Adaptive Management Areas

The following material summarizes Adaptive Management Area direction. Details regarding this direction are found in Attachment A of the SEIS ROD.

Objectives

Develop and test new management approaches to integrate and achieve ecological and economic health and other social objectives.

Contribute substantially to the achievement of SEIS ROD objectives, including provision of well distributed late-successional habitat outside reserves; retention of key structural elements of late-successional forests on lands subjected to regeneration harvest; restoration and protection of riparian zones; and provision of a stable timber supply.

Land Use Allocations

There are 19,260 acres of BLM-administered land in the Little River Adaptive Management Area.

Management Actions/Direction

Develop a plan for the Little River Adaptive Management Area. See Management Assessments and Plans (toward the end of this chapter) for additional information.

Proceed with management activities in the Adaptive Management Area while the plan is being developed. Initiation of activities will not be delayed by requirements for comprehensive plans or consensus documents beyond those needed to meet existing legal requirements for activities.

Apply the management actions/direction in the Special Status and SEIS Special Attention Species section.

Manage mapped and unmapped Late-Successional Reserves in accordance with management actions/direction stated previously. Management around these reserves will be designed to reduce the risk of natural disturbances.

Protect riparian areas in a manner comparable to that prescribed for other federal land areas. Desired conditions may be achieved in a manner different than that prescribed for other areas, and research projects may be conducted within riparian zones. During analysis of Riparian Reserve widths, consider the contribution of these reserves to aquatic and terrestrial species. Through watershed analysis, take into account all species that were intended to benefit by the prescribed Riparian Reserve widths (i.e., fish, mollusks, amphibians, lichens, fungi, bryophytes, vascular plants, American marten, red tree voles, bats, marbled murrelets, and northern spotted owls.)

Manage coarse woody debris, green trees, and snags in a manner which meets the intent of the management actions/direction for the Matrix. There are no specific management actions/direction for these forest components in the Adaptive Management Area.

Modify site treatment practices, particularly the use of fire and pesticides, and modify harvest methods to minimize soil and litter disturbance.

Minimize intensive burning, unless appropriate for certain specific habitats, communities, or stand conditions. Prescribed fires should be planned to minimize the consumption of litter and coarse woody debris.
Minimize soil and litter disturbance that may occur as a result of yarding and operation of heavy equipment.
Reduce the intensity and frequency of site treatments.

Provide for old-growth fragments in watersheds where little remains. The Matrix management action/direction for retaining late-successional forest in fifth field watersheds (see Matrix section for details) will be considered as a threshold for analysis in Adaptive Management Area planning rather than a strict management action/direction. The role of remaining late-successional forest stands will be fully considered in watershed analysis before they can be modified.

During Adaptive Management Area planning, review relevant objectives, land use allocations, and management actions/direction for resource programs established in this Resource Management Plan. They may be modified in Adaptive Management Area plans based on site specific analyses. Otherwise, management actions/direction will be developed to meet the objectives of the Adaptive Management Area and the overall strategy. Development of management guidance will be coordinated with the Regional Ecosystem Office through the Regional Interagency Executive Committee.

Explore and support opportunities to research the role and effects of fire/fuels management on ecosystem functions.

Emphasize fire/fuels management cooperation across agency and ownership boundaries.

Follow the hazard reduction management actions/direction in this Resource Management Plan (see Fire section) until the Adaptive Management Area plan is completed.

Use accepted wildfire suppression strategies and tactics and conform to specific agency policy.