United States
Department of
Agriculture

Forest Service

Pacific
Southwest
Region

R5-MB-046

January 2004

Sierra Nevada
Forest Plan Amendment

Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

January 2004

A new plan for the Sierra Nevada

In January 2004 the Forest Service amended the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan (Framework) to improve protection of old forests, wildlife habitats, watersheds and communities in the Sierra Nevada mountains and Modoc Plateau.

The new plan will reduce the acres burned by severe wildfires by more than 30 percent within the next 50 years. It will double the acres of large old growth trees and California spotted owl nesting habitat over the next 50 years. Around communities, fuels will be reduced on about 700,000 acres over the next 20 years, helping to protect them from severe wildfires.

The plan will reduce dangerous fuels on nearly 115,000 acres per year - approximately the same acreage proposed in the 2001 SNFPA. However, under the 2001 SNFPA effective fuels treatments could not be accomplished on that much area due to the complex and overly restrictive standards and guidelines. Strategically placing the fuels treatments will help reduce severe wildfires over an area approximately three times that directly treated. The new plan maintains a cautious approach to protecting old forests and wildlife habitat by treating about one percent of the land each year.

Background

In January 2001, the Pacific Southwest Region adopted the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (SNFPA) for managing 11 national forests and 11.5 million acres of national forest land. The Forest Service received more than 200 appeals to the SNFPA decision. In November 2001, the Chief of the Forest Service affirmed the decision and also expressed concerns about the decision's flexibility and compatibility with other important programs. The Chief and Regional Forester agreed to a review of specific areas of the SNFPA: fire and fuels treatments, compatibility with the National Fire Plan, compatibility with the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group (HFQLG) Forest Recovery Pilot Project, and effects of the SNFPA on grazing, recreation, and local communities. A year-long review provided specific recommendations for improving the SNFPA.

The trend is clear. If we do not actively manage our forests to reduce fuels, improve their health and return them to more open, natural conditions, we can expect more catastrophic wildfires and continuing threats to communities, lives, and homes. We can also expect to see more damage to old forests, wildlife habitat, soils and water quality - all those things natural systems provide and we value so highly.

Based on the review recommendations the Region prepared the June 2003 draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) to document new information and to analyze the effects of the proposed improvements. After considering and incorporating public comment on the draft SEIS a final SEIS was completed, analyzing small but important improvements to the 2001 SNFPA. A new Record of Decision was signed January 21, 2004.

To request a printed or electronic copy (CD) of the SEIS, or for more information, contact Kathleen S. Morse, IDT Leader at:

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