West Fork Ashby Creek 



Surveys conducted in 2002 by Fish Wildlife and Parks in the West Fork 

 Ashby found westslope cutthroat present. The lower reaches of Ashby Creek 

 have moderate to high levels of increased sediment and channel instability, as 

 a result of intensive grazing and high levels of timber harvest. The lower 

 reaches of Ashby Creek are heavily grazed and some sections of channel lack 

 sufficient riparian vegetation for thermal cover and bank stability is poor. The 

 upper reaches are in fair to good condition. Sufficient riparian vegetation was 

 present, but sediment levels observed indicated residual impacts form past 

 harvest activities and high road densities. 



Sediment levels are expected to increase in both class n stream channels in 

 Section 6 as a result of high severity burned areas 



3.2.1.7 Noxious Weeds Existing Conditions 



Noxious weeds occurring in this area are mostly knapweed (Centaurea 

 maculosa) and spot infestations of thistle (Cirsium arvense). Knapweed 

 occurs along the roadside and in most of the forested areas. Increased traffic 

 activity as a result of fire suppression activities is expected to increase existing 

 species of noxious weeds and potential new invaders in the area. All fire 

 suppression equipment after initial attack was cleaned for removal of noxious 

 weed seeds before entering the area, which should reduce the risk of 

 additional noxious weeds species introductions. 



3.2.2 Human Environment 



3.2.2.1 Economics 



There is no current revenue being generated from the management and sale of 

 timber in these sections. 



The costs related to the administration of the timber sale program are only 

 tracked at the Land Office and statewide level. DNRC does not track project 

 level costs for individual timber sales. An annual cash flow analysis is 

 conducted on the DNRC forest product sales program. Revenue and costs are 

 calculated by Land Office and Statewide. These revenue-to-cost ratios are a 

 measure of economic efficiency. 



Dirty Ike Salvage Environmental Assessment 3-15 



