FOREST SERVICE LAUNCHES ACTION CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT OLD GROWTH FORESTS, WILDLIFE, AND COMMUNITIES WITH NEW DECISION

VALLEJO, Calif. Jan. 22, 2004--Saying he is "deeply troubled" that fire danger in the Sierra Nevada is continuing to increase dramatically, Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Jack Blackwell today announced a new initiative to protect old-growth forests, wildlife and communities against catastrophic wildfires.

With the strategic actions of the new Forests With A Future campaign (www.forestsfuture.fs.fed.us), Blackwell projected that wildfires would be dramatically reduced, while nearly doubling the amount of old forests and wildlife habitat in Sierra Nevada national forests (NFs) within 50 years, and significantly reducing the wildfire threat to nearby local communities within two decades. A central element of the campaign is a final decision on the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (Framework.)

Much of the forest now is filled with dense brush and spindly, closely packed trees that are the result of decades of fire suppression and other factors. This well-intended management changed the forest ecosystem to the point where wildfires, once a natural part of the forest, have become its destroyer.

"Extremely hot, intensely burning catastrophic fires sweep through overly dense forests destroying old growth trees, wildlife habitat, and wrecking people's lives." Blackwell said. "The size and intensity of wildfires are increasing dramatically. They are making the work of our firefighters more dangerous. I cannot let that continue on my watch. It will take years of concerted effort to significantly reduce the intensity of these fires, but the important thing is to get started now."

The action campaign and the final Framework plan being announced today will reduce the acres burned by severe wildfires by more than 30 percent within the next 50 years. These actions are projected to double the acres of large old growth trees over the next 50 years. Spotted owl nesting habitat is also projected to nearly double over the next 50 years. Around forest communities, 700,000 acres will be thinned within 20 years, giving firefighters a fighting chance at protecting them from severe wildfires.

The campaign foresees people working with the Forest Service (FS) and others in their local communities to plan and implement projects to reduce decades of forest overgrowth. These projects will thin trees and remove underbrush around communities and in strategic locations to reduce catastrophic wildfires. The FS is helping through technical assistance and financial grants to local communities, tribes and organizations to carry out projects on private land.

The campaign links the national and local efforts with today's decision improving the Framework, drawing from the 2000 National Fire Plan, the 2002 Western Governors' Comprehensive Strategy, the 2002 Healthy Forests Initiative, and the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act, all aimed at protecting forests and communities from catastrophic wildfires. Blackwell pointed out that these national efforts are widely supported, bi-partisan efforts that give resource managers the direction and tools they need to protect forests and communities and to return the forests to a more natural condition.

Locally, the new direction draws from earlier guidelines to protect spotted owls (CASPO guidelines), the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project (SNEP), the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (Framework), the Framework Review Report and the latest advice from biologists and fire scientists.

The new decision supplements the January 2001 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment and greatly improves the FS's ability to reduce the unacceptably high risk of fire in 11 NF's on 11.5 million acres of land in California and part of Nevada, while protecting large trees, wildlife habitat and people's homes. The overly restrictive rules in the 2001 Framework prevented local forest managers from effectively reducing fire danger.

"I want to be absolutely clear about what this decision means on the ground. We must make our forests fire safe." Blackwell said. "Large, old trees will not be cut. They're not the problem. We need big trees for wildlife habitat and other values. Relatively few trees between 20 and 30 inches in diameter will be thinned. The emphasis will be on unnaturally dense stands of smaller trees and brush. We've got to remove some of this dense growth in strategic sites. It may look beautiful, but it's deadly."

Thinning will both slow the spread of wildfires and produce some revenue to help pay for needed treatments. Under the new rules, FS biologists, foresters and other specialists will work closely to determine what types and sizes of trees will be removed, and which will remain standing, based on the specific requirements of each local forest. Requirements to protect large trees on any given site mean that most trees greater than 25 inches in diameter will be left standing. All trees 30 inches and larger are protected. Once the overcrowded forests are thinned, the FS can safely increase the use of prescribed fire.

Blackwell said that the recent fires in southern California played a role in his decision for the Sierra Nevada. He was particularly struck by what happened in stands of dead trees near Lake Arrowhead, where fire burned with incredible ferocity and virtually destroyed the community of Cedar Glen.

"I personally witnessed the human suffering and catastrophic damage caused by those fires. I see many similarities between the overly crowded trees and brush there, and the unnaturally dense conditions in the Sierra Nevada," he said. "I am personally convinced that future droughts in the Sierra Nevada, coupled with periods of wind and high temperatures, could lead to the same devastation there. I especially fear for the many towns near national forests up and down the mountain range. It is my professional responsibility to take decisive action."

Blackwell cited the drought year of 1987, when 145,000 acres burned on the Stanislaus NF in the heart of the Sierra Nevada, putting Groveland and other communities in grave danger. The same drought led to insect infestations that killed one out of every three trees on the national forest land surrounding Lake Tahoe, but a vigorous and widely supported thinning effort helped avert devastating fires there. Under the new Sierra Nevada decision, at least half the fuel reduction work would be on NF lands near communities.

The new decision and the campaign to implement it will also protect important wildlife habitat. The 1,321 protected areas for California spotted owls established by biologists beginning in 1989 will be maintained. Only 4% of the acres in these areas may be subject to thinning, and then only when necessary for strategic placement of fuels treatments. Where necessary to thin in important owl habitat, at least 50% canopy cover will be maintained, except under very limited exceptions. Newly discovered owl sites will also be protected. The new plan keeps the 2001 Framework's conservation area for Pacific fisher, to protect dwindling habitat for this member of the weasel family. It also continues protection for Yosemite toad, frogs, willow flycatcher, great gray owls and northern goshawk and many other important species.

The new decision allows more effective fuel reduction treatments on 115,000 acres each year. However, the thinning will remove only about one-fifth of the annual net growth. This cautious approach protects important wildlife habitat from human disturbance, but means the forests will still add fuel until more is learned about the effects of thinning under careful monitoring and adaptive management plans. It will allow about 330 million board feet of green timber to be offered annually for the first decade, two-thirds of which will come from the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group (HFQLG) pilot project in the northern Sierra Nevada. Potential for salvage under the new plan is the same as under the 2001 Framework. The green timber to be offered under the new plan is about three times the amount planned under the Framework, and is only half the amount offered annually from 1986 to 1992.

The decision also implements the HFQLG pilot project to the greatest extent consistent with federal law, allowing defensible fuel profile zone construction, group selection and single tree selection.

In addition, the new plan reduces impacts on recreationists, grazing permit holders and rural communities, by giving local managers more flexibility to develop site-specific practices to balance wildlife protection with these uses.

The new plan was developed by more than 30 FS professionals, including biologists, fuels specialists, ecologists, fire behavior specialists and others; and with help from comments from nearly 56,000 people. As a result of public comment and refined analysis, several changes were made in the final SEIS. Refined analysis between draft and final resulted in a reduction by more than half of the number of acres to be thinned in specific areas important to owls. Another change is to place more emphasis on follow-up maintenance of treated sites.

The decision, which does not apply to private land, amends forest plans for the 11 affected NF's. It is effective 30 days from publication of a legal Notice of Availability in newspapers of record in Sacramento and Reno, which is expected Jan. 30. There is a 90-day appeal period to the Chief of the Forest Service. Printed or compact disk (CD) copies of the approximately 500-page SEIS Volume 1, 500-page SEIS Volume 2 and 71-page ROD, or a summary and ROD only, are available for free by writing: Sierra Nevada SEIS Team; USDA Forest Service; 1323 Club Drive; Vallejo, CA 94592. Those who have already requested material should receive it early next week. Information can also be downloaded at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/snfpa/.

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