HFQLG Project Evaluation Form

Project Name: Mabie Defensible Fuel Profile Zone Project and Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration Project Project Type: Mabie Project created a Defensible Fuel Profile Zone (DFPZ).

The Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration Project implemented hydrologic engineering, channel filling and bioengineering to arrest soil erosion and restore hydrology to a meadow system. The project also implemented stream bank restoration and revegetation activities.

Forest: Plumas Ranger District: Beckwourth Date: September 30, 2010 Attendance: 38 people Agency- 4 people - Dan Martynn and Kristin Dalldorf, USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Tim Holabird, U.S. Congressman Tom McClintock office representative; Todd Hillaire, Department of Water Resources Public – 10 people - Lori Simpson, Plumas County Supervisor; John Sheehan, Plumas Fire Safe Council; Frank Stewart, Counties Forester and Quincy Library Group; Mike McCourt, Sloat Resident; Caroline Caum, Brazilian Student Intern; Wes Daniels, Reno Resident; Kim Webster, Reno Resident; John Preschutti, Plumas Forest Project; Todd York, Cattle Permittee in project area; Donna McElroy, Women in Timber. USFS- 24 people - Deb Bumpus, District Ranger; Barbara Boaz, Ecosystem Manager; Sabrina Stadler, Senior NEPA Planner; Antonio Dueñas, District Hydrologist; Russell Nickerson, Wildlife Biologist; Debbie Bliss, Asst Wildlife Biologist; Don Fregulia, District Fuels Officer; Sara Billings, Asst District Fuels Officer; Pete Duncan, Forest Fuels Officer; Mike Friend, District Botanist; Geoff Kaeberle, Silviculturist; Nancy Francine, Forest Ecosystems Officer; Dave Wood, HFQLG Team Leader; Colin Dillingham, HFQLG Monitoring Team Leader; Kyla Sabo, NEPA Planner; Eric Bredemann, Asst District Archeologist; David Pilz, Lassen National Forest Planner; Matt Jedra, Forester; Wade McMaster, Forest Tribal Liaison; Lucas MacMath, Lookout on Tahoe National Forest; Micki Smith, Public Services Staff Officer; David Tewksbury, Occupational Safety and Health; Scott Lusk, Forest Range Manager; Dave Hart, Skid Steer Masticator operator. Type of treatment and acres: The Mabie Defensible Fuel Profile Zone project started implementation in 2004 and the pile burning is still ongoing. The project created 5,956 acres of Defensible Fuel Profile Zones (DFPZ). DFPZ construction involved both precommercial and commercial mechanical thinning from below, retaining trees greater than 30” diameter, removing sawlogs as well as smaller material (limbs, tops, small diameter understory trees) as biomass wood product (chips). Wood chips were delivered to cogeneration plant to create electricity in some areas and piled into burn piles in other areas where economics prevented biomass removal. Prescribed fire has been and continues to be implemented. The Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration Project implemented hydrologic engineering, channel filling and bioengineering to arrest soil erosion and restore hydrology to a meadow system. The project also implemented stream bank restoration and revegetation activities.

Resource Area

Attribute Objective Source of Objective

Objectives Met?

Comments

Fuels DFPZ, surface

fuels

Create a safe and effective DFPZ, remove surface

fuels

HFQLG Appendix J

Yes

Both chainsaw thinned and burned pile stands and underburn areas

looked excellent. Surface fuels reduced to

less than 10 tons per acre.

Fuels DFPZ, ladder

fuels

Create a safe and effective DFPZ, eliminate ladder

fuels

HFQLG Appendix J

Yes

Both chainsaw thinned and burned pile stands and underburn areas

looked excellent. Ladder fuels eliminated.

Smoke Smoke

Management

Prevent contributing to exceedence of

particulate matter standards in Portola

Community

Air Quality Control Board

Yes

Mastication was used as an alternative treatment

to reduce smoke. Careful cooperation

with Air Quality Control board prevented most

complaints.

Soils Productivity

Prevent excessive compaction and

maintain soil nutrients

Plumas LRMP Yes

Skid Steer masticator has very low ground pressure (2.6 pounds

per square inch) and is almost unnoticeable in

dry soils.

Archeology Site

protection Protect Archeology

Site Ross Ranch

Meadow NEPA

Yes

Presence of site prevented restoration

treatment of small area.

Botany Native Grass

Reduce noxious weeds and bare

ground and increase native

grass component

Ross Ranch Meadow NEPA

Yes

Noxious weed control methods implemented and seeding with native

species occurred and were successful.

Hydrology Stream Channel

Stop head cutting in stream areas.

Ross Ranch Meadow NEPA

Yes Filled head cut and channel to repair

meadow hydrology

Hydrology Erosion Prevent Road

Surface Erosion Ross Ranch

Meadow NEPA Yes

Aggregate surface and low drainage crossing

rocked to eliminate source of annual

sediment.

Discussions:

Portola Airshed Concerns with Smoke – The Mabie Project produced

approximately 53,000 piles of slash during

the precommercial thinning operation.

Due to weather conditions in the winter,

smoke from wood stoves and forest

burning often settle in downtown Portola.

Careful management and coordination

with Air Quality Control Board has

allowed the district to burn and masticate

33,000 of the piles in the past 4 years.

Approximately 20,000 piles remain to be

treated which concerned member of the

public, Donna McElroy.

Mastication versus burning piles – To

eliminate smoke concerns, the district has

decided to masticate a portion of the piles in

an effort to reduce the fuel concerns in a

timely manner. Although the fuels are left

on site, the rearrangement of the fuels

would slow the rate of fire spread and keep

flame length low during a wildfire event.

Firefighters would have a good chance of

suppressing a wildfire. Although not as

desirable as burning piles, mastication is a

good alternative to treat the forest fuels

residue in a timely manner when faced with

smoke management concerns that limit the

number of piles that can be burned.

Mastication Equipment in

operation – This skid steer

masticator was in the process of

chipping an old pile of slash created

when the small diameter trees and

brush were piled by hand during the

precommercial thinning operation.

The pile was reduced to small chips

that were scattered throughout the

area and left on site to decompose.

This small masticator is mounted on

rubber skids and has a light

footprint on the ground, only 2.6

pounds per square inch.

Mabie DFPZ completed

underburn unit – Fuels officers

Don Fregulia and Sara Billings

explain the completed underburn

treatment. Firestorm, a local

contractor, was hired to implement

the burn designed to complete the

follow-up treatment of a previous

mechanical thinning project. This

area meets all DFPZ fuels reduction

objectives. John Preschutti, from

Plumas Forest Project, examines the

area.

Completed Defensible Fuel Profile

Zone Network in the Mabie

Project vicinity – Colin Dillingham

and Sara Billings explain the

location of the second stop in

relationship to the completed Mabie

DFPZ network at the landscape

level. The map also illustrates the

completed projects on private land

and adjacent Sierraville Ranger

District. The DFPZ network is

nearing completion in the vicinity of

the Portola Area with the proposed

Jackson Project filling in a large gap

in the completed DFPZ network.

Mastication Equipment in

operation – this photo illustrates

where a pile had been moments

before. The group was able to see

firsthand how the masticator

chipped up a pile of thinning slash

and saw the resultant scattered

wood chips. Because there were

only 20 – 25 piles per acre, the

amount of chips on site is relatively

low and the treatment still created

an effective DFPZ.

Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration – District Hydrologist Antonio

Dueñas gives the group an overview

of the historical and pre-restoration

meadow conditions. He explained

how the channelization of the

meadow resulted in the long term

dewatering of the meadow system

and delivery of sediment from

channel erosion into the Middle

Fork of the Feather River. He

explained that the purpose of the

project was primarily to stop

erosion, repair eroded channels and

re-water the meadow system.

Completed Channel Restoration -

Hydrologist Antonio Dueñas

explains that this site previously had

a deep channel that was eroding up

the stream channel causing

additional sediment to run down to

the Middle Fork of the Feather

River. The restoration technique

implemented was to fill the channel

with soil and create an engineered

low rock berm that causes the

incoming water to spread out in an

even sheet of water across the

meadow. Native grasses were

seeded to stabilize the bare soil.

Prevention of Off Highway

Vehicle damage to Ross Ranch

Meadow - In order to prevent

impacts from off road vehicles

traveling through the meadow

system, rock barriers have been

placed and an unneeded road that

allowed direct meadow access was

eliminated. Several annual repairs

and additions to the rock barrier

have proven necessary to address

continued problems with violations

of the closure.

Successes and Shortcomings: A safe and effective Defensible Fuel Profile Zone was constructed to protect the communities of Portola and Calpine. The Ross Ranch Meadow restoration project repaired head cuts and gullies in the meadow system. The meadow system appears wetter post-treatment than pre-treatment. No intensive monitoring plots were established to determine degree of change. The cattle permittee should have had better notification during the meadow restoration treatments and before the 2 years of planned rest from cattle grazing. Follow up actions: Hand pile removal through burning and mastication is planned to complete surface fuel treatments in Mabie DFPZ units. Notes prepared by:

HFQLG Monitoring Team Leader: /s/ Colin Dillingham Date: October 1, 2010

Reviewed by District Ranger: __/s/ Deb Bumpus Date: October 4, 2010

Appendix 1. Field trip handout.

Ross Ranch Meadow Improvement Project

Implementation 2005 - 2006

Beckwourth Ranger District

Plumas National Forest

PURPOSE The USDA Forest Service, Plumas National Forest, Beckwourth Ranger District, proposed to improve the condition of Ross Meadow by enhancing the herbaceous cover within the meadow, reducing soil and stream channel erosion, and reducing sedimentation levels within the Middle Fork of the Feather River. This action is consistent with the direction for riparian management described in the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act (the Act) to provide “a program of riparian management, including wide protection zones and riparian restoration”. In addition, it addresses the direction in the environmental impact statement for the Act that riparian areas should be managed to sustain “healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystems protected from the impacts of land use activities, but able to adjust to impacts caused by natural-occurring disturbance processes such as wildfire, flood and drought”. This action is also consistent with the direction for riparian management described in the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Appendix A: Management Direction, Management Goals and Strategies; Aquatic, Riparian, and Meadow Ecosystems and Associated Species to

“maintain and restore, water quality, floodplains and water tables, watershed connectivity, watershed condition, streamflow patterns and sediment regimes, streambanks and shorelines.” NEED In the late 1800s, ditches were constructed to drain the Ross Meadow for hay production. Over time, these ditches have down cut and contributed to the degradation of the channels within the meadow (Figure 2). Over the past 20 years, several attempts have been made to stabilize both the ditches and the channel system within the meadow. Numerous rock and grade control structures had been constructed to slow accelerated gully erosion within the meadow. Some of these structures are still functioning. However, many had failed over time from lack of maintenance and grazing impacts. Some of this work was successful in raising the base level of the channel in localized areas or in stopping up-meadow migration of head cuts. Overall, these structures were successful at restoring meadow function and circumventing accelerated gully erosion within the meadow. It was hypothesized that low flow and peak flow conditions, fishery habitat within the Middle Fork of the Feather River, meadow species composition and cover and water quality could be improved through channel/meadow restoration, road improvements and improved forest and range management practices throughout the watershed. ACTION TAKEN Restoration The project included lowering the surface elevation in parts of the meadow to restore sheetflow, construction of two water road crossings, elimination of one ditch and a levee, treatment of several channels, and recontouring 2500 feet of non-system road. Sections of the east and west stream channel and ditch were well incised into the meadow, resulting in gully erosion and meadow decline. Individual headcuts had formed in channels and were treated to stop up-meadow migration (Figure 1). Unstable stream banks existed throughout the meadow systems. Bank slope modification expedited natural process and mitigated continued erosion of sediment into the system. The design utilized bioengineering techniques that perform well and do not require frequent maintenance. Revegetation Revegetation of restored sites included the utilization of existing plant material and a native seed mixture developed by the District Botanist. Vegetation harvest from the project area was reused to plant in repaired channel bottoms and along stream banks. Plant material salvaged for revegetation consisted of mature and young willows, meadow sod, and top soil that contained a seed bank. Application of native seed occurred prior to fall rains on disturbed soil within the meadow and on the recontoured road. Rehabilitation through revegetation is critical to soil protection, habitat enhancement, and reduction of overland flow velocities. Range The Ramelli Ranch Grazing Allotment was grazed in 2004, and after the project work was completed, the project area below the fence was grazed for three weeks in 2005. The entire allotment was allowed to rest in 2006 and 2007. In fall of 2007, the District Hydrologist, permitee, and the Rangeland Management Specialist reviewed the project area and determined that an extended rest period was no longer needed while the stream system continued to recover. Grazing has occurred in 2008, 2009, and 2010 with the permitted numbers including 150 cow/calf pair. IDENTIFIED RESOURCE CONCERNS Heritage Resource: There were two sites in the project area. The project was designed to completely avoid sites. Botany: Sensitive Species: The sensitive species sites were flagged and avoided. This resulted in some sections of channel not being treated. Recreational Opportunities: A bike trail was incorporated into the road obliteration. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TREATMENT With minor exception the treatment was successful. Sheet flow has been returned to the meadow and sediment transport to the Middle Fork of the Feather River has been arrested. Xeric species

such as sagebrush are being replaced by meadow species. Hydrologic function throughout the meadow and on a ½ mile of road has been improved. ISSUES ADDRESSED Revegetation Revegetation of the hillslope did not occur as planned, three things contributed to this; Issue 1- Soil Quality: Soil type and lack of organic matter contributed to reduced soil quality Issue 2 – High Water Year: Much of the seed and mulch was washed down slope in the above normal rain fall. Issue 3, Wind: The surrounding topography causes wind speed to increase as it is funneled through the meadow. Solution: Applied “hydroseeder” mixture of water, seed and a witches brew of guar gum (natural organic tackifer) and fertilizer to denuded areas. In addition, this was followed up with a hand application of mulch (certified weed fee hay) that was then wetted down with water to help tackify material to soil. Off-Highway-Vehicle OHV damage continues to be an issue in the meadow and on the bike trail. Shortly after the first fall rain damage to the project from four-wheeling was documented. As soon as the ground was frozen the District hydrologist worked with the fire dozer operator to repair the damage and reseed the area. Two additional instances of OHVs driving in the meadow have been documented. Since completion of the project it has been an ongoing effort to keep mechanized vehicles off the bike trail. The District fire dozer operator resubsoiled the bike trail in June of 2006, and added addition woody debris to the entire trail and refortified the entrances with additional wood and rock in an effort to detour continued use. Solution: Posted carsonite signs to educate the public and worked with law enforcement to periodically patrol the area on weekends. PROJECT BUDGET Planning Budget

Planned Salary Cost Travel & Training

Supplies & Other Costs

Fleet Costs Total Costs

16,467 1,000 300 0 17,767

Spent Salary Cost Travel & Training

Supplies & Other Costs

Fleet Costs Total Costs

16,131 225 108 217 16,680

Implementation Budget

Planned Salary Cost Travel & Training

Supplies & Other Costs

Fleet Costs Total Costs

22,354 0 9,400 8,303 40,057

Spent Salary Cost Travel & Training

Supplies & Other Costs

Fleet Costs Total Costs

22,482 0 1,595 6,265 30,343

Total Project Cost: $47,023 Figure 1.0 – Ross Ranch Meadow Improvement Project digital ortho quad overview layout map.

Figure 2.0 – Pre-restoration pictures of degraded stream channels.