Medford Record of Decision and Resource Management Plan

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Glossary

Medford Record of Decision

Medford District Resource Management Plan Table of Contents:

- Tables

- Maps

- Appendices

The Resource Management Plan

Introduction

The purpose of this section is to describe the Medford District Resource Management Plan (RMP). This section includes:

- a description of the objectives, major land use allocations, and management actions/directions for the resource management plan; and

 

- guidance for miscellaneous topics such as coordination and consultation, use of the completed plan, and monitoring.

Maps of the resource management plan land use allocations are located in the accompanying map packet.

The Resource Management Plan (RMP) was developed partially in response to public comments related to the Bureau of Land Management's August 1992 Draft Resource Management Plan for western Oregon and protests and comments on the 1994 PRMP/FEIS specific to the Medford District. In addition, the plan incorporates the land use allocations and management direction from the 1994 SEIS ROD.

The first part of this Resource Management Plan (RMP) essentially addresses or readdresses issues analyzed in the SEIS and decisions documented in the ROD/FSEIS (see Appendix A). The second part of the RMP primarily addresses issues specific to the Medford District, but incorporates relevant guidance from the SEIS ROD. This has resulted in a substantial amount of duplication but should result in more consistent implementation.

There are a number of other discussions (e.g., use of the plan, watershed analysis, adaptive management, management assessments and plans, etc.) located near the end of this section that also have an important bearing on the implementation on the RMP. These sections should be reviewed to obtain a better understanding of the entire Resource Management Plan. While not required by the SEIS ROD or this document, it is assumed that watershed analysis will eventually be completed for the entire planning area. Watershed analysis will help guide implementation of the RMP in many important aspects.

Vision

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will manage land and natural resources under its jurisdiction in western Oregon to help enhance and maintain the ecological health of the environment and the social well being of human populations.

There are several basic principles supporting this vision:

• natural resources can be managed to provide for human use and a healthy environment;
  
  
• resource management must be focused on ecological principles to reduce the need for single resource or single species management;
  
  
• stewardship, the involvement of people working with natural processes, is essential for successful implementation;
  
  
• the BLM cannot achieve this vision alone but can, by its management processes and through cooperation with others, be a significant contributor to its achievement; and
  
  
• a carefully designed program of monitoring, research and adaptation will be the change mechanism for achieving this vision.

Strategy

Lands administered by the BLM will be managed to maintain or restore healthy, functioning ecosystems from which a sustainable production of natural resources can be provided. This management strategy, titled ecosystem management, involves the use of ecological, economic, social, and managerial principles to achieve healthy and sustainable natural systems. Ecosystem management emphasizes the complete ecosystem instead of individual components and looks at sustainable systems and products that people want and need.

The building blocks for this strategy are comprised of several major land use allocations: riparian reserves; late-successional reserves; adaptive management areas; matrix, which includes general forest management areas and connectivity/diversity blocks; and a variety of special purpose management areas such as recreation sites, wild and scenic rivers, and visual resource management areas. These land use allocations have differing management direction and are located and configured in the landscape to support overall ecosystem function and to meet the vision for management of Federal lands in western Oregon.

Each land use allocation will be managed according to specific objectives and management actions/direction. During initial implementation of the plan, the stated objectives and management actions/direction will provide the direction, and limits governing actions and the principles specifying the environmental conditions or levels to be achieved and maintained. As BLM gains experience in implementing the plan and applying the concepts of adaptive management, the stated objectives and management actions/direction will be refined for specific geographic areas.

There are two major management concepts underlying the objectives and management actions/direction: ecological principles for management of late-successional forests and the Aquatic Conservation Strategy. These concepts are summarized below. See Appendix A for a more detailed description of these concepts.

Ecological Principles for Management of Late-Successional Forests

One goal of the plan is to maintain late-successional and old-growth species habitat and ecosystems on Federal lands. A second goal is to maintain biological diversity associated with native species and ecosystems in accordance with laws and regulations.

All land use allocations described in this plan contributes to these two goals. For instance, late-successional reserves and many special management areas (e.g., areas of critical environmental concern) will be managed to enhance and/or maintain late-successional forest conditions. The general forest management area and connectivity/diversity blocks will be managed to retain late-successional forest legacies (e.g., coarse woody debris, green trees, snags, and late-successional forest patches). These and other land use allocations and resource programs are described in detail below.

See the SEIS ROD (appendix A) for additional information about ecological principles for management of late-successional forests.