Nez Perce-Clearwater NF_Grand Cottonwood Road Decommissioning

c. Project Location. The project area is located northeast of Pierce, Idaho in the Orogrande Creek watershed in Clearwater County. Access to project roads is by USFS Road 250. From U.S. Highway 12, head north on State Highway 11, at Greer Junction. Travel north on State Highway 11 to Pierce, ID. Just as you are entering Pierce, turn right onto USFS Road 250 the Pierce-Superior road. Travel on USFS Road 250 for approximately 23 miles to the project location. Access to individual project roads is described on worklists and maps.

There is currently a road failure at milepost 1.8 on road 677, limiting access from this direction. Alternate access to Road 677 and tributary roads is via Road 5213. Road 5213 begins 3.5 miles west of road 677 on Road 250, or at approximate Milepost 20 of Road 250. Travel on Road 5213 approximately 3.8 miles to its junction with Road 677 milepost 5.5 or 3.7 miles above the failure.

Several project roads are accessed by ATV trails and roads with travelways currently reduced to ATV-width. These access trails and roads will require some reconstruction and smoothing of waterbars and dips for equipment access for project work. After use for access to project roads, access roads would need to be restored to ATV-only width and with appropriate drainage. This work on access roads is incidental to mobilization.

The Grand Cottonwood Road Decommissioning project consists of decommissioning 9.8 miles of road in the Orogrande Creek watershed using Roadway Obliteration Method I (recontour) and placing 1.0 miles of road into long-term storage using Roadway Obliteration Method II (outslope). Additional obliteration work may be determined during implementation. Road decommissioning treatments include drainage structure removal, decompaction, recontouring, strong outsloping and seeding of disturbed areas. All fill material and culverts in stream channel crossings and dry swales will be removed. Stream channels will be restored to natural grade and dimensions and grade control structures installed. Native vegetation, slash and duff material available on site will be transplanted to the decompacted and recontoured or outsloped roadway. Project roads include segments with gradients >25%, multiple fill and cutslope failures that require reconstruction for access, and deep fills. Trees greater than 20" DBH exist on some segments which may be worked around and preserved or may have to be removed for access or to excavate road fills.