Salem Record of
Decision and Resource Management Plan
Salem Record of Decision
Salem District Resource Management
Plan Table of Contents:
- Tables
- Maps
- Appendices
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Record of Decision for the
Salem District
Resource Management Plan
Prepared by the Bureau of Land Management,
Salem District, Salem, Oregon
Introduction
In this record of decision we adopt and approve for
immediate implementation the Salem District Resource
Management Plan. The resource management plan addresses
resource management on 398,100 acres of federal land and
27,800 acres of reserved mineral estate administered by
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The lands and
mineral estate are scattered in twelve counties of
northwest Oregon. The resource management plan is based
on a combination of this office's August 1992 draft
environmental impact statement and the September 1994
final environmental impact statement. It is also
supported by and consistent with the July 1993 Draft and
the February 1994 Final Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement (SEIS) on Management of Habitat of
Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forest Related Species
Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl and its
associated April 1994 interagency Record of Decision
for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land
Management Planning Documents within the Range of the
Northern Spotted Owl. The resource management plan
was slightly modified in response to public comments and
protests.
The resource management plan responds to the need for
a healthy forest ecosystem with habitat that will
contribute toward and support populations of native
species, particularly those associated with
late-successional and old-growth forests. It also
responds to the need for a sustainable supply of timber
and other forest products that will help maintain the
stability of local and regional economies, and contribute
valuable resources to the national economy on a
predictable and long-term basis. As guided by the April
1994 interagency record of decision, BLM-administered
lands are primarily allocated to Riparian Reserves,
Late-Successional Reserves, and Adaptive Management Area,
Connectivity/Diversity Blocks, and General Forest
Management Areas. An Aquatic Conservation Strategy will
be applied to all lands and waters under BLM
administration. Major land and resource allocations of
the approved resource management plan are displayed in
table 1, which may be found at the end of this record of
decision.
Alternatives Considered for Decision
Seven alternatives for management of the
BLM-administered lands and resources in the district were
analyzed in the final environmental impact statement, and
nine other alternatives in the final SEIS. A brief
description of each alternative analyzed in the final
environmental impact statement follows:
No Action. This alternative would not change
the BLM management direction established in the current
Westside Salem and Eastside Salem Management Framework
Plans and associated timber management environmental
impact statements.
Alternative A. This alternative would emphasize
a high production of timber and other economically
important values on all lands to contribute to community
stability.
Alternative B. This alternative would emphasize
the contribution of timber production on Oregon and
California Revested Railroad lands to community
stability, consistent with a variety of other land uses.
Public domain lands with nontimber values and uses of
greater importance than timber production would be
managed primarily for those values and uses.
Alternative C. This alternative would emphasize
retention and improvement of biological diversity while
providing a sustained yield of timber to contribute to
economic stability.
Alternative D. This alternative would emphasize
management for plant and animal habitat diversity,
dispersed nonmotorized recreation opportunities, and
scenic resources. It would include a variety of other
resource values or uses including some timber production.
Alternative E. This alternative would emphasize
protection of older forests and management and
enhancement of values or uses such as dispersed,
nonmotorized recreation activities and scenic resources.
The Proposed Resource Management Plan. This
alternative would emphasize ecosystem management. It
would also respond to public comments, incorporate land
use allocations and management direction from the
interagency record of decision noted above and allow the
BLM to manage the natural resources under its
jurisdiction to maintain healthy, diverse, and productive
ecosystems and to produce commodities.
Rationale for Decision
The congressionally-directed purposes for managing
BLM-administered lands include conserving ecosystems upon
which species depend and, at the same time, providing raw
materials and other resources that are needed to sustain
the health and economic well-being of the people of this
country. To balance these sometimes conflicting purposes,
the Salem District adopts the alternative that will both
maintain the late-successional and old-growth forest
ecosystem and provide a predictable and sustainable
supply of timber, recreational opportunities, and other
resources at the highest level possible. The proposed
resource management plan alternative best meets these
criteria.
The proposed resource management plan alternative,
unlike all of the other alternatives, applies the same
criteria for management of habitat on Forest Service and
BLM-administered lands. This was done in order to
accomplish most efficiently the dual objectives discussed
above_that is, achieving the biological results required
by law, while minimizing adverse impact on timber
harvests and jobs. The inefficiencies involved in
applying different criteria on Forest Service and
BLM-administered land have been noted in previous
analyses. For example, in the Report of the Scientific
Analysis Team, the team found that BLM plans were
relatively high-risk, when compared to the plans of the
Forest Service, in terms of conserving the northern
spotted owl. As a result, the Scientific Analysis Team
found that in order for the Forest Service to "make
up for significantly increased risks," it would have
to dramatically increase the size of protected areas on
Forest Service land (Scientific Analysis Team Report,
pages 12-13).
The Salem District Manager and area managers have
reviewed the alternatives discussed in the proposed
resource management plan/final environmental impact
statement, their predicted environmental, economic and
social consequences, and the risks and safeguards
inherent in them. The proposed resource management plan
alternative in the proposed resource management
plan/final environmental impact statement is the best
alternative for providing a sustainable level of human
use of the forest resource while still meeting the need
to maintain and restore the late-successional and
old-growth forest ecosystem. The proposed resource
management plan alternative is therefore selected as the
management direction that best responds to the purpose
and need for the proposed action as expressed in the
proposed resource management plan/final environmental
impact statement.
This conclusion is based on a number of factors.
Although management under alternatives A, B, or no action
would provide higher levels of timber supply than the
proposed resource management plan alternative, those
alternatives would not provide adequate assurance that
the processes and functions of late-successional and
old-growth forest ecosystems would be maintained and
restored, and would not provide adequate assurance that
the riparian habitat essential for many aquatic and
terrestrial species would be maintained and restored.
Alternatives A, B, and no action would have negative
long-term impacts on the northern spotted owl. The
proposed resource management plan alternative would have
a beneficial impact on more special status animal species
than any other alternative (see the proposed resource
management plan/final environmental impact statement,
table 4-15, page 4-55). The proposed resource management
plan alternative provides the greatest protection of
aquatic habitat since it provides for wider riparian
reserves and more protective measures for perennial and
intermittent streams than other alternatives (see the
proposed resource management plan/final environmental
impact statement, page 4-28).
As to the no action alternative, it is based on plans
that existed prior to the listing of both the northern
spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, and it makes no
specific provision for the recovery of those species. In
addition, it reflects a relatively low level of riparian
habitat protection. In view of these factors,
alternatives A, B, and no action are deemed unlikely to
satisfy the requirements of the Endangered Species Act.
Compared to the proposed resource management plan, all
other alternatives would provide considerably less
protection for riparian-dependent species and
consequently less connectivity between reserves that aid
in the dispersal of terrestrial species. Of particular
importance under the proposed resource management plan is
protection of riparian zones along first and second order
streams. Riparian zones provide connectivity between
blocks of suitable habitat when the uplands have been
harvested.
The impacts to many species, and groups of species, of
fish, wildlife, and plants are complex and difficult to
summarize in this record of decision. They are described
in detail in the proposed resource management plan/final
environmental impact statement. Based upon the proposed
resource management plan/final environmental impact
statement and all of the information in the record, the
district has determined that the proposed resource
management plan alternative will continue to meet the
needs of species influenced by federal land management
activities. The proposed resource management plan
alternative meets the requirements of the Endangered
Species Act for the conservation of listed species. It
also meets the requirements of laws directing the
management of these forests for sustainable multiple
uses, including the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act, and the Oregon and California Lands Act. Moreover,
it meets the requirements of acts that protect elements
of the environment, and requirements for coordinated
planning and consultation.
In addition, the proposed resource management plan
alternative offers one advantage that the other
alternatives do not_its inclusion of an adaptive
management area. Adaptive management involves
experimentation, identifying new information, evaluating
it, accounting for it in discretionary decisions, and
determining whether to adjust plan direction. The object
is to improve the implementation and achieve the goals of
the selected alternative. The proposed resource
management plan alternative is the only one that
specifically allocates an adaptive management area, which
may be used to develop and test new management approaches
to achieve the desired ecological, economic, and other
social objectives. The adaptive management area offers an
opportunity for creative, voluntary participation in
forest management activities by willing participants.
This will take time, effort, and a good-faith commitment
to the goal of improved forest management. Many of the
potentially participating communities and agencies have
different capabilities for joining this effort. The BLM
approach to implementing this initiative will recognize
and reflect these differences by seeking to encourage and
support the broadest possible participation.
Moreover, the proposed resource management plan
alternative allows silvicultural activities, such as
thinning young forest stands in late-successional
reserves when those activities will enhance
late-successional conditions. Compared to the other
alternatives, the proposed resource management plan
alternative will in the future provide the best network
of old-growth forests.
The Environmentally Preferable Alternative
Environmental preferability is judged using the
criteria suggested in the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, which is guided by the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ). The CEQ has stated that
"The environmentally preferable alternative is the
alternative that will promote the national environmental
policy as expressed in the National Environmental Policy
Act, section 101. Generally, this means the alternative
that causes the least damage to the biological and
physical environment; it also means the alternative which
best protects, preserves, and enhances historic,
cultural, and natural resources." (Council on
Environmental Quality, "Forty Most Asked Questions
Concerning CEQ's National Environmental Policy Act
Regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations 1500-1598),
Federal Register, vol. 46, no. 55, 18026-18038, March 23,
1981: question 6a.)
Section 101 of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) establishes the following goals:
• Fulfill the responsibility of this generation
as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations
(NEPA §101(b)(1));
• Assure for all Americans productive and
aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings (NEPA
§101(b)(2));
• Attain the widest range of beneficial uses of
the environment without degradation or other undesirable
and unintended consequences (NEPA §101(b)(3));
• Preserve important natural aspects of our
national heritage and maintains an environment which
supports diversity and variety of individual choice (NEPA
§101(b)(4));
• Achieve a balance between population and
resource use, which permits high standards of living and
a wide sharing of life's amenities (NEPA §101(b)(5));
and
• Enhance the quality of renewable resources and
approach the maximum attainable recycling of depletable
resources (NEPA §101(b)(6)).
The proposed resource management plan would allow for
the smallest amount of directly human-induced effects on
the physical environment. It would provide approximately
220,000 acres managed for retention and development of
older forest (Late-Successional Reserves) and
approximately 24,000 acres managed for maintenance of
older forest characteristics (Connectivity/Diversity
Blocks). Approximately 220,000 acres would be managed as
Riparian Reserves. The proposed resource management plan
alternative would have more positive estimated effects on
wildlife habitat than any other alternative (see the
proposed resource management plan/final environmental
impact statement, table 4-3, page 4-20). In the long
term, conditions of riparian zones on BLM-administered
lands are expected to improve under the proposed resource
management plan more than any other alternative (see the
proposed resource management plan/final environmental
impact statement, page 4-28). Based on the probable sale
quantity estimates, Bureau of Land Management forests in
the planning area would produce about 5.7 million cubic
feet (or 34.8 million board feet) of timber annually
under the proposed resource management plan (see the
proposed resource management plan/final environmental
impact statement, table S-1, page S-20). Based on these
factors, the proposed resource management plan is
considered the "environmentally preferable
alternative."
Implementation
Decisions in this plan will be implemented over a
period of years. The rate of implementation is tied to
the BLM's budgeting process. General priorities for
overall management will be developed through long-term
budgeting processes and in consultation with other
agencies, tribes and government units. Specific
priorities for geographic subunits or for individual
programs or projects will be established, in large part,
after local watershed analysis, Late-Successional Reserve
assessments, an Adaptive Management Area plan, and
further environmental analysis are completed, as
appropriate. Those priorities will be reviewed annually
to help develop work plan commitments for the coming
years. The procedures to implement, called management
actions/direction, are shown in the approved plan by
major land use allocation and by resource program.
Although the resource management plan implementing
actions are described by individual resources, most
activities will be consolidated and considered in
interdisciplinary, multi-resource activity plans and
based on watershed analyses.
Valid Existing Rights
This plan will not repeal valid existing rights on
public lands. Valid existing rights are those rights or
claims to rights that take precedence over the actions
contained in this plan. Valid existing rights may be held
by other federal, state, or local government agencies or
by private individuals or companies. Valid existing
rights may pertain to mining claims, mineral or energy
leases, rights-of-way, reciprocal rights-of-way, leases,
permits, and water rights.
Administrative Actions
Various types of administrative actions will require
special attention beyond the scope of this plan.
Administrative actions are the day-to-day transactions
required to serve the public and to provide optimum use
of the resources. These actions are in conformance with
the plan. They include, but are not limited to; permits
or sales for traditional or special forest products;
competitive and commercial recreation activities; lands
and realty actions, including issuance of grants, leases,
and permits and resolution of trespass; facility
maintenance; law enforcement and hazardous material
removal or mitigation; enforcement and monitoring of
permit stipulations; cadastral surveys to determine legal
land or mineral estate ownership; and engineering support
to assist in mapping, designing, and implementing
projects. These and other administrative actions will be
conducted at the resource area, district or state level,
sometimes in partnership with other landowners or
agencies or entities. The degree to which these actions
are carried out will depend upon BLM policies, available
personnel, funding levels, and further environmental
analysis and decision making, as appropriate.
Mitigation and Monitoring
All protective measures and other management direction
identified in the plan will be taken to avoid or mitigate
adverse impacts. These measures will be taken throughout
implementation. All practical means to avoid or reduce
environmental harm will be adopted, monitored and
evaluated, as appropriate.
Monitoring will be conducted, as identified in the
approved plan. Monitoring and evaluations will be
utilized to ensure that decisions and priorities conveyed
by the plan are being implemented, that progress toward
identified resource objectives is occurring, that
mitigating measures and other management direction are
effective in avoiding or reducing adverse environmental
impacts, and that the plan is maintained and consistent
with the ongoing development of BLM state office,
regional, and national guidance.
Public Involvement
A notice, announcing the formal start of the district
resource management plan process, was published in the
Federal Register August 28, 1986, in the local news
media, and through a mass mailer to all known interested
parties. A series of planning brochures and documents
were distributed over the entire planning period to
provide public input and feedback opportunities in the
development of planning issues, goals, objectives, and
data needs for the planning effort.
In January 1991, 800 copies of the district summary of
the analysis of the management situation and preliminary
alternatives were mailed to interested agencies,
organizations and individuals. This document described a
variety of alternatives, most of which had similar
objectives to comparable alternatives in the other
ongoing five BLM western Oregon resource management
plan/environmental impact statements.
In August 1992, a Notice of Availability of the draft
resource management plan/environmental impact statement
was published in the Federal Register by the BLM, in
addition to a notice by the Environmental Protection
Agency. Newspaper and other media were also notified of
the document availability, the length of the comment
period and the dates, times, and locations of public
meetings. The draft resource management
plan/environmental impact statement was sent to a list of
700 individuals, organizations and agencies.
A total of 135 people attended 16 meetings. A total of
783 letters, form letters, petitions, etc., were received
by the end of the extended comment period.
A summary of public involvement associated with the
July 1993 Draft and February 1994 Final SEIS on
Management of Habitat of Late-Successional and Old-Growth
Forest Related Species within the Range of the Northern
Spotted Owl is included on pages 58-73 of the April
1994 interagency Record of Decision for Amendments to
Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning
Documents within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl
and is hereby incorporated by reference.
On November 23, 1994, a Notice of Availability of the
proposed resource management plan/final environmental
impact statement was published in the Federal Register by
the BLM. In addition, a November 25, 1994 notice by the
Environmental Protection Agency initiated the official
protest and public comment period. Newspaper and other
media were also notified of the document availability,
the length of the protest period and the date, time, and
location of a public meeting. The proposed resource
management plan/final environmental impact statement or
summary were sent to a list of 800 individuals,
organizations, and agencies. A total of 27 people
attended the meetings. Eleven letters were received by
the district manager. There were no objections or
recommendations by the governor on behalf of any state or
local government entity. There are no known
inconsistencies with officially approved or adopted
natural resource related plans, policies, or programs of
applicable state or local governments or Indian tribes.
The official period to protest the proposed plan
closed on December 27, 1994. Eight valid protests were
received, reviewed, and resolved by the director. As a
result of the protests and 11 comment letters, a number
of nonsubstantive changes have been made in the text of
the approved plan to reflect typographical corrections,
improve clarity or demonstrate consistency with various
regulatory procedures or policies.
District Manager Recommendation
I recommend the adoption of the Salem District
Resource Management Plan.
/s/ 5/3/95
Van Manning
District Manager, Salem District, Salem, Oregon
State Director Approval
I approve the Salem District Resource Management Plan
as recommended and hereby declare that, effective October
1, 1994, the annual productive capacity (allowable
harvest level) of the Columbia, Alsea-Rickreall,
Clackamas-Molalla, and Santiam River master units is 5.72
million cubic feet.
This document meets the requirements for a Record of
Decision as provided in 40 Code of Federal Regulations
1505.2.
/s/ 5/12/95
Elaine Zielinski
State Director, Oregon/Washington
Bureau of Land Management
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