Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy
Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy
Land Management Plan - Part 2 Los Padres National Forest Strategy
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<strong>Land</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>Plan</strong> <strong>Part</strong> 2<br />
<strong>Los</strong> <strong>Padres</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Forest</strong> <strong>Strategy</strong><br />
WAT 1 - Watershed Function<br />
September 2005<br />
Protect, maintain and restore natural watershed functions including slope processes, surface<br />
water and groundwater flow and retention, and riparian area sustainability:<br />
• Assess the impacts of existing or proposed groundwater<br />
extraction and tunneling projects and<br />
proposals in order to assure that developments<br />
will not adversely affect aquatic, riparian or<br />
upland ecosystems.<br />
• Restore, maintain and improve watershed<br />
conditions. Assure that approved and funded<br />
rehabilitation and emergency watershed treatments are implemented in an effective and<br />
timely manner.<br />
• Maintain or restore soil properties and productivity to ensure ecosystem health (soil<br />
microbiota and vegetation growth), soil hydrologic function, and biological buffering<br />
capacity.<br />
• Manage Riparian Conservation Areas (RCA) to maintain or improve conditions for riparian<br />
dependent resources. Riparian<br />
Conservation Areas include aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems<br />
and lands adjacent to perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams, as well as around<br />
meadows, lakes, ponds, wetlands, vernal pools, seeps, and springs and other water bodies.<br />
Riparian dependent resources are those natural resources that owe their existence to the<br />
presence of surface or groundwater, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, fairy shrimp, aquatic<br />
invertebrates, plants, birds, mammals, soil and water quality.<br />
• Achieve and maintain natural stream channel conductivity, connectivity and function.<br />
• Assess and manage geologic resources and hazards to integrate earth science principles and<br />
relationships into ecosystem management, reduce risks to people and resources, and interpret<br />
and protect unique values.<br />
• Identify, prioritize based on risk, and mitigate impacts of abandoned and inactive landfills on<br />
water, soil and other resources. Stabilize and, where necessary, reclaim abandoned and<br />
inactive landfills to maintain proper watershed function, public safety and resource benefit.<br />
• Inventory, analyze and prioritize abandoned mines to identify chemical and physical hazards,<br />
historic significance, and biological resources prior to reclamation. Mitigate safety hazards<br />
and adverse environmental impacts, conduct reclamation as needed, and assure that water<br />
quality standards are met.<br />
• Maintain watershed integrity by replacing or disposing of displaced soil and rock debris in<br />
approved placement sites.<br />
• Develop direction and policy (southern California, national forest, or place-wide as<br />
appropriate) for protecting, collecting, curating, and distributing paleontologic resources.<br />
Linked to <strong>National</strong> Strategic <strong>Plan</strong><br />
Goal 5 - Improve watershed condition, objectives 1, 2, and 3.<br />
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