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

Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation Management Project
Direct, Indirect, and Cumulative Effects
Alternative 1 – No Action
The no action alternative would have negative effects on the local population because the areas
impacted by spruce beetle would not be treated. If left untreated, these areas would become
virtually inaccessible due to the number of downed trees, and would be unsafe to enter as trees
began to fall. A beneficial outcome of the no action alternative would be the abundance of
firewood that would become available to the public for years to come. In addition, the no action
alternative would minimize short-term social conflicts between users of Forest System Trail 736,
the Rio de los Pinos, and the surrounding area.
The no action alternative would have a negative impact on the timber industry in the state of
Colorado by making roughly 8 to 13.1 MMBF of sawtimber unavailable to the timber industry.
There have been numerous mill closures over the last decade in Colorado for a variety of
reasons, and one of those is reductions in the timber volume offered from National Forest lands.
The Small Business Administration classifies most of the remaining sawmills in Colorado as
small businesses and most of these are located in rural communities with limited employment
opportunities. Since the remaining sawmills in the San Luis Valley are typically at a competitive
disadvantage when bidding on timber sales against larger operations, particularly when the
timber sale is located outside the San Luis Valley, this alternative could have negative effects on
the rural communities where these sawmills are located.
During fiscal years 2002 through 2006, Conejos County received nearly $85,000 yearly, on
average (State of Colorado 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), from Forest Service timber revenues,
and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (SRS), Title I
(Public Law 106-393, 106 th Congress). The SRS Act of 2000 was designed to stabilize payments
counties historically received from timber sale receipts and was amended and reauthorized under
the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-343). Under this
alternative, no timber sale revenues would be generated to offset payments to Conejos County as
set forth by Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, or the 25
percent payment to States required by the sixth paragraph under the heading of “FOREST
SERVICE” in the Act of May 23, 1908 (35 Stat. 260; 16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the Act
of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963; 16 U.S.C. 500).
Cumulative Effects:
Other areas of the District and Forest have been harvested in the past. These treatments have
been part of a timber program that is oriented towards providing the wood products industry with
a stable and sustainable supply of material, while at the same time, meeting resource objectives.
Under this alternative, the cumulative effects would be subtractive, and negative in nature. To be
successful, industry needs a fairly stable supply of material. By not offering salvage material
from the Rio de los Pinos Analysis Area, this supply stability in what the Rio Grande National
Forest offers as part of its timber program may be disrupted, negatively affecting the timber
industry, dependent service providers, and the communities in which they reside.
Chapter 3 – Affected Environment & Environmental Consequences Page 3-92