Environmental Assessment

AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES CHAPTER 3
Some short-term loss of habitat would be expected from activities that reduce canopy closure and stand
densities. Recent past, current, and future management activities have the objectives of reducing wildfire
and bark beetle risk, while also promoting the development of single-story ponderosa pine and large
diameter trees. This would help to create stands that are more resilient to both wildfire and insect attack
as well as create additional habitat that is more likely to be stable and less subject to large scale
disturbance. Population trends would be expected to follow a similar pattern with potential short-term
reductions following vegetation and/or fuel reduction treatments but increasing and stabilizing as new
habitat develops and the risk of loss or damage to wildfire and/or insects is reduced. There is no added
effect from either of the action alternatives because this species is not known to occupy this planning area.
As noted above any incidence of this species in the planning area would be considered uncommon.
The cumulative effects of Alternative 1 would be similar to those described for the white-headed and
hairy woodpeckers.
There are no cumulatively significant effects identified for this species or its habitat under any of
the three alternatives because there are no large, continuous tract of un-harvested Williamson’s
sapsucker habitat on the landscape. Because of past harvest both on and off federal land, large tracts of
forest with large diameter trees are limited. Past, ongoing, and future vegetation management actions on
federal land have similar objectives in reducing wildfire and beetle-risk while also promoting single-story
ponderosa pine and large tree habitat. Ongoing and foreseeable actions on federal land may reduce
canopy closures, but will also accelerate the development of large snags. The Opine project will treat
approximately 2059 acres (35 percent of SS6 and 33 percent of SS7) of ponderosa pine habitat in stages 6
and 7 by Alternative 2 and approximately 2560 acres (44 percent of SS6 and 37 percent of SS7) by
Alternative 3.
Some habitat over the landscape (adjacent planning areas) will be reduced in the short-term due to
commercial harvesting, but as large trees and snags are retained (due to the Eastside Screens), new large
structure develops, and stands become more resilient to fires and outbreaks, potential sapsucker habitat
will develop and then remain stable. Because of the similarity across the planning areas (Fuzzy, Opine,
and Lava Cast) both physically and through ongoing vegetation management objectives (i.e. retaining
large trees, improving stand health, and promoting diameter growth), and that there are no direct effects to
sapsucker habitat, effects from the action alternatives will be additive to that of the adjacent planning
areas. The cumulative effect will be minimal with long-term beneficial effects. There may be an initial
decreasing trend in populations as habitat is thinned, and then a stable trend is predicted as large snags
develop and risk to habitat is reduced. Cumulatively, the action alternative effects on nesting and
foraging habitats will not lead to a trend toward Federal listing for the Williamson’s sapsucker]
Lewis’ Woodpecker – In central Oregon, this species is closely associated with open ponderosa pine
forests. This species is often associated with recent fires and targets soft snags for nesting habitat.
Proposed thinning and fuel reduction activities are intended to move vegetative conditions closer to
historic (pre Euro-American settlement) conditions where low intensity frequent fires played a major role
in the types, quantities, and distribution of vegetation across the landscape. Large numbers of snags are
less likely to be created across the landscape due to these activities, which would reduce the risk of a
catastrophic wildfire event. Habitat and population numbers which would be expected to increase with
the increasing size of fires would decline close to historic levels. With the re-introduction of fire into
many of these stands in both the short and long-term under both alternatives, the quality, quantity, and
distribution of habitat would be expected to be improved. Population numbers would be expected to
stabilize, and like habitat, move both temporally and spatially across the landscape.
Alternative 1 would likely have no short-term direct or indirect effects on either the species or existing
habitat. Long-term, additional recruitment of smaller (less than 21 inches dbh) ponderosa pine snags may
be realized from bark beetle outbreaks and/or wildfire events, particularly in high risk areas. The
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