Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation ...

Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation Management Project
character on private land can be softened or mitigated by employing harvesting techniques that
would allow for a scenic transition from critical viewing angles on or from Forest Service Lands.
The changed condition as a result of the blow-down on Wolf Beetle Timber Sale was not
anticipated, therefore, additional planning was considered when identifying the numbers of trees
to remain on the Rio de Los Pinos Units. For scenic resources, all the units were simulated for
maintaining texture and color on the landscape using various numbers of trees per acre.
The numbers of trees to remain on the Rio de Los Pinos Units was determined to meet the Scenic
Integrity Objectives for the Viewshed of both County Line and Rio de Los Pinos Units. This
was achieved by leaving 38 trees per acre in Unit 5 of Rio de Los Pinos and tapering back to 60
trees per acre in the northern-most unit (Unit 1 of Rio de Los Pinos)
Direct, Indirect, and Cumulative Effects
Alternative 1 – No Action
Alternative 1 will not affect the Scenic Resource Objectives on the landscape. Insects and
Disease are seen as a catastrophic event that only changes the forested canopy to non-forested
landscape. If the no action alternative is chosen, viewers can expect to see a change in the
characteristic landscape (from a forested backdrop to a landscape of downed logs, standing dead
trees, and an understory of spruce and fir trees). The landscape will slowly move from a dark
green consistent canopy of trees to a canopy of red to grey and has a majority of standing dead
stems. In addition, there is a potential for this area to convert to a meadow if tree mortality is
extremely high,-leaving no trees for a seed source.
There is potential “Rehabilitation” for areas along the current County Line Timber Sale
harvesting and blow-down area. Rehabilitation helps provide a more natural transition between
the landscape that has been altered to one that still maintains a natural (or characteristic) look.
However, the “no action” alternative would not allow for Scenic Rehabilitation in the project
area
Under Alternative 1, there will be minimal short-term effects to the Scenic Resources, however,
it is expected that there will be a long term effect as this area moves from a dense, forested
canopy to a non-forested, open canopy. It is expected that there will be a change to the diversity
of vegetation on the landscape. This can include a more diverse landscape or a less diverse
landscape. It is projected to change the overall appearance of the landscape from one of a
continuous canopy to one that represents large openings with scattered patches of trees. For a
long period of time (up to 50 years) there may be the presence of standing dead trees, trees on the
ground and new grasses as the ground plane begins to open up. Visitors will see beneath the
canopy of trees as it opens up and they may be able to see some features of the landscape that
were previously screened. It is expected that viewers may see up to 160 standing dead trees per
acre on all units (Units 1-5) as these are the areas hardest hit by Spruce Beetle. There is, on
average, 1507 seedling trees per acre that will help provide texture on the ground, in the
understory as the larger trees die and fall. No new permanent roads would be constructed under
this alternative.
Chapter 3 – Affected Environment & Environmental Consequences Page 3-69