16 



VALUES AT RISK 



Fisheries resource 



Much of the area affected by the windstrom is located in Key Watersheds, which 

 are part of a system of large refugia designed to provide high quality fish habitat. 

 These watersheds are crucial for maintaining and recovering habitat for at-risk 

 stocks of anadromous salmonids and resident fish species. 



A catastrophic fire in the area would have a devastating effect on the quality of 

 fish habitat for chinook and coho salmon and steelhead, all of which are currently 

 proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Sediment yield to fish bear- 

 ing streams would be drastically increased, severely affecting spawning and rearing 

 potential. Loss of riparian vegetation would result in higher peak flows, and could 

 result in increased landslides within the active channel, further degrading habitat 

 conditions. Stream conditions for other aquatic organisms essential to the mainte- 

 nance of the aquatic ecosystem would be altered. 



Late successional reserve 



The majority of the area affected by the windstorm is within a Late Successional 

 Reserve (LSR), which is approximately 90,000 acres in size and is shared by the Six 

 Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. LSRs are a network of late-successional 

 and old-growth related species, which on the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity include 

 the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet. The values for which this LSR 

 was designated would be severely affected should a catastrophic fire occur. Thou- 

 sands of acres of suitable habitat for late-successional and old-growth dependent 

 species would be lost. 



Wilderness 



All of the proposed projects located within released roadless areas are adjacent 

 to or near the Trinity Alps Wilderness. Stand damage caused by the winter storms 

 has occurred in the wilderness as well. Treatment of the areas outside of the wilder- 

 ness would reduce the total area of continuous high fuel loading, thereby decreasing 

 the threat to the wilderness. 



Trust responsibilities 



The U.S. Government has a trust responsibility to (1) facilitate access and use of 

 the National Forest system lands by Indian people, (2) in a broad sense to protect 

 the natural resources located on reservation land. The Hoopa Valley Indian Res- 

 ervation is adjacent to National Forest land have also been damaged. Due to the 

 contiguous nature of the blowdown pattern that elevated fuel levels on both Na- 

 tional Forest and spread to the Reservation is real. 



The area adjacent to the reservation is used for the gathering of basket materials, 

 religious regalia, clothing, and food. The area is also spiritual activities. Fire would 

 also affect the main source of water for the reservation, and would damage water- 

 sheds that bear anadramous fish which are harvested for subsistence use. 



Public safety and use 



The small mountain communities of Denny and Orleans are located within the 

 National Forest boundary. Both communities are approximately three air miles from 

 the affected area, and both rely on National Forest Watersheds for their use as a 

 domestic source. 



The affected areas has a high amount of public use for wilderness access, and gen- 

 eral recreation use such as wood cutting. All access to the wilderness is one way 

 in and one way cut through the affected area. In the event of a catastrophic fire, 

 any public using the area could possible have escape routes cut off. 



Economic value 



As stated earlier, most of the stands affected are white fir. When damaged, white 

 fir deteriorates rapidly and loses economic value quickly. As stated on page 5 of the 

 Timber Salvage Questions and Answers" which accompanied the July 2, 1996 direc- 

 tion, " * * * one of the main reasons for proposing a salvage sale is to recover the 

 economic values of dead, downed, damaged, and threatened trees." Most of the sales 

 proposed in the released roadless area would decrease to the point of making it un- 



