjectAreaatthis time. Alternative2 proposesharvestunits whichprovidethemaximumamountoftimberwithinTLMPstandards andguidelines. Alternative5proposes tomeetthepurposeandneedwhileavoiding timberharvestin theMinxRats, ElfPoint, andMarbleCreekareasin orderto address wildlife-habitatconnectivity concerns. Alternative7 configures harvestunitstoemphasize timbereconomicsbyharvesting stands with thegreatestpotential foreconomic return, whileminimizing impacts to old-growthhabitatandwildlife travelcorridors. Thelocation ofharvest units, selection ofsilviculturalprescriptions, logging systems, andatransportationnetworkis designedto maximizetheappraisedtimbervalue. Table of Contents Table of Contents Volume I Chapter 1 PurposeandNeed 1-1 Introduction 1-1 Decision to beMade 1-2 DocumentOrganization 1-2 ProjectArea 1-3 ProposedAction 1-6 PurposeandNeed 1-6 TimberGrowth andProductivity 1-6 MarketDemand 1-7 Local EmploymentOpportunities 1-8 RelationshipofthisProjecttotheTongassLandManagementPlan 1-9 ManagementPrescriptions 1-10 PublicInvolvement 1-14 Scoping 1-14 DraftEIS 1-15 FinalEIS 1-15 Issues 1-15 IssuesAssociatedwith theProposedAction 1-15 IssuesOutside the Scope ofThis Analysis 1-16 FederalandStatePermits, Licenses, andCertifications 1-18 LegislationandExecutiveOrders RelatedtothisEIS 1-19 Availability ofthePlanningRecord 1-20 Chapter 2 Alternatives 2-1 Introduction 2-1 AlternativeDevelopment 2-2 EcosystemManagement 2-2 ProcessUsedtoFormulateAlternatives 2-3 AlternativesEliminatedfromDetailedStudy 2-4 A Alternative 2-4 AlternativeB 2-4 AlternativeC 2-4 AlternativesRemovedBetweenDraftandFinalEIS 2-5 Alternative 3 2-5 Alternative4 2-5 Alternative6 2-5 AlternativesConsideredforDetailedStudy 2-5 Alternative 1 2-5 Sea Level Final EIS Table of Contents i Table of Contents (Chapter 2, continued) Alternative2 2-6 Alternative 5 2-6 Alternative7 2-6 ForestServicePreferred Alternative 2-7 ComparisonofAlternatives 2-8 Comparison ofAlternatives byProposedActivity 2-9 Comparison ofAlternativesby SignificantIssue 2-10 Issue 1 TimberHarvestEconomicsandSupply 2-10 Issue2 Fish HabitatandWaterQuality 2-11 Issue 3 Recreation and Scenery 2-12 Issue4 WildlifeHabitat 2-12 Issue 5 SubsistenceUse 2-14 Issue6 Social andEconomicEffects 2-15 Issue7 MarineEnvironment 2-16 Mitigation 2-18 TEMPMitigation 2-18 WaterQuality andFishProduction 2-18 Wildlife 2-18 Monitoring 2-21 TLMPMonitoring 2-21 Mitigation/MonitoringFeedbackLoop 2-22 ImplementationMonitoring 2-22 ProjectSpecificMonitoring 2-23 VahdationMonitoring 2-23 Chapter 3 AffectedEnvironmentandEffectsoftheAlternatives 3-1 Introduction 3-1 Available Information 3-1 AnalyzingEffects 3-2 LandDivisions 3-4 DescriptionoftheEcosystem 3-5 AirQuality 3-7 AffectedEnvironment 3-7 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-7 Direct, IndirectandCumulativeEffects 3-7 Effects on AirQualityOutsidetheProjectArea 3-8 ii Table of Contents Sea Level Final EIS Table of Contents (Chapter 3, continued) AquaticResources 3-9 AffectedEnvironment 3-9 Fish Species 3-9 Fish HabitatCapabilities andRequirements 3-9 UsesofWater 3-11 StreamSediment 3-13 RiparianManagementAreas 3-14 MajorWatersheds 3-14 Environmental Consequences 3-15 Fish HabitatProtection Standards 3-15 Effects ofAlternatives 3-17 RoadManagementConsiderations 3-19 CumulativeWatershedEffects 3-20 Monitoring 3-23 CulturalResources 3-25 AffectedEnvironment 3-25 Introduction 3-25 Ethnohistory 3-25 CulturalResources Inventory 3-28 Survey Strategyin theProjectArea 3-32 ResultsofCultural Survey 3-32 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-33 DirectandIndirectEffects 3-33 CumulativeEffects 3-34 EcologicalLandtypes 3-35 AffectedEnvironment 3-35 EcologicalLandtypes 3-35 Soils 3-38 Ecological SiteProductivity 3-38 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-40 DirectandIndirectEffects 3-40 Cumulative Effects 3-44 FloodplainsandWetlands 3-45 AffectedEnvironment 3-45 Floodplains 3-45 Wetlands 3-46 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-49 DirectandIndirectEffects 3-49 CumulativeEffects 3-54 ForestHealth 3-55 AffectedEnvironment 3-55 Insects 3-55 Sea Level Final EIS Table of Contents iii Table of Contents (Chapter continued) 3, Diseases 3-57 Other 3-57 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-58 Geology,Minerals, andCaveResources 3-59 AffectedEnvironment 3-59 Geomorphology 3-59 Lithology 3-60 StructuralGeology 3-60 Minerals 3-60 CaveResources 3-61 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-62 Geomorphology 3-62 Minerals 3-62 CaveResources 3-62 OtherResources 3-62 LandAdjustments, Uses andPermits 3-63 AffectedEnvironment 3-63 LandStatus 3-63 Special-UsePermits 3-64 Mining Claims 3-64 EffectsoftheAlternatives 3-64 PermitsandEasements 3-64 MarineEnvironment, Log-TransferSites andRelatedFacilities 3-65 AffectedEnvironment 3-65 MarineEnvironment 3-65 Log-TransferFacilities 3-66 Logging Camps 3-67 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-68 Log-TransferFacilities 3-68 OldGrowthandBiodiversity 3-75 AffectedEnvironment 3-75 Old-GrowthForest 3-75 BiologicalDiversityandFragmentation 3-76 ViablePopulations 3-80 Effects oftheAlternatives 3-83 EffectsofAlternatives on Old-GrowthForestandBiodiversity 3-83 Conservation Biology Strategy 3-85 Effects oftheAlternativeson ViablePopulationsofWildlife 3-85 EffectsonConnecting Corridors 3-89 ComparisonofAlternatives 3-89 Recreation 3-91 AffectedEnvironment 3-91 iv Table of Contents Sea Level Final EIS