miles of additional road closure and 6.1 miles of road construction as 

 noted in Table 4-1: comparison of alternatives. Alternative B: Harvest 

 includes five miles of new road construction in Deer Creek sections 8 and 

 16 to provide for cable salvage operations. Proposed roads on segments of 

 steep slopes would have sliver fills that would extend some distance and 

 result in ravel of surface soils. Some short to mid term surface ravel and 

 erosion of road cut and fill slopes while vegetation establishes on the roads 

 DNRC is expected. Following use, roads would be monitored for 

 drainage needs and repaired as needed. Any future harvest would likely 

 use the same road system and skid trails and landings to reduce the risk of 

 cumulative effects. 



This combination of BMP's and mitigation treatments, some of which 

 overlap, through the implementation of the proposed project are expected 

 to help control runoff, erosion, and sedimentation. The effects of erosion 

 and sedimentation associated with the implementation of Alternative B: 

 Harvest should be similar or not considerably greater than effects of 

 Alternative A: No Harvest (No Action). The effectiveness of these 

 treatments may vary with climatic events. Improved road drainage and 

 closures would reduce maintenance needs and levels of anticipated erosion 

 compared to the Alternative A: No Harvest (No Action). 



4.3.1.3 Cold Water Fisheries 



4.3.1.3.1 Alternative A: No Harvest (No Action) 



Alternative A: No Harvest (No Action) would continue to impact cold- 

 water fisheries habitat through direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of 

 erosion and sedimentation due to fire effects, temperature and nutrients, 

 road drainage conditions and locations. No barriers to fish passage were 

 identified on DNRC lands on Thompson, Deer, or Fish Creek. Refer to 

 Existing Condition portion of this document that discusses water quality 

 and quantity and the existing cold water fisheries sections. 



4.3.1.3.2 Cumulative Effects of Alternative A: No Harvest (No 

 Action) 



Cumulative effects to cold water fish habitat could occur from increased 

 water yield, sediment delivery, stream temperatures, and changes in 

 channel morphology. The potential increase in water yield could 

 destabilize streambanks in severely burned watersheds and increase the 

 failure of existing debris jams in streams. These anticipated effects of 

 channel scour could result in changes in channel morphology. Cumulative 

 effects would be similar to those discussed in the Existing Conditions 

 portion of this document under Fisheries. 



Fish Creek Salvage Environmental Assessment 4-1 1 



