Methods and assumptions used in this impact analysis include the following:
No current forest or woodland inventory or age and species classifications are available for the Planning Area.
The condition, species content, and vitality of the forest and woodland ecosystem rest on the foundation of the soils, topography, slope/aspect, and microclimate and climatic forces specific to the region.
Distributing and managing vegetative treatments will vary in forest and woodland areas depending on the desirable goals (e.g., fuel reduction in a WUI area).
Livestock grazing in forests and woodlands generally remains compatible with forest management under all alternatives. Many forests and woodland areas are inaccessible to livestock due to steep slopes, physical barriers, or proximity to other portions of grazing allotments.
Old growth stands, or those the BLM would manage for old growth, will follow the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (2003) Section 102 for maintaining and managing these stands.
Public demand sales for firewood, Christmas trees, posts and poles, and other forest products would continue.
Forest health, forest restoration, and hazardous fuels reduction objectives will be the major determining factors in forest management.
Forests and woodlands are important for the watershed, visual resources, and wildlife habitats. Some of these values are natural and some are sociological. For example, wildlife needs habitat, not visual quality. Human, sociological, economic, and cultural influences relate to managing forestlands and must be considered.
Management of the forest could increase the water yield from the forest.
Water quality could be adversely impacted in the short term due to mechanical forest treatments (soil erosion, etc.), but overall, the consequences of these treatments, as related to water quality, are anticipated to be negligible.
Aspens generally are declining due to advancement of ecological conditions and succession. The advancement of ecological conditions also leads to encroachment of evergreen species into aspen stands; for example, shade-tolerant conifers invade and eventually shade out aspen stands, contributing to their decline.