Late-Successional Reserves

The following material summarizes management direction for Late-Successional Reserves. Details regarding this direction are found in the SEIS ROD (see Appendix A).

Objectives

Protect and enhance conditions of late-successional and old-growth forest ecosystems, which serve as habitat for late-successional and old-growth forest-related species including the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet.

Maintain a functional, interacting, late-successional and old-growth forest ecosystem.

Land Use Allocations

There are 186,423 acres of Late-Successional Reserves which are mapped in the district. The five components of this reserve system are:

1.	Mapped Late-Successional Reserves.
		These reserves incorporate Key Watersheds to the extent practicable; some or parts of the most ecologically significant and ecologically significant late-successional forests identified by the Scientific Panel on Late-Successional Forest Ecosystems; and some or parts of the Designated Conservation Areas from the Final Draft Spotted Owl Recovery Plan.
2.	Late-Successional/Old-Growth 1 and 2 areas within Marbled Murrelet Zone 1, as mapped by the Scientific Panel on Late-Successional Forest Ecosystems.
3.	Occupied Marbled Murrelet Sites.
		See Special Status and SEIS Special Attention Species section.
4.	Known Spotted Owl Activity Centers (as of January 1, 1994).
		See Special Status and SEIS Special Attention Species section.
5.	Protection Buffers.
		See Special Status and SEIS Special Attention Species section.

See Roseburg District strategy map for locations of Late-Successional Reserves. Occupied marbled murrelet sites, known spotted owl activity centers, and protection buffers are unmapped.

Management Actions/Direction

General

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

Develop Late-Successional Reserve assessments prior to habitat manipulation. See Management Assessments and Plans toward the end of this chapter for additional information.

Plan and implement nonsilvicultural activities inside Late-Successional Reserves that are neutral or beneficial to the creation and maintenance of late-successional habitat.

Using interdisciplinary teams, evaluate other activities not described below and document appropriate guidelines.

Request review by the Regional Ecosystem Office of all activities deemed to have potential adverse effects on Late-Successional Reserve objectives. The Regional Ecosystem Office may develop additional criteria for exempting some additional activities from review.

Silviculture

Plan and implement silvicultural treatments inside Late-Successional Reserves that are beneficial to the creation of late-successional habitat.

If needed to create and maintain late-successional forest conditions, conduct thinning operations in forest stands up to 80 years of age. This will be accomplished by precommercial or commercial thinning of stands regardless of origin (e.g., planted after logging or naturally regenerated after fire or blowdown).

Salvage

Limit salvage of dead trees in Late-Successional Reserves to areas where stand replacing events exceed ten acres in size and canopy closure has been reduced to less than 40 percent.

Retain all standing live trees including those injured (e.g., scorched) but likely to survive.

Retain snags that are likely to persist until late-successional forest conditions have developed and a new stand is again producing large snags.

Retain adequate coarse woody debris quantities in a new stand so that in the future it will still contain amounts similar to naturally regenerated stands. Watershed level or province level plans will establish appropriate levels of coarse woody debris to be used. Levels will be typical and will not require retention of all material where it is highly concentrated or too small to contribute to coarse woody debris over the long term.

In the Oregon Klamath Province, if essential to reduce future risk of fire or insect damage, conduct salvage that does not meet the preceding management actions/direction. Focus on those areas where there is high risk of large scale disturbance.

Remove snags and logs to reduce hazards to humans along roads and trails and in or adjacent to recreation sites. Leave some material where coarse woody debris is inadequate.

After disturbance in younger stands, develop diameter and biomass retention direction consistent with the intention of achieving late-successional forest conditions. Where green trees, snags, and logs are present following disturbance, the green tree and snag direction will be applied first and completely satisfied where possible. The biomass left in snags can be credited toward the amount of coarse woody debris biomass needed to achieve management objectives.

Retain logs present on the forest floor before a disturbance event.

Retain coarse woody debris to approximate the species composition of the original stand to help replicate preexisting suitable habitat conditions.

Deviate from these management actions/direction only to provide reasonable access to salvage sites and feasible logging operations. Limit deviations to as small an area as possible.

Road Construction and Maintenance

Construct roads in Late-Successional Reserves if the potential benefits of silviculture, salvage, and other activities exceed the costs of habitat impairment. If new roads are necessary to implement a practice that is otherwise in accordance with these guidelines, they will be kept to a minimum, be routed through unsuitable habitat where possible, and be designed to minimize adverse impacts. Alternative access methods, such as aerial logging, will be considered to provide access for activities in reserves.

Remove trees along rights-of-way if they are a hazard to public safety. Consider leaving material on site if available coarse woody debris is inadequate. Consider topping of trees as an alternative to felling.

Fuelwood Gathering

Permit fuelwood gathering only in existing cull decks, in areas where green trees are marked by silviculturists for thinning, in areas where blowdown is blocking roads, and in recently harvested timber sale units where down material will impede scheduled post sale activities or pose an unacceptable risk of future large scale disturbance. In all cases these activities will comply with management actions/direction for salvage and silvicultural activities.

Mining

Assess the impacts of ongoing and proposed mining activities in Late-Successional Reserves.

Include stipulations in mineral leases and, when legally possible, require operational constraints for locatable mineral activities to minimize detrimental effects to late-successional habitat.

Developments

Neither construct nor authorize new facilities that may adversely affect Late-Successional Reserves.

Review on a case-by-case basis new development proposals that address public needs or provide significant public benefits. They may be approved when adverse effects can be minimized and mitigated. They will be planned to have the least possible adverse impacts on Late-Successional Reserves.

Locate new developments to avoid degradation of habitat and adverse effects on identified late-successional species.

Retain and maintain existing developments, such as campgrounds, utility corridors, and electronic sites, consistent with other management actions/direction for Late-Successional Reserves.

Remove hazard trees along utility rights-of-way and trails and in other developed areas.

Land Exchanges

Consider land exchanges in Late-Successional Reserves if they provide benefits equal to or better than current conditions.

Consider land exchanges especially to improve area, distribution, and quality (e.g., connectivity, shape, and contribution to biodiversity) of Late-Successional Reserves, especially where public and private lands are intermingled.

Habitat Improvement Projects

Design projects to improve conditions for fish, wildlife, and watersheds if they provide late-successional habitat benefits or if their effect on late-successional associated species is negligible.

Design projects for recovery of threatened or endangered species even if they result in some reduction of habitat quality for other late-successional species.

Design and implement watershed restoration projects consistent with Late-Successional Reserve objectives.

Fire Suppression and Prevention

As part of watershed analysis or a late-Successional Reserve Assessment, plan fire management for each Late-Successional Reserve.

Emphasize maintaining late-successional habitat in wildfire suppression plans.

Use minimum impact suppression methods for fuels management in accordance with guidelines for reducing risks of large scale disturbances.

During actual fire suppression activities, consult resource specialists to assure that habitat damage is minimized.

Until a fire management plan is completed for a Late-Successional Reserve or group of reserves, suppress wildfire to avoid loss of habitat and to maintain future management options.

Prepare a specific fire management plan prior to any habitat manipulation activities in Late-Successional Reserves. Specify how hazard reduction and other prescribed fire applications meet the objectives of the Late-Successional Reserve. Until the plan is approved, proposed activities will be subject to review by the Regional Ecosystem Office.

Apply prescribed fire in a manner which retains the amount of coarse woody debris determined through watershed analysis.

Limit the size of all wild fires. When watershed analysis or a Late-Successional Reserve Assessment is completed, some natural fires may be allowed to burn under prescribed conditions.

Consider rapidly extinguishing smoldering coarse woody debris and duff.

Special Forest Products

Evaluate whether special forest product harvest activities have adverse effects on Late-Successional Reserve objectives.

Prior to selling special forest products, ensure resource sustainability and protection of other resource values such as special status plant or animal species.

Where special forest product activities are extensive, evaluate whether they have significant effects on late-successional habitat. Restrictions may be appropriate in some cases.

Recreational Uses

Use adjustment measures, such as education, use limitations, traffic control devices, or increased maintenance, when dispersed and developed recreation practices retard or prevent attainment of Late-Successional Reserve objectives.

Rights-of-Way, Contracted Rights, Easements, and Temporary Use Permits

Access to nonfederal lands through Late-Successional reserves will be considered and existing right-of-way agreements, contracted rights, easements and temporary use permits in Late-Successional Reserves will be recognized as valid uses.

For all new rights-of-way proposals, design mitigation measures to reduce adverse effects on Late-Successional Reserves. Consider alternative routes that avoid Late-Successional Reserves. If rights-of-way must be routed through a reserve, design and locate them to have the least impact on late-successional habitat.

Review all temporary use permits. When objectives of Late-Successional Reserves are not being met, reduce impacts through education or modification of existing permits.

Nonnative Species

If introduction of a nonnative species is proposed, complete an assessment of impacts and avoid any introduction that would retard or prevent achievement of late-successional objectives.

Evaluate impacts of nonnative species (plant and animal) existing within reserves.

Develop plans and recommendations for eliminating or controlling nonnative species which are consistent with Late-Successional Reserve objectives. Include an analysis of effects of implementing such programs on other species or habitats within Late-Successional Reserves.

Protection Buffers

See the Special Status and SEIS Special Attention Species section.