Johnny O'Neil Late Successional Reserve Habitat Restoration and ...

area has detected numerous fishers, and two fishers were collected in the Horse Creek 6 th
field watershed in January 2011 as part of a relocation project (Swiers and Powell 2011,
unpublished data). Fishers have been detected in the Dutch Creek drainage to the north of
the project area (D. Clayton, pers. comm. 2010). Incidental sightings of fisher have also
occurred on the KNF, for the most part along major roads and highways associated with
rivers or large creeks, but no den sites have been located. Most detections on or adjacent
to the KNF have been in mid- to late-seral true fir, mixed conifer and mixed coniferhardwood
habitats (Farber and Criss, unpublished data 2006, Farber and Franklin,
unpublished data 2005, Yaeger, personal communication 2011.)
NSO nesting/roosting habitat is considered as a proxy for high quality fisher denning and
resting habitat because of the presence of large trees, denser canopy cover, and structural
complexity. In the Johnny O’Neil landscape, NSO foraging habitat is also considered as a
proxy for suitable fisher foraging habitat because of the presence of large trees and
proximity to higher quality stands. About 260,200 acres of suitable denning/resting habitat
and about 259,000 acres of lower quality habitat (NSO ‘foraging’) for the fisher occur on
the KNF. Excluding larger contiguous areas of early successional habitat such as found in
the post-fire burn area located in the northwest portion of the project area, the analysis area
for fisher includes about 9,575 acres of denning/resting habitat and 14,540 acres of suitable
foraging habitat. This foraging value may be an underestimate; additional forested stands
dominated by small diameter trees or areas considered too dense for owls to fly through
were not included in classification of suitable NSO habitat but may still be suitable for
fisher foraging, especially along edges of, and when intermixed with mid- and latesuccessional
stands. Many proposed treatment stands contain large black oaks that are
surrounded by small diameter Douglas firs that are growing through the black oak crowns.
Additionally, successful black oak regeneration is limited due to the density of pole-sized
conifers and lack of small openings.
Direct and Indirect Effects
Alternative 1-No Action
Under the No Action Alternative, activities designed to retain late-successional habitat
would not occur so there would be no direct effects to fisher. Large den and rest trees
would be slightly slower to develop, dense conifer stands would persist, and growth and
diversity would remain limited. Significant habitat features such as large California black
oaks would gradually be reduced in the landscape and competition-based mortality would
continue as would decreased oak regeneration. Models project an increase in surface fuels
and constant or increasing crown fire potential under both moderate and severe weather
conditions. An increase in surface fire intensity under both moderate and severe weather
conditions would likely result in more acres of late-successional habitat affected by high
intensity fire. Therefore, the No Action Alternative does little to promote the development
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