Decision Covers Deschutes and Ochoco NFs and Crooked River Grassland Invasive Plant Treatment
A decision, released last week, will guide the treatment of invasive plants on Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and Crooked River National Grassland for the next 15 years.
The Invasive Plant Treatments Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) address the treatment of invasive plants on the two National Forests and Grassland. Invasive plants are a significant threat to ecosystem health because they compete with native species for food, space, and water. The problem is accelerated when infestations are allowed to grow in size.
Between 1998 and 2011, mapped invasive plant infestations on the two Forests and Grassland increased from approximately 2,200 acres to 14,500 acres (a 559 percent increase of infestations in 14 years). Most infestations (75 percent) occur in or adjacent to road beds and rock quarries.
The decision allows the Forest Service to use ten previously analyzed and approved herbicides to more effectively and efficiently treat invasive plants that occur within approximately 52,000 project area unit acres (<1 percent) of the 2.5 million acres of the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and the Crooked River National Grassland. The use of these herbicides adds treatment options to current manual techniques such as pulling, digging, cutting, burning and weed-whacking to treat infestations. No aerial application of herbicides is proposed.
“Invasive noxious weeds is one of the biggest threats to Oregon’s natural resources and to be effective in their control it is essential to have all integrated control methods available including herbicides with the goal to bring small invasive plant populations under control before they can make a significant impact to the environment,” said Tim Butler, Manager of the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Noxious Weed Program.
The decision also allows for an Early Detection Rapid Response approach to treating infestations. The Early Detection Rapid Response lets the Forest Service treat infestations within the analysis area when they are first detected, thereby reducing the size of infestations over the long-term.
The document is available at www.fs.usda.gov/main/centraloregon/landmanagement/planning.
A 45-day appeal period on the decision will begin on Friday, June 1, 2012 and end on Monday, July 16, 2012.
BACKGROUND
In 2005, Region 6 of the Forest Service prepared the Pacific Northwest Region Invasive Plant Program Preventing and Managing Invasive Plants, Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. That Record of Decision allowed national forests to use 10 herbicides after site-specific analysis has been done. This Invasive Plant Treatments FSEIS and ROD completed that site specific analysis for the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and Crooked River National Grassland.
