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USDA
United States
Departmentof
Agriculture
Scratchings Final
ForestService
Tongass National Environmental Impact
Forest
R10-MB-606a
Statement
March 2007
Suemez Island
United States
Department of
Agriculture
ACRONYMS
ACHP Advisory Council -
ACMP AlaskaCoastal Ms
ADEC AlaskaDepartmen
Conservation
ADF&G AlaskaDepartmer
pecies
ADNR
AlaskaDepartmer
AFRPA AlaskaForestRes National Agricultural Library
AHMU
AquaticHabitatIV »is Tool
ANCSA AlaskaNative Ck PolicyAct
ANILCA AlaskaNational InterestLands Conservation NFMA NationalForestManagementAct(1976)
Act(1980)
NFS National Forest System
ASQ Allowable Sale Quantity NHPA National HistoricPreservationAct
BA BiologicalAssessment NMFS NationalMarineFisheries Service
BE BiologicalEvaluation
NOI NoticeofIntent
BMP BestManagementPractice NWI National WetlandInventory
CCF HundredCubicFeet OGR Old-growthReserve
CEQ Council onEnvironmental Quality OHV Off-HighwayVehicle
CFR CodeofFederal Regulations PNW
PacificNorthwestForestandRange
CRM
CopperRiverMeridian Experiment Station
CT Commercial Thinning POG ProductiveOldGrowth
CZMA Coastal ZoneManagementAct(1972) RIO Region 10 (AlaskaRegion ofForest Service)
DBH Diameter(ofatree) atBreastHeight(about RAW ReasonableAssuranceofWindfirmness
4.5 feethigh) RCS RoadCondition Survey
DOF DivisionofForestry(AlaskaDepartment of RMA RiparianManagementArea
Natural Resources)
ROD RecordofDecision
EFH EssentialFishHabitat
ROS Recreation Opportunity Spectrum
EIS Environmental Impact Statement
EPA Environmental ProtectionAgency RPA ForestandRangelandRenewableResources
ProtectionAct(1974)
ESA Endangered SpeciesAct
SEIS SupplementalEnvironmental Impact
FSH Forest ServiceHandbook Statement
FSL Forestry Sciences Laboratory SHPO StateHistoricPreservationOffice
FSM Forest ServiceManual TES ThreatenedandEndangeredSspecies
FVS ForestVegetation Simulator TTRA Tongass TimberReformAct(1990)
GIS GeographicInformation System U.S.C. United States Code
GMU GameManagementUnit USDA United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture
GPS Global PositioningUnit USFWS United StatesFish andWildlife Service
HIS Habitat Suitability Index VCU ValueComparisonUnit
HUC HydrologicUnit Code (UnitedStates VPA Visual PriorityArea
Geological Survey) VQO
Visual Quality Objective
IDT InterdisciplinaryTeam VRM
Visual ResourceManagement
LCR Live CrownRatio WAA
WildlifeAnalysis Area
LTF Log TransferFacility
LSTA Logging System & TransportationAnalysis
Final Environmental Impact Statement
Scratchings Timber Sale
4
?00S
Tongass National Forest
USDA Forest Service
Alaska Region
USDA
Lead Agency: Forest Service
Tongass National Forest
648 Mission Street
AK
Ketchikan, 99901
Responsible Official: Forrest Cole, Forest Supervisor
Tongass National Forest
For Further Information Greg Killinger, District Ranger
Contact: Craig Ranger District
P.O. Box 500
AK
Craig, 99921-9998
907-826-3271
or
Dennis Sylvia, Planning StaffOfficer
Thome Bay Ranger District
P.O. Box 19001
AK
Thorne Bay, 99919-0001
907-828-3304
Abstract
The USDA Forest Service proposes to harvest approximately 36 million board feet
(MMBF) oftimber in the Scratchings project area on Suemez Island. Craig Ranger
District, Tongass National Forest. Timber volume would be offered through the Tongass
timber sale program. The actions analyzed in this Final Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) are designed to implement direction contained in the 1997 Tongass Land and
Resource Management Plan, as amended (Forest Plan) and the Tongass Timber Reform
Act. The Final EIS describes five alternatives, which provide different combinations of
resource outputs and spatial locations ofharvest units. The action alternatives would make
MMBF
between 17 and 36 oftimber available for harvest within the project area. The
significant issues addressed by the alternatives and the Final EIS include: 1) timber harvest
economics; 2) cumulative impacts in the Port Dolores Watershed; and 3) roadless areas.
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Summary
i
Summary
Scratchings
Final
Summary
EIS
Introduction
This summary describes the effects ofproposed timber sale(s) and an
access management plan and several alternatives on Suemez Island in
the Scratchings project area. It describes the “No Action” alternative
(Alternative 1), a “Proposed Action” (Alternative 2) and three other
alternative strategies for timber harvest. The four action alternatives
include road building, road storage, and road decommissioning
activities, as well as use and maintenance ofan existing log transfer
facility (LTF) at Port Refugio. The details ofthe Scratchings Timber
Sale project are fully presented in the Scratchings Final Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS). The Final EIS discloses the environmental
effects that are expected from the Proposed Action and each ofthe
other alternatives, including the No-action Alternative.
The Scratchings Timber Sale project is located on Suemez Island in
Southeastern Alaska on the Craig Ranger District, Tongass National
Forest, Alaska Region (Region 10), ofthe Forest Service, U.S.
Department ofAgriculture (Figure 1-1 in Chapter 1 ofthe Final EIS).
Suemez Island is located west ofPrince ofWales Island and 12 miles
southwest ofCraig, Alaska.
Proposed Action
The proposed action for the Scratchings Timber Sale project includes
timber harvest and the development ofan access management plan.
The proposed timber harvest would provide for timber sale
opportunities resulting in the production ofup to 36 million board feet
(MMBF) oftimber from approximately 1,919 acres. Within this area,
approximately 1,565 acres would be harvested. The Proposed Action
would build about 7 miles oftemporary roads and 12 miles ofNational
Forest System (NFS) road; all newly constructed roads would be
placed in storage or decommissioned. About 1 1 miles ofexisting NFS
road would be placed in storage or decommissioned after timber
harvest. Logs would be transported to the Port Refugio LTF for
shipping by barge or log raft, see Figure 2-2 in Chapter 2 ofthe Final
EIS.
The Proposed Action modifies the project area small old-growth
reserves (OGRs) to meet the minimum Forest Plan standards and
Scratchings Timber Sale Final EIS SUMMARY
Summary
guidelines (Figure 2-2). The Proposed Action and the other
alternatives are discussed in detail in Chapter 2 ofthe Final EIS.
Purpose and Need
The Scratchings Timber Sale project is proposed at this time to
respond to goals and objectives ofthe Forest Plan, and to help move
the project area toward desired conditions described in that plan. The
Forest Plan includes forest-wide goals and objectives. Land Use
Designations (LUDs) identify area-specific goals, objectives, and
desired conditions. Applicable forest-wide goals and objectives found
in the Forest Plan (pages 2-3 and 2-4) include:
• “Manage the timber resource for production ofsawtimber and
other wood products from suitable timber lands made available
for timber harvest, on an even-flow, long-term sustained yield
basis and in an economically efficient manner.”
• “Seek to provide a timber supply sufficient to meet the annual
market demand for Tongass National Forest timber, and the
market demand for the planning cycle.”
• “Provide a diversity ofopportunities for resource uses that
contribute to the local and regional economies ofSoutheast
Alaska.”
Decisions to be Made
The Forest Supervisor will decide whether and how to implement
activities within the Scratchings Timber Sale project area in
accordance with Forest Plan goals, objectives, and desired conditions.
The decision may include the following:
• the location, amount, and method oftimber harvest, road
construction, log transfer facilities, and silvicultural practices;
• road management objectives;
• any necessary project-specific design criteria, mitigation
measures, and monitoring requirements;
• significant restrictions on subsistence uses; and
• changes in Small Old-growth Habitat Reserves, approved as a
non-significant amendment to the Forest Plan.
The Scratchings Timber Sale project area includes four Land Use
Designations (LUDs) to focus the management ofthe National Forest
System lands within different areas ofthe Tongass National Forest:
Timber Production, Modified Landscape, Special Interest Area, and
Old-growth Habitat. Approximately 3 percent ofthe project area is
non-National Forest System Land.
SUMMARY Scratchings Timber Sale Final EIS
ii
