Appendix F

Special Areas

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Introduction

This appendix management of areas that were dropped from consideration as areas of critical environmental concern.

Identification and Screening of Candidate Areas of Critical Environmental Concerns

During the initial stages of the planning process, the public, BLM employees, and other government agencies identified 12 sites within the planning area with resource values that could meet criteria for areas of critical environmental concern. These identified areas became candidate areas. To be a potential area of critical environmental concern, a candidate area must meet both "importance" and "relevance" criteria. Each candidate area was screened by an interdisciplinary team to determine whether these criteria were met, and if met, the interdisciplinary team proposed boundaries and management objectives for the potential area of critical environmental concern. The interdisciplinary team recommendations were then submitted to the Area Manager for a decision and then to the District Manager for concurrence. The results of this process are summarized in the table below.

Management of Candidate Areas of Critical Environmental Concerns Dropped from Consideration
Area Name	Acres Dropped	(Primary Values)	Managed For
Lower Goodlow Mountain	1,760	Plant communities related to Goodlow Mountain Research Natural Area.	No special management. Plant communities present on BLM lands do not differ appreciably from those already protected in the existing Research Natural Area.
Barnes Valley Creek	480	Scenic value, water quality concerns	Riparian reserve, 300 foot buffer either side of stream channel, Visual Resource Management Class II management, livestock controlled by fencing. Endangered Species Act protection for endangered sucker fish.
Alkali Lake	240	Riparian/Wetland	Special Botanical/Habitat area, open to off-highway vehicle use (no public access, actively pursue land exchange and legal access opportunities, mineral leasing subject to no surface occupancy, control grazing by fencing.
Clover Creek	30	Forest Education	Environmental Education Area, restricted timber harvest (Matrix) to manage and maintain for forest education values and forest health, off-highway vehicle limited, open to grazing use, mineral leasing subject to no surface occupancy.
Surveyor Forest Area	150	Education, Natural Processes	Designated Environmental Education Area administratively withdrawn) to receive special management attention. Not available for planned timber harvest, off-highway vehicle use limited, control grazing by fencing, mineral leasing subject to no surface occupancy.
Tunnel Creek Wetlands	280	Natural System	Area to receive special management attention. Available for restricted timber harvest; off-highway vehicle use limited; control grazing by fencing; mineral leasing subject to no surface occupancy. Actively pursue cooperative land management or land exchange opportunities with private land. Area designated speical Botanical/Habitat Area (Riparian Reserve and Late-Successional/District Designated Reserve).
The Bumpheads	50	Natural Systems, Scenic	Area to receive special management attention. Off-highway vehicle use limited; control grazing by fencing; mineral leasing subject to no surface occupancy. Area designated as an Special Botanical/Habitat Area.
Pacific Crest National	620	Natural Proces	Not designated as an area of critical environmental concern. Area to receive 50 foot no harvest buffer either side of trail plus 1/4 mile visual Resource Management Class II either side of trail. Closed to off-highway vehicle use; open to grazing use; mineral leasing subject to no surface occupancy.
Spencer Creek	320	Fisheries	Area to receive special management attention. Restricted timber harvest and grazing; closed to off-highway vehicles. Coordinated Resource Management Plan. Area within 300 foot either side of creek a Riparian Reserve. Visual Resource Management Class II 1/4 mile either side of creek. Watershed analysis to be completed. Mineral leasing subject to no surface occupancy.