Attachment 1 Specifications.doc

Attachment A

Project Specifications

Project Location:

The following roads on the Shasta Lake District: 33N04, 33N14, 33N21, 33N83, 34N09, 34N09A, 34N10, 34N12, 34N17, 34N40Y, 34N40YA, 34N40YB, 35N02, 35N03, 35N04, 35N05, 35N06, 35N07, 35N15, 35N17, 35N46, 35N47, 35N52, 35N52A, 35N79, 35N93, 36N16, 36N16B, 5G011, 5G012 and 7H00I. Road sections to be treated will be those in which the Forest Service is responsible for maintaining. Although, any portion of a road within an Inventoried Roadless Area will not be treated. The outer boundary of activities will be 50 feet from the centerline of the road or the top of the road cut or toe of fill, whichever is greatest.

Objectives:

To improve public access to and safety on Forest Service roads, and increase effectiveness of fire suppression efforts by improving ingress and egress, and by reducing fuels.

Project Activities including Design Features:

The project design features are elements of the project that are applied in treatment areas. These features are developed based on Forest Plan direction and site specific evaluations in order to reduce or avoid negative environmental impacts.

(1) Vehicles and heavy equipment will be restricted to existing roads or hardened surfaces.

(2) Debris from culverts will be cleared by hand.

(3) Conifer trees less than 6 inch diameter (DBH), deciduous trees less than 4 inch DBH and shrubs will be cut by hand to obtain the following spacing:

Horizontal Spacing CONIFER Tree Spacing Slope

Bole Spacing

0-20%

12-15 feet

21-40%

15-20 feet

40%+

20-25 feet

DECIDUOUS Tree Spacing 0-20%

8-12 feet

21-40%

12-16 feet

40%+

15-18 feet

Percent Shrub-Cover After Treatment Shrub Spacing 0-20%

<50%

21-40%

<35%

40%+

<25%

(4) Leave areas, such as areas adjacent to gates, will be designated as needed.

(5) Boles of cut trees suitable (i.e., 4- to 6-inch DBH) as firewood may be moved to the roadsides to be easily available to the public.

(6) Danger trees greater than 6-inch diameter, with the potential to fall into a road, may be cut and left onsite. (Danger Tree: A standing tree that presents a hazard to people due to conditions such as, but not limited to, deterioration or physical damage to the root system, trunk, stem, or limbs and the direction or lean of the tree (FSH 6709.11, Glossary)).

(7) The lower branches of retained trees will be removed to a height of 6 to 10 feet, or no more than 50% of the overall height of the tree.

(8) Piling Specifications:

· Pile size will be targeted for 4 feet across in any direction with no pile exceeding 6 feet across. No pile will be taller than 5 feet.

· All piles will be located away from untreated trees, brush or improvements.

· Material will not be piled in sensitive areas including archeological sites, sensitive plant locations, riparian areas, watercourses and rock outcrops.

· All piles will be covered with paper so that 60-80% of the piled material is below the paper using Forest Service supplied paper. Requests for paper must be made two business days in advance of the day needed.

(9) Material will not be piled or scattered within 50 feet of culverts or drainage features.

(10) Stumps will be cut as close to the ground as possible, but no greater than 6 inches.

(11) To protect heritage resources:

· All known sites will be flagged (pink and black striped) by the Unit Archaeologist prior to commencement of work.

· The only treatments allowed within the site boundaries are hand treatments.

· If any previously unrecorded heritage resources are discovered during the course of the project, the Unit Archaeologist will be contacted and all work within 100 feet of the find will be stopped until the Unit Archaeologist can make an assessment of the discovery, and recommend or implement mitigation measures as necessary.

(12) Riparian reserve and aquatic species:

· Fuel reduction within the equipment exclusion zone (EEZ) of streams will be limited to hand treatments. Material cut will be removed from the EEZ. (The width of the EEZ depends on the stream type and upper bank slope. The minimum EEZ for a perennial stream is 100 feet, and for intermittent and ephemeral streams it is 50 feet. All distances are measured along the slope from the high water mark up the hillslope. However the width of the equipment exclusion zone will be expanded to include any areas where the slope exceeds 30 percent and areas that are unstable.)

· Treatments will minimize disturbance of riparian ground cover and vegetation.

· Trees and other riparian vegetation will not be cut along landslides or other locations which would result in the loss of slope or soil stability, except for trees that pose a threat to property or human health.

· Native vegetation will not be removed if its removal will reduce perennial stream shade by more than 20 percent.

(13) Large (12 inch diameter and greater) down logs will be retained.

(14) Northern Spotted Owl Limited Operating Period (LOP)

· Project activities that create loud and continuous noise will not occur within 0.25 mile of known spotted owl nest sites or un-surveyed suitable nesting/roosting habitat from February 1 through July 10. LOP areas will be identified on the ground by the NRA Wildlife Biologist, as needed.

(15) Bald Eagle Limited Operating Period (LOP)

· To minimize impacts to nesting eagles, their offspring and nest sites, the following restrictions will apply from January 1 through July 31:

· Project activities that create loud and continuous noise will not occur within 0.25 mile of known active bald eagle nest sites unless the nest has been determined to be inactive by the NRA Wildlife Biologist. Specifically, the portion of road 35N15 within 0.25 miles of the Gregory Creek bald eagle nest will be subject to this limited operating period.

· LOP areas will be identified on the ground by the NRA Wildlife Biologist, as needed.

(16) To protect sensitive plant species:

· Known sites with sensitive plants will be flagged (red and white striped) in the field by a Forest Botanist.

· The only activities permitted in these sites will be removal of invasive species and danger trees.

· Additional measures for specific species:

Shasta eupatory (Ageratina shastensis)

This species is a perennial growing on rock outcrops and rocky cutbanks. Avoid piling chipped material on rock outcrops to avoid smothering the plants and causing them to rot.

Shasta snow-wreath (Neviusia cliftonii)

Shasta snow-wreath is a many-stemmed shrub, generally growing in riparian areas. It is desirable to remove broom, blackberry, and other weedy competitive plants from around and within snow-wreath populations. Have botanist on site when working near these populations, to direct which plants are removed or cut back; or if this is not possible logistically, have botanist flag and map areas of snow-wreath populations to be avoided, and paint or otherwise mark weeds and other vegetation to be removed.

Northern Clarkia (Clarkia borealis)

This species is an annual, germinating in late fall or early spring, flowering in June and dispersing seed in July-August. Its habitat is sunny road cutbanks and openings on bare soil. Avoid piling chipped material on known sites of northern clarkia, because this would inhibit germination of its seed. If possible, avoid working in northern clarkia populations while it is flowering and setting seed, between May 1 and July 31.

Cantelow’s lewisia (Lewisia cantelovii)

This species is a perennial growing on rock outcrops and rocky cutbanks. Avoid piling chipped material on rock outcrops to avoid smothering the plants and causing them to rot.

(17) To limit spread of invasive plant species;

· Invasive tree and shrub species will not be cut during May 30-August 30. (Invasive tree and shrub species likely to be found in the project area are scotch broom, tree of heaven, and oleander.)

· Material will not be dragged through areas of invasive plants.

· Vehicles will not be driven through or parked in areas of invasive plants.

· If material removed when cleaning culverts contains invasive species, removed material will be covered with chipped material.

(18) Drainage structures will be protected as necessary.

Attachment A – Page 1