How will the Resource Management Plan revisions address old growth?

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What’s BLM’s definition of old growth?

There are many definitions for the term "old growth." For this planning effort, BLM will define old growth as:

Older forests occurring on western hemlock, mixed conifer, or mixed evergreen sites that differ significantly from younger forest in structure, ecological function, and species composition. Old-growth characteristics begin to appear in unmanaged forests at 175-250 years of age. These characteristics include:

• A patchy, multi-layered canopy with trees of several age classes.
• Presence of large living trees.
• Presence of large dead trees (snags) and down woody debris.
• Presence of species and functional processes that are representative of the potential natural community.

For purposes of inventory, old-growth forest stands on BLM-administered lands are only identified if they are at least 10 percent stocked with trees of 200 years or older and are 10 acres or more in size. For purposes of habitat or biological diversity, the BLM uses the minimum and average definitions provided by the Pacific Northwest Research Station publications 447 and GTR – 258. This definition is summarized from the 1986 interim definitions of the Old Growth Definitions Task Group.

It is clearly evident from the scoping comments that future management of old growth is an issue to address in the RMP revisions. Therefore, all alternatives will address management of old growth, some as a feature of the alternative and some through a "sensitivity analysis." In other words, some alternatives will contain sub-alternatives to analyze effects (under that specific alternative) of not harvesting older forest stands for timber.

Can management of BLM-administered forestlands be turned over to the USDA Forest Service?

The BLM does not have authority to transfer management of its forestlands to the USDA Forest Service. That would take a Congressional action.

Can BLM-administered land be consolidated through exchange?

It is possible to exchange public and private lands. However, the Oregon Public Lands Transfer and Protection Act, Public Law 105- 321, dated October 23, 1998, established "No-Net-Loss" requirements for lands administered by the BLM in western Oregon. The Act applies only to discretionary agency actions involving sale, purchase, or exchange of land. The O&C Act requires monitoring of changes in land and harvestable timber acres and balancing every ten years. There has been a decline of sales and exchanges involving Oregon and California Railroad and Coos Bay Wagon Road (CBWR) lands since enactment of this law.

BLM’s experience in recent years has been that land exchanges often become very controversial and consume inordinate amounts of time and funds to complete. Large-scale land exchanges would be very difficult unless they are addressed at a congressional level.

What will be the effect on the Northwest Forest Plan, Forest Service land management plans, and private or state habitat conservation plans if BLM changes the reserves system? Why isn’t the Forest Service part of this planning process?

One main reason for preparation of the Northwest Forest Plan and habitat conservation plans on adjoining private or state lands was to protect habitat for endangered species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The revised RMPs must be in compliance with that Act meeting the same standards for habitat conservation used in development of the Northwest Forest Plan. Finding a different way to meet these same goals is not expected to significantly affect management of neighboring lands.

The USDA Forest Service and the State of Oregon are formal cooperators in the planning process (as are several other federal agencies and affected counties). Meetings with cooperators are routinely held to review and get input on alternative development and impact assessment. Any changes in BLM management that could affect adjoining lands will be analyzed in the environmental impact statement before a decision is made.

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