CHAPTER 2: DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT ALTERNATIVES 



I. INTRODUCTION 



This chapter describes development of alternatives, including a "no-action" alternative 

 and compares the alternatives by summarizing their environmental consequences. For 

 this project, only one action alternative was developed and was designed to meet the 

 project objectives. In addition to describing and comparing the alternatives, this chapter 

 describes the alternative development process and mitigation and compensation measures 

 that are designed for the action alternative. 



II. DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVES 



Purpose of Alternatives 



Action alternatives are developed to meet project objectives in alternative ways that 

 would resolve issues. Because resolving issues creates conflicts with others, it is often 

 necessary to develop several action altematives to accommodate these conflicts. For this 

 project, all resource concerns were resolved by incorporating mitigation and 

 compensation measures into the project design. As a result, only one action alternative 

 was developed. 



A "no action" alternative provides the baseline for comparing the environmental 

 consequences of other altematives. 



Description of the Alternatives 



This section describes the action alternative and the no-action alternative, proposed 

 harvesting, logging methods, and mitigation and compensation measures that are specific 

 to the action alternative. 



1. No Action Alternative 



If the no action alternative were selected, there would be no timber harvesting. 

 Current land management activities and uses would continue. Many of these 

 activities would be limited depending upon funding and would include: spot 

 treatment for noxious weeds, road maintenance, dispersed recreation (mostly 

 hunting), and fire suppression. 



2. Action Alternative 



If the action alternative were selected, 628 acres of timber would be harvested 

 from 3 harvest units. Seed tree/shelterwood harvest systems would be prescribed 

 on all 628 acres. Follow-up treatments would include approximately 420 acres of 

 site prep and jackpot burning and 350 acres of hand tree planting. 9 miles of 

 existing road would be brought up to Best Management Practices (BMP) 

 standards. 



