Klamath Falls Record of Decision and Resource Management Plan

Klamath Falls Record of Decision

Klamath Falls District Resource Management Plan Table of Contents:

- Tables

- Maps

- Appendices

Air Quality

Objectives

Continue efforts to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards, Prevention of Significant Deterioration goals, and the visibility protection plan.

Maintain and enhance air quality and visibility in a manner consistent with the Clean Air Act and the State Implementation Plan.

Reduce the potential for wildfire emissions through the use of prescribed fire and other fuels management techniques.

Land Use Allocations

None.

Management Actions/Direction

By the year 2000, reduce particulate matter emissions and impacts from prescribed burning by 50 percent from the baseline period (1976-1979). This will be accomplished by planning, conducting, monitoring, and, if necessary, adjusting prescribed fire activities in accordance with the Oregon State Implementation Plan and the Oregon Smoke Management Plan (see Fire section).

Reduce broadcast burning in favor of lower intensity underburning. Use emission reduction mitigation measures and smoke dispersal techniques to the greatest extent practical. Wildfire hazard reduction, site preparation, and the use of prescribed fire for species habitat mitigation will be implemented in a manner consistent with ecosystem management.

Where needed, use dust abatement measures on roads during BLM timber harvest operations or other BLM commodity hauling activity. Encourage dust abatement measures when haulers use BLM roads under permits and rightofway agreements.

Determine the cumulative effects of proposed forest management activities on local and subregional air quality and minimize impacts. Coordinate cumulative impact analysis with other federal agencies.

As part of implementation planning, prepare conformity determinations required by the Clean Air Act.

Perform an emissions trade-off analysis to determine and quantify the effects of prescribed burning and other types of fuel management on reduction of wildfire emissions. This analysis will be performed at the same geographic scale as conformity determinations.

Promote burning of dry fuelwood by making available copies of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality publications to fuelwood purchasers.

For those designated nonattainment areas that smoke from woodstove is shown to be a major source of particulate matter, which directly affects both health and visibility, and most of the wood burned comes from surrounding forest land mitigation should be developed that assures proper curing of the wood has occurred before sale off of federal land. Potential consideration to meet this objectives are:

1. Coordinate the issuance of educational information, with wood permits, that targets proper gather practices and way to minimize adverse effects on air quality from inefficient burning of the wood;
   
2. Cooperate with local air quality control agencies and other federal land management agencies to assure uniform and accurate dissemination of public information and educational material on proper firewood use and enforcement of permit requirements across agency boundaries.

See Special Forest Products Section for additional information on firewood availability.