Environmental Assessment

AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES CHAPTER 3
Surveys located 21 sites/populations of the pumice grape-fern in the planning area. They total
approximately 2,600 plants or approximately 10 percent of the estimated global population of
approximately 25,700 plants (Plant BE page 7).
Surveys located 225 sites/populations of the green-tinged paintbrush in the planning area. They total
approximately 26,000 plants. There are an estimated 30,000 plants on the Deschutes National Forest and
an additional approximately 500,000 plants on the Fremont National Forest. There are an unknown but
relatively small number located on BLM managed federal lands. The numbers in the planning area
constitute approximately five (5) percent of the global population and approximately 87 percent of
Deschutes National Forest population (Plant BE pages 7-8).
No habitat for Threatened, Endangered, Proposed, or Candidate plant species exists in the planning area.
A complete list of these species can be found in the Appendices C and D of the Plant BE (pages 23-28).
The lone exception is Botrychium lineare, a Candidate species. It has a very wide range with an equally
wide range of habitats. It has not been found within the planning area nor elsewhere on the Deschutes
National Forest despite 15 years of project-level surveys. The nearest known site lies in Wallowa County
in northeastern Oregon (Plant BE page 7). There would be no measurable short-term (10 years or less)
direct or indirect effects of vegetation or fuel reduction treatments on populations of either species under
Alternative 1. No treatments would be implemented under this alternative (Plant BE page 15).
Environmental Effects – Alternative 1 - Long-term, the next 1 to 2 decades, the failure to implement fuel
reduction treatments is likely to increase the risk of damage or loss of individuals or populations of green
tinged paint brush within the planning area due to catastrophic wildfire. Fire exclusion has permitted
shrubs to grow and proliferate. The paintbrush prefers mid- to late-seral shrub communities in this
portion of its range. A wildfire ignited in or burning through these communities would likely result in the
death of paintbrush plants in burned areas due to the elimination of its host, the older shrubs. Although
such an event would likely eliminate local populations and individuals, it would not likely measurably
impact the world population because only approximately five (5) percent (approximately 26,000 plants)
of the known world population is located in the planning area. Assuming no catastrophic wildfire, this
alternative would maintain more mid- to late-seral shrub habitat preferred by the paintbrush.
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