54 North Project Information-Proposed Action.pdf

54 North Fuels Reduction and Huckleberry Restoration Project

PROJECT INFORMATION

Project Name: 54 North Fuels Reduction and Huckleberry Restoration Project (54 North Project)

Project Initiation Date: October 2025

Proponent Name: USDA Forest Service

Responsible Official: Ardin Hoyt, District Ranger

Unit: North Fork John Day Ranger District

County: Umatilla, OR

Anticipated Implementation: Spring 2026

Signing Authority: District Ranger

PALS Tracking #: 66947

Project Webpage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/umatilla/projects/66947

General Location: The project is located on National Forest System land within the northeast portion of North Fork John Day Ranger District. The project area boundary is generally described as south and west to the district boundary from NFSR 5400, north to the junction of NFSR 5400 with NFSR 5427 and north and west to the district boundary from NFSR 5427.

Applicable Management Areas: The following LRMP Management Areas are within the project area: A3, A4, A6, Viewshed 2; C1, Dedicated Old Growth; C3, Big Game Winter Range; C4, Wildlife Emphasis; C5, Riparian (Fish and Wildlife); D2, RNA Birch Creek Cove; and E2, Timber and Big Game.

Watersheds: The project area is within the following watersheds (HUC12): Bear Creek, Bowman Creek-Camas Creek, Lane Creek-Camas Creek, Lower East Birch Creek, Pearson Creek, Snipe Creek, Upper East Birch Creek, Upper McCoy Creek, Upper Meadow Creek, Upper Owens Creek, and West Birch Creek.

Purpose and Need for the Proposal: Why do we need to act?

The North Fork John Day Ranger District identified the 54 North Project based on current forest stand conditions, fuels concerns, and proximity to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and other adjacent landowners. This project is also responding to the Tribal Forest Protection Act letter received from CTUIR on March 5, 2024, requesting the Forest initiate a project to restore First Food habitats and treat fuels.

When developing the 54 North Project the Forest determined that the area exceeded sustainable stocking levels by two to three times. Overstocked stands are susceptible to uncharacteristic wildfire disturbances. High density understory regeneration and intermediate canopy tree species are not tolerant of fire disturbances, create ladder fuels, degraded big game habitat and forage availability, and limit the growth of understory shrub species, including huckleberry Vaccinium spp. Big game and huckleberry are both important First Foods impacted by the current condition. Dry grasslands are also being impacted by populations of invasive species outcompeting native plants. Management actions are needed to reduce fuels, increase native plant populations, and restore habitats of First Foods.

The purpose of the 54 North Project is to reduce wildland fire risk to key ecological values (huckleberry and dry grasslands), reduce hazardous fuels by removing or modifying vegetation, and to support the durability and resiliency of forests and grasslands. The project aims to align with CTUIR’s First Foods Mission and Upland Vision Framework, which will be considered as site-specific prescriptions are developed.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/umatilla/projects/66947

Proposed Action: What are we proposing to do?

The Forest proposes to address the purpose and need by conducting a combination of vegetation treatments and prescribed fire to achieve desired conditions. Specifically, the Forest is proposing vegetation management activities to reduce susceptibility to uncharacteristic wildfire, increase resiliency to wildfire disturbance, and reduce hazardous fuels and improve available First Foods habitat. The removal of hazardous fuels would be accomplished by the following proposed treatments: commercial thinning, non-commercial thinning, site preparation, bio-mass utilization, and prescribed pile, jackpot, and landscape burning.

Commercial and non-commercial thinning silvicultural treatments, as well as fuels treatments, are designed to achieve the objectives of increasing stand resilience to wildfire and restoring huckleberry growth and productivity.

Grassland treatments will include small scale burning in coordination with CTUIR and planting of native species to help address the ecological needs of these important landscape elements. Temporary roads will be needed to facilitate implementation of the vegetation management activities. Table 1 provides a summary of the area treated.

Table 1. 54 North proposed action. Acres of area treated (commercial thin, grassland restoration, non-commercial thin, site preparation and None, no treatment) with logging systems (ground based, skyline cable or tethered ground based), activity fuels treatment (hand or mechanical), and broadcast burn prescribed fire.

Logging System Ground Based Skyline or Tethered None None

Treatment \ Fuels Treatment Mechanical Hand Mechanical Prescribed Fire

Commercial Thin 4,289 220 4,509

Grassland Restoration 2,608

Non-Commercial Thin 6,114 11,771 17,885

Site Preparation 206 206

Prescribed Fire 15,358

Totals: 4,495 220 6,114 11,771 40,566

Commercial Thin

Commercial treatments will be implemented by cutting and removing coniferous trees that meet the minimum commercial log size. Typically for sawlogs, the minimum specification is 8 feet long to a 5-inch small end diameter.

Non-saw logs have a minimum specification of 12 feet to a 3-inch small end diameter. Commercial thinning creates a mosaic of densities and species compositions that reflect the landscape’s natural variability. These activities would vary depending on existing forest vegetation and fuels conditions. Although wood fiber utilization is expected in these areas, the focus of each treatment will be based on the desired conditions of each activity area and designed to move the vegetative conditions towards those desired conditions. Commercial thinning will result in reduced crown bulk densities and increase space between crowns. These treatments are expected to reduce susceptibility to uncharacteristic wildfire. No commercial thinning is proposed in riparian habitat conservation areas (RHCAs).

Non-Commercial Thin

Non-commercial treatments will be implemented using mechanical methods such as mastication and grapple piling or hand thinning methods followed by pile or broadcast burning. Non-commercial thinning will generally be limited to trees up to 9 inches in diameter at breast height (DBH) for all species. The occasional large tree (less than 21 inches DBH) with signs of severe disease may be felled and left or girdled to minimize understory host tree infection. Residual tree densities will vary based on individual stand conditions but will generally retain 40-170 trees per acre (TPA), leaving the healthiest trees. No non-commercial thinning is proposed in riparian habitat conservation areas (RHCAs).

Site Preparation

Site preparation prescriptions differ from the thinning prescriptions of the project because they target stands where trees are all the same age or where it is apparent that only two age classes are represented. Site prep is primarily used to remove all young trees (cohort of non-merchantable trees) in stands with undesirable stocking.

This process will allow for managers to shift species composition towards a greater proportion of early seral species, which includes species that are more fire resistant (ponderosa pine or western larch). Trees under 5 inches DBH will be masticated, and the masticated material and slash may be burned. In stands dominated by trees 5.1 to 10 inches DBH, the trees in that range can be harvested to produce poles. No site preparation activities are proposed in riparian habitat conservation areas (RHCAs).

Fuels Treatments

Machine Treatments

Machine piling is proposed in stands accessible by skidder and other heavy machinery (usually under 25% slope;

can extend up to 45% on short pitches of 50 to 100 feet long). The treatment uses machinery to pile slash derived from thinning. Though whole tree logging should be the primary method of slash abatement, there will still be slash derived from non-commercial operations and logging.

Mastication is prescribed in stands that have clusters or high total coverage of regeneration and/or slash derived from commercial thinning. Mastication can only be done if the terrain can support heavy machinery (up to 35% slopes or 45% on short pitches of 50 to 100 feet long).

Hand Pile and Burn

Hand piling is prescribed in stands with no available haul routes and machine access. These locations cannot utilize machinery and masticators to thin advanced regeneration. The treatment uses hand crews to pile slash derived from hand thinning.

Underburn

Underburning is prescribed to return fire to the landscape. Most stands will require pre-treatment with thinning/mastication of understory trees and shrubs, and grapple/hand piling to reduce flame lengths and residence time. Once thinning is complete, underburning will reduce surface fuels and preserve the upper canopy layer commensurate to the natural fire regime.

Huckleberry

Throughout the project area, where opportunities exist to restore huckleberries, the primary goal will be to enhance and determine treatment with the best response from these species. In coordination with CTUIR, a variety of treatment prescriptions will be developed for huckleberry (and other significant berries) restoration. Pre and post treatment monitoring will inform which treatments were the most effective.

Grasslands and Non-Forested Uplands

Prescription burning of upland areas is anticipated to revitalize culturally significant plants in these habitats. Burn planning will include controls (unburned plots); pre and post treatment monitoring will compare productivity changes between burned and unburned plots. Seeding and outplanting of upland First Foods may include (but is not limited to) Lomatium spp. (e.g. biscuitroot, wild celery, desert parsley, wild lovage), Periderdia gairdneri

(yampa), Allium spp. (wild onion). Any invasive plant treatment will examine the risk and potential to negatively impact First Foods and will be coordinated with CTUIR.

Connected Action

Activity-Generated Fuels Treatments

The methods of proposed treatment would determine slash disposal needs following implementation. Slash treatment is sometimes needed to reduce surface fuel loading to decrease potential fire intensity. Slash treatments within the stand may include lop and scatter; mastication/chipping; hand or machine piling; biomass utilization such as biochar; and pile, jackpot, and landscape burning. The amount, location, depth, distribution, and size of slash dictate the slash treatment used. Since prediction of post-treatment slash is difficult to determine, the effects analysis for slash treatment would assume the most impactful treatment.

Roadside Danger Tree Removal

Danger trees would be cut alongside haul roads. Danger trees are defined as standing trees that present a hazard to people due to conditions such as, but not limited to, deterioration or physical damage to the root system, trunk, or limbs where the direction of the lean of the tree would allow that tree to reach the roadway if it fell (29 CFR 1910.266(c); FSH 6709.11, glossary). If danger trees are identified within RHCA buffers they would be cut with chainsaws and left on site. If they are outside of RHCA buffers, not required to be retained for other resource needs, and are of commercial value, they could be removed with the timber sale if existing large wood levels in the area meet standards.

Special Forest Products

Within some stands where small diameter thinning is needed to meet purpose and need or Forest Plan objectives, areas would be designated for the purpose of offering opportunities for personal or commercial special forest products. In addition to the current Forest firewood cutting permit, which includes personal or commercial use firewood, post and pole cutting would be allowed within designated areas. For firewood, removal of live or dead trees up to 24 inches at a stump height of 12 inches is allowed. For post and pole products, trees less than or equal to 7 inches diameter at breast height would be removed by personal or commercial permit holders to accomplish thinning objectives. Snags retained for wildlife habitat would be marked as not available. No activities are proposed in riparian habitat conservation areas (RHCAs).

Temporary Access for Implementation

Implementation of this project would primarily require use of roads on the National Forest Transportation System.

The proposed action would include use of temporary roads on existing roadbeds or construction of new temporary roads to provide machine access for treatments. Existing landings would be used where possible. Temporary roads and landings would be scarified, hydrologically stabilized, and effectively closed for use at the end of the project.