private ownership are largely younger stands, while stands on parcels managed by 

 the USPS are a mosaic of age classes that are skewed toward the mature classes. 

 Younger stands on adjacent private ownership are the result of management that 

 emulated stand-replacing and mixed severity fire regimes. Edge habitats between 

 these earlier harvested stands and the state parcels would gradually be reduced 

 through advances in succession. Parcels to the south and southeast are 

 undergoing subdivision and edge habitats are not expected to develop or be 

 maintained within these areas. This alternative would cause neither changes in 

 the amount of fragmentation nor changes in patch size and configuration. 

 Limited, existing habitats for forested interior and old-stand-associated species 

 would continue to persist in the analysis area. No appreciable changes to 

 wetlands or riparian habitats in the analysis area are anticipated under this 

 alternative. 



Action Alternative: This alternative would open stands up and decrease the 

 amount of mature forest habitat in the analysis area. Edge habitats exist to a 

 degree along the boundaries of state and USPS parcels in the analysis area. The 

 proposed harvest would gradually blend with adjacent, harvested parcels to the 

 north and west, increasing patch size of younger stands within the analysis area. 

 Some wildlife species would benefit from this increase in edge and juxtaposition 

 of different cover types, while, for other species, disturbance would limit 

 available habitat. Within the analysis area, those species benefiting from edge 

 habitats and early successional stage habitats have benefited at the expense of 

 those species requiring contiguous stands of mature timber; the proposed 

 activities associated with this alternative would be additive to past activities 

 increasing amounts of edge habitats and early successional stage habitats, which 

 were likely more typical on these sites under average historic conditions. 

 Landscape connectivity has largely been compromised within the analysis area, 

 and no appreciable change is expected with this alternative. The reduction in 

 forested cover is expected to interrupt movement by species requiring contiguous 

 forests, but since these species are not expected to appreciably use the state 

 section presently, the effects would be minor. The reduction in canopy closure 

 and tree density on approximately 628 acres would reduce potential habitat for 

 old-stand-associated species and would be additive to the past losses of habitat 

 within the analysis area. However, it is unlikely that the state section alone could 

 sustain populations of any of these species in the analysis area. No appreciable 

 changes to wetlands or riparian habitats in the analysis area are anticipated under 

 this alternative. 



39 



