Botany Enhancement RX_draft_01.13.10.docx

Rx – Botanical Habitat Enhancement 01/13/2010

Cutting Specifications:

· Cut all trees smaller than 10 inches DBH.

· Refer to Rx spreadsheet for no cut species. No cut tree species: western white pine (Pinus monticola-PIMO), and sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana-PILA), Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana- QUGA4), California black oak (Quercus kelloggii-QUKE)

· Minimum height of trees to cut is 6 inches

· Cut all brush to a 6” stump except those species listed above

· Cut all trees to a less than 6 inch stump

· No Cut Brush species (refer to spreadsheet): A botanist or other appointed contract inspector will be present to show the contractor the target species not to cut at as many units as necessary until the contractor feels assured they know the species. This only pertains to units that are existing sites (Units 17-48). The species are: California globe mallow (Illiamna latibracteata-ILLA2), goldenfleece (Ericameria arborescens-ERAR27), Umpqua swertia (Frasera umpquaensis-FRUM), Gasquet manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula-ARHI5),

· Do not cut any snags

Bucking and Limbing Specifications:

· All felled boles shall be limbed and severed at a 4 inch top. Limb boles so that they completely contact the ground.

· Buck all slash to lengths of less than 6 feet.

Slash Piling (Hand) Specifications

· All slash which is ½ inch to 5 inches in diameter and at least one foot or more in length will be piled within openings and along roads edges outside of road surfaces, outside of drainage ditches, outside of channel bottoms and away from downed logs or stumps. The edge of each pile must be placed at least 7 feet from flagged or target species listed above to avoid fire damage (i.e. Illiamna latibracteata, Ericameria arborescens, Frasera umpquaensis, Arctostaphylos hispidula). Slash is defined as all pre-commercial, thinning slash, cut brush, and pruned limbs, produced during thinning operations or slash produced in other ways by other means while unit is in contractor’s care.

· All slash piles shall be as compact as possible and free of non-combustible material. Pile height shall be no less than 4 feet and no greater than 6 feet. Width shall not exceed 6 feet.

· Material in excess of 6 feet in length must be bucked to 6 feet or less before piling.

· Piles should be located so that burning will not damage remaining conifers and hardwoods greater than 10” DBH

· Plastic should be placed on all piles so that the pile will be at least 70 percent covered.

· Plastic shall be secured on piles by placing 20 percent of total material piled on top of plastic. It shall be placed so as to provide the best protection from rain and snow, and the best cover for later ignition.

· Plastic thickness will be 4 mils thick and no larger than 100 ft2 of plastic material per pile.

· Piles will be cured and then be burnt within 2 years.

Burning Specifications:

· Contactor shall provide all labor, transportation, materials (including: burning fuel, fuel thickener, etc), and equipment necessary to perform the work.

· Contractor shall provide RxB3 (Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type III). Comment by Matthew Timchak: Check to see if FS needs to provide this

· Contractor shall provide a means of communication whereby the government can leave a message and receive a response within 8 hours.

· Contractor shall be responsible for monitoring fuel and weather conditions to determine time periods when units are in the prescription parameters identified in the prescribed fire plan.

· During ignition operations, the contractor’s crew supervisor shall maintain contact with the government representative through mutually-agreed-upon communications system at all times.

· All piles shall be ignited. Stoke each pile until at least 90% of each pile is consumed.

· Piles will be cured and then be burnt within 2 years date when contract is awarded.

· Complete mop-up and patrol within 48 hours from 8 A.M. the day following completion of ignition within that unit, or until released from such services by the C.O.R., which ever comes first.

Mitigation Measures & Contract Requirements:

· All vehicles shall be washed and free of mud and seeds before entering each work site to prevent the spread of noxious weeds.

· To prevent the spread of Port-Orford-cedar Root Disease (Phytophthora lateralis), apply POC Management Practices (Attachment B) for Units: 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 41, 42, and 44.

· Remove all slash created from cutting from road surfaces, ditches, and fences.

· No refueling of powersaws within 25 feet of streams.

· Cut all Port-Orford-cedar (10” DBH or less) within units and within 50 feet of open roads.

· Seasonal Restrictions:

· Spotted Owl Seasonal Restrictions prohibit any work activities from March 1st through June 30th in units identified for restrictions.

· Marbled Murrelet Seasonal Restrictions prohibit work activities from April 1st through August 5th in units identified for restrictions. From August 6th to September 15th, operations will have daily restrictions that prohibit work activities from occurring 2 hours after sunrise and 2 hours before sunset.

· For a list of seasonal restrictions by unit, see Spreadsheet.

· SOD - Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum) Precautions within Quarantine Area:

· Only applies to units 12 & 33.

· Limit operations to dry conditions. Operations may be permitted during dry weather outside Operating Period. Operations will be suspended when indicators such as puddles in the road and/or water running in the ditchlines indicate an unacceptable increase in the likelihood of spreading P. ramorum and the likelihood cannot be mitigated. Operations will be suspended when turbid water is observed moving off the traveled way and being delivered to stream channels.

· Contractor shall not remove any tan oak material nor the limbs, tops, leaves, or needles of host vegetation (Douglas-fir, redwood, myrtle wood, madrone, and rhododendron) from the SOD quarantine area.

Attachment B:

POC Management Practices

The following management practices are Forest Plan Standards and Guidelines with the following objectives:

· Maintain POC on sites where the risk for infection is low;

· Reduce the spread and severity of root disease in high-risk areas to retain its ecological function to the extent practicable;

· Reestablish POC in plant communities where its numbers or ecosystem function have been significantly reduced; and

· Reduce the likelihood of root disease becoming established in disease-free 7th field watersheds.

The following Management Practices apply to units: 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 41, 42, and 44. Any unit that may introduce a appreciable risk of infection of uninfected POC (Table 1, far right column), requires the following management practices. Use where applicable.

1) Project Scheduling: Schedule projects during the dry season or incorporate unit scheduling (Management Practice 2) and vehicle and equipment washing (Management Practice 4) as part of project design.

2) Unit Scheduling: Conduct work in all timber sale and other activity units or areas where PL (Phytophthora lateralis) is not present before working in unit or areas infested with PL ( Units 20, 24, 25, 26, 30, 41, 42, and 44 have been or are currently infested).

3) Utilize Uninfested Water: Use uninfested water sources for planned activities such as equipment washing, road watering, and other water-distribution needs, or treat water with Clorox bleach to prevent/reduce the spread of PL (see Reference 1 for Clorox bleach label and instructions for use). To reduce the likelihood of getting Clorox in streams, add Clorox to fire trucks and road watering equipment only after they have left the stream area where they were just filled.

4) Access: Designate access and egress routes to minimize exposure to PL.

5) Fuels Management: Clean boots, vehicles, and incorporate other management practices to avoid moving infested soil out of treatment areas. Incorporate unit scheduling and vehicle and equipment washing as described in Management Practice 1 as part of project design. Select water sources as described in Management Practice 2. Specify travel routes as shown in Management Practice 4.

6) Washing Project Equipment: Wash project equipment prior to beginning work in uninfested project areas, when leaving infested areas to work in uninfested areas, and when leaving the project area to minimize the transportation of infested soil to uninfested areas. Equipment includes maintenance and harvest equipment coming in contact with soils, and project vehicles, including trucks and crew vehicles, leaving surfaced roads or traveling on other roads deemed at risk for spreading disease (generally project area secondary roads around diseased POC). Project areas should be compartmentalized by road system in areas with mixed ownership (Federal and private). A road system with infested areas and noninfested areas will be considered infested. Washing areas should be placed at optimum locations for minimizing spread, such as at entry/exit points of the road system with Federal control. Washing should take place as close as possible to infested sites. Wash water will be from uninfested water sources or treated with Clorox bleach. Wash water should not drain into watercourses or into areas with uninfected POC. Ideally, equipment should not travel for any substantial distance prior to being washed unless being transported on surfaced roads. Equipment moving into uninfested areas may be washed miles away as long as they do not travel through infested areas to reach their destination. Effectiveness testing indicates large reductions in inoculum by washing. Additional information about washing, and suggested parameters for field washing stations from the BLM “Port-Orford-Cedar Management Guidelines,” but with an updated equipment cleaning checklist, is in Reference 2. A Clorox bleach label and updated mixing instructions are in Reference 1. Wash vehicles and equipment when moving to and from 20, 24, 25, 26, 30, 41, 42, and 44 (infested units) to any other uninfested treatment units if operator vehicles are traveling on native surface roads.

7) Summer Rain Events: Apply permit or contract clause or otherwise require cessation of operations when indicators such as puddles in the roadway, water running in roadside ditches, or increases in soil moisture (as measured by moisture meter or equivalent) indicate an unacceptable increase in the likelihood of spreading PL.

8) Roadside Sanitation: Remove or kill POC along both sides of the road. Recommended minimum width is 25 feet above the road or to the top of the cutbank, and 25 to 50 feet below the road. Roads that are open year-round generally pose the highest risk and will benefit most from sanitation treatment. Maintenance will be essential to retain benefits. POC should be re-treated as soon as possible after they reach a height of 6 inches above ground level. Sanitation treatments could be incorporated as part of routine road maintenance. (Include as part of prescription to cut all POC within treatment units as described above. This includes units 20, 24, 25, 26, 30, 41, 42, and 44. For these units the prescription should cut and burn any healthy POC within 3 crown widths of infected tree.)

Reference 1: Clorox Label Information The following information copied verbatim from the Clorox label is pertinent to POC root disease control (FSEIS, Appendix 4).

ULTRA CLOROX ® BRAND REGULAR BLEACH (EPA Reg. No. 5813-50) FOR PORT ORFORD CEDAR ROOT DISEASE (Phytophthora lateralis) TREATMENT USE

When used as directed, this product is effective in controlling the spread of the fatal fungus Phytophthora lateralis[Port Orford Cedar Root Disease] in areas of California and Oregon where Port Orford Cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) grows.

Water is commonly drafted from streams and fire ponds within forested areas to use in dust abatement on forest roads, equipment cleaning, and for fire suppression. The water source can spread the root disease fungus to uninfested areas. Treating water prior to use helps control the spread of the fungus.

Directions for Use: Add 1 gallon this product to 1000 gallons (~50 parts per million available chlorine) of drafted water. Prepare the mixture at least 5 minutes prior to application for dust abatement; fire suppression; and cleaning trucks, and logging, road building, and maintenance equipment. [FSEIS-adopted mitigation measure: To reduce the likelihood of getting Clorox in streams, add Clorox to fire trucks and road watering equipment only after they have left the stream area where they were just filled.]

DILUTION TABLE

PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS: HAZARDS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS

DANGER: CORROSIVE

May cause severe irritation or damage to eyes and skin. Harmful if swallowed. Protect eyes when handling. For prolonged use, wear gloves. Wash after contact with product. Avoid breathing vapors and use only in a well-ventilated area.

FIRST AID IF IN EYES: Rinse with plenty of water for 15 minutes. Get prompt medical attention. IF SWALLOWED: Drink large amounts of water. DO NOT induce vomiting. Call a physician or poison control center immediately. IF IN CONTACT WITH SKIN: wash skin thoroughly with water. PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL HAZARDS: Product contains a strong oxidizer. Always flush drains before and after use. Do not use or mix with other household chemicals, such as toilet bowl cleaners, rust removers, acids, or products containing ammonia. To do so will release hazardous irritating gases. Prolonged contact with metal may cause pitting or discoloration.

For Institutional use only:

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: Do not discharge effluent containing this product into lakes, ponds, estuaries, oceans or other waters unless in accordance with the requirements of a National Pollutant Discharge System (NPDES) permit and the permitting authority has been notified in writing prior to discharge.

STORAGE AND DISPOSAL: Store this product upright in a cool, dry area, away from direct sunlight and heat to avoid deterioration. In case of spill, flood areas with large quantities of water. Small quantities of spilled or unusable product should be diluted with water before disposal in a sanitary sewer. Do not reuse empty container, but rinse and place in trash or recycle where facilities accept colored HDPE bottles. Do not contaminate water, food, or feed by storage, disposal or use of this product. Store away from children. Reclose cap tightly after each use. Offer empty container for recycling. If recycling is not available, discard container in trash. DO NOT allow product [and/or rinsate] to enter storm drains, lakes, streams, or other bodies of water.

CLOROX CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE (800) 292-2200

Reference 2: Equipment Cleaning Checklist This checklist (for optional use) is referenced in the Washing Project Equipment management practice.

The purpose of this checklist is to provide guidance in the cleaning of equipment, as stipulated in contracts, to control or prevent the spread of noxious weeds and PL. The checklist directs attention to specific areas on equipment that are likely to accumulate soil and organic material. Questions to ask about overall equipment cleanliness are:

1) Does the equipment appear to have been cleaned?

2) Is the equipment clean of clumps of soil and organic matter?

Rubber-Tired Vehicles Tires Wheel rims (underside and outside) Axles Fenders/wheel wells/trim Bumpers

Track-Laying Vehicles Tracks Road wheels Drive gears Sprockets Roller frame Track rollers/idlers

All Vehicles Frame Belly pan (inside) Stabilizers (jack pads) Grapple and arms Dozer blade or bucket and arms Ripper Brush rake Winch Shear head Log loader Water tenders (empty or with treated water) Trailers (low-boys) Radiator/grill Air filter/pre-cleaner Struts/springs/shocks Body seams