40.240.570 Special Management Areas Natural Resource Review Criteria (REPEALED)
All new developments and land uses shall be evaluated to ensure that the natural resources on a site, or natural resources in danger of degradation of destruction from individual or cumulative off-site impacts, are protected from adverse effects. The Forest Service will provide the natural resource site evaluation and project analysis and evaluation for new uses and developments, except those sponsored by non-Forest Service federal and state agencies. Natural resources include wetlands, streams, ponds and lakes, riparian areas, wildlife and wildlife habitat areas, and rare plant and natural areas.
A. Buffer zones shall be undisturbed unless it has been shown that no practicable alternatives exist, pursuant to Section 40.240.530(F)(1), substituting the name of the resource as appropriate. New developments and uses may only be allowed in the buffer zone upon demonstration in the natural resources mitigation plan that no adverse effects would result.
B. The applicant’s site plan shall include the following additional information to facilitate evaluation for compliance with minimum natural resource protection guidelines:
1. Location of the following sites and areas. The Forest Service will provide this information to the applicant:
a. Sites of sensitive wildlife and sensitive plant species.
b. Location of riparian and wetland areas. The exact location of the wetlands boundaries shall be delineated using the procedures specified in the Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands (Federal Interagency Committee for Wetland Delineation, 1989). Changes to this manual shall not apply to wetlands in the Special Management Area unless the Management Plan has been amended.
2. A description or illustration showing the mitigation measures to control soil erosion and stream sedimentation.
C. Site plans shall be submitted to the Forest Service, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The site plan shall be reviewed by the Forest Service in consultation with the appropriate state or federal agency and reviewed and approved by the responsible official.
D. Review of the site plan shall consider the following:
1. Biology and habitat requirements of the flora or fauna of concern.
2. Historic, current, and proposed uses in the vicinity of sensitive species, including cumulative effects.
3. Existing condition of the site and the surrounding habitat and the useful life of the site.
4. Physical characteristics of the subject parcel and vicinity, including topography, vegetation, and soil and hydrological characteristics.
5. Minimum natural resource protection guidelines including buffer zones.
6. Closure of forest practice roads necessary to protect natural resources.
7. Comments from state and federal agencies.
E. Minimum natural resource protection guidelines include:
1. Sites of Sensitive Wildlife and Sensitive Plant Species.
a. A two hundred (200) foot buffer zone shall be created for sensitive plant species.
b. A buffer zone for sites of sensitive wildlife species, such as nesting, roosting and perching sites, as defined by species requirements shall be as determined by a Forest Service biologist in consultation with other state or federal agency biologists.
2. Riparian Areas, Wetlands, Ponds, and Lakes.
a. Wetlands shall not be destroyed except within roads and railroad rights-of-way as provided in Section 40.240.570(E)(2)(g). Riparian areas shall not be destroyed, except for water-dependent uses, such as boat ramps, and road construction and reconstruction. The above stated exceptions to riparian destruction policy shall meet minimum natural resource protection standards and be reviewed for meeting resource protection guidelines.
b. Adding any fill or draining of wetlands is prohibited.
c. A minimum two hundred (200) foot buffer zone shall be created on the landward side of each wetland, pond or lake; or a wider variance from this requirement shall be determined during the site plan analysis of the wetland or riparian area and those species inhabiting the area as determined by the Forest Service biologist in consultation with state and/or federal agencies.
d. A two hundred (200) foot buffer zone shall be created along each fish bearing and perennial stream.
e. A fifty (50) foot buffer zone shall be created along intermittent streams.
f. Revegetation shall use only species native to the Columbia River Gorge, and shall provide and maintain habitat diversity beneficial to the fish, wildlife and native plants.
g. Maintenance, repair, reconstruction and realignment of roads and railroads within their rights-of-way shall be exempted from the wetlands and riparian guidelines upon demonstration of all the following:
(1) The wetland within the right-of-way is a drainage ditch not part of a larger wetland outside of the right-of-way;
(2) The wetland is not critical habitat; and
(3) Proposed activities within the right-of-way would not adversely affect a wetland adjacent to the right-of-way.
3. Fish and Wildlife Habitat.
a. Structures such as bridges, culverts, and utility corridors shall be designed so as not to impede the passage of fish and wildlife.
b. New developments and uses shall not interfere with fish passage.
c. Filling of shallow water fishery habitat shall be allowed only after an analysis shows that no other practicable sites exist. Filling shall only be considered for water-dependent uses, and mitigation shall be required.
d. New developments and uses shall occur during periods when fish and wildlife are least sensitive to activities. This would include, among others, nesting and brooding periods (from nest building to fledgling of young), and those periods specified in “Oregon Guidelines for Timing of In Water Work to Protect Fish and Wildlife Resources” (Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife 1986).
e. In areas of big game winter range, adequate thermal cover shall be maintained as determined by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
f. Forest practices shall maintain the following:
(1) Six (6) live trees per acre, three (3) of which shall be of the largest tree size available and three (3) of which shall be of various sizes to provide replacements as snags and wildlife trees; and three (3) dead trees per acre, of the largest tree size available; and three (3) down trees per acre in the largest tree size available. All trees shall be unburned. In areas with mixed oak and conifer stands, at least one (1) of the three (3) dead trees per acre shall be an oak snag of the largest tree size and one (1) additional live conifer per acre of sixteen (16) inch diameter at breast height (dbh) or greater, preferably with limbs down to the ground, shall be maintained.
(2) Snags and wildlife trees shall be maintained either as clumps or evenly distributed over the forest practice area.
(3) Down logs shall be relatively solid and no area greater than two (2) acres in size and capable of supporting forested conditions shall be without a minimum of two (2) down logs.
4. Biodiversity.
a. New uses shall avoid disturbance to old growth forests.
b. Forest practices shall maintain species composition at existing proportions in the activity area.
c. Forest practices in areas with existing oak species shall maintain a minimum of twenty-five (25) square feet basal area per acre of oak in areas with predominantly oak trees of one (1) foot dbh or more, or maintain a minimum forty percent oak canopy cover per forty (40) acres in which ten (10) trees per acre must be of the largest tree size, in areas with predominantly oak trees less than one (1) foot dbh. No area greater than ten (10) acres in size and supporting existing oak species shall be devoid of oak trees.
d. A mix in age and size of hardwoods shall be maintained to provide vertical diversity and replacement.
e. For revegetation purposes, only plants species native to the Columbia River Gorge shall be encouraged.
5. Soil Productivity.
a. New developments and land uses shall control all soil movement within the area shown on the site plan.
b. The soil area disturbed by new development or land uses shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the project area.
c. Within one (1) year of project completion, eighty percent (80%) of the project area with surface disturbance shall be established with effective native groundcover species or other soil stabilizing methods to prevent soil erosion until the area has eighty percent (80%) vegetative cover.
d. Forest practices shall maintain the following:
(1) Soil organic matter shall be provided at a minimum of fifteen (15) tons per acre and twenty-five (25) tons per acre of dead and down woody material in the east and west side vegetation communities, respectively.
(2) Potential ground disturbance activities shall be designed to minimize disturbance to the soil organic horizon.
6. Air and Water Quality.
a. Streambank and shoreline stability shall be maintained or restored with natural revegetation.
b. All new developments shall be carried out to comply with state water quality requirements.
c. County, state, and federal regulations for air and water quality and for pesticide use shall be followed.
d. Existing levels of air visibility shall not be degraded.
7. The applicant shall develop a natural resource mitigation plan for all new developments or uses proposed within a buffer zone. The applicant’s mitigation plan shall:
a. Include existing natural and cultural features.
b. Include proposed actions within and adjacent to the buffer zone.
c. Include mitigation measures as necessary to comply with the minimum natural resource protection guidelines and protect natural resources from adverse effects.
d. Be prepared by a natural resource specialist as defined.
e. Demonstrate mitigation measures that would offset the adverse effects of the proposed new use or developments and that would ensure protection, long-term viability, and function of the resource being protected by the buffer zone.
f. Be reviewed to ensure the proposed mitigation measures are adequate and comply with minimum natural resource protection guidelines. The mitigation plan shall be reviewed by the Forest Service in consultation with appropriate state or federal agencies, and reviewed and approved by the responsible official.