Shortleaf
-
Bluestem Community, Ouachita NF: Arkansas and Oklahoma Page
ii
Executive Summary:
Shortleaf
-
Bluestem Community, Ouachita NF: Arkansas and Oklahoma
Dominant forest type(s):
Shortleaf Pine
-
Oak Forest and Woodland
Total acreage of the landscape:
3
48,4
82
Total acreage to receive treatment:
3
20,0
00
Total numb
er of NEPA ready acres:
256,447
Total number of acres in NEPA process:
36,184
Description of the most significant restoration needs and actions on the landscape:
T
h
is project
is designed to advance
the
20
-
year on
going and extensive efforts of restoring
large contiguous
public lands into
shortleaf pine
-
bluestem habitat.
The
d
ense second
-
growth forests long protected from fire need to be thinned and burned periodically to restore
open, species
-
rich woodlands.
R
estored pine
-
bluestem woodlands provide
habit
at for a suite of rare, endangered, and/or sensitive
species that thrive only or primarily under such conditions. Fire
-
influenced (pine
-
grass) old growth fo
rests and woodlands
are
rare on the landscape and represent a significant restoration need. Maintena
nce of shortlea
f pine
-
bluestem systems
require
s
periodic thin
ning, frequent prescribed burns
,
and occasional regeneration treatments.
Description of the highest priority desired outcomes of the project at the end of the 10 year period:
D
esired condition
is
mature shortleaf pine and scattered oaks in the overstory and bluestem grasses and other “prairie” species forming the
ground layer.
This is not an experimental restoration effort
.
With no appeals and no litigation, our collaborative eff
orts
have compl
eted over 183,000
acres
into an advanced or intermediate s
tage of restoration.
CFLRP funds and the Ouachita
NF combined funding will allow the burning of 100,000 acres a year with 5
,000 acres of wildlife stand improvement
(midstory reduction)
and 6,000 acr
es of thinning. The additional CFLRP dollars will build upon this intensive restoration
program to transform 320,000 acres into an advanced or intermediate stage of restoration. This is 92% of the project area.
This scale of treatments is what is needed to
advance and maintain these huge blocks of forests.
At the end of 10 years,
almost a million acres will have received treatment
, which includes acres receiving multiple treatments
.
Description of the most significant utilization opportunities linked to
this project
:
An estimated 30,000 dry
tons of small
diameter material will be harvested
from restorat
ion efforts over 10 years. These
materials will
help supply the AES
Shady Point
power plant as it transitions from coal
-
o
nly to include woody material.
Und
er an MOU, the Ouachita NF
will
ramp up small
-
diameter utilization over the next decade.
An additional 5,000 acres of
commercial
harvesting
will
provide
raw materials to the 24
mills within the proclamation boundary.
Name of the National Forest, collabora
tive groups, and other major partner categories involved in project development:
Ouachita National Forest:
Ouachita Mountains Shortleaf
-
Bluestem Alliance
includes
the following collaborators
:
The
Nature Conservancy, Audubon Arkansas, A
rkansas
Audubon Socie
ty, US Fish and Wildlife Service, N
atural
R
esources
C
onservation Service, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Oklahoma
Dep
ar
t
ment of Wildlife Conservation, Arkansas
Natural Heritage, Arkansas
Forestry Comm
ission
, O
klahoma
Forestry Comm
ission
,
Weyerhaeuser,
Ou
achi
ta Timber
Purchasers,
O
klahoma
Biological Survey, A
rkansas
State Univ
ersity
, Univ
ersity
of A
rkansas, Oklahoma
State Univ
ersity,
Tall Timbers
, Southern Research Station, Northern Research Station, A
rkansas
Technical Un
iv
ersity
,
Nationa
l Wild
Turkey Fede
ration, Quail
Unlimited, A
rkansas
Wildlife Federation
, Monarch Watch, Monarch Joint Venture
.
Describe the community benefit including number and types of jobs created.
This project will create
207
additional jobs
in
timber and other restoration related act
ivities
(TREAT)
. Other community benefits include increased nature tourism,
improved hunting
,
and other enhanced recreation
al
opportunities.
Total dollar amoun
t requested in FY11:
$341,5
00
Total dollar amount reques
ted for life of project:
$21,92
7
,000
Total dollar amount provided as For
est Service match in FY11:
Total dollar amount provided as Forest Service
match for life of project:
$2,
7
97,370
$
28,190,244
Total dollar amount provided in Partnership Match in FY11:
Total dollar amount provide
d in Partnership
Match for life of project:
$
0
$475
,000
Total in
-
kind amount provided in Partnership Match in FY11:
Total in
-
kind amount provided in Partnership M
atch for life of project:
$51,200
$1,014,0
96
Time frame for the project (from start to finish
):
2011
-
2020
Shortleaf
-
Bluestem Community, Ouachita NF: Arkansas and Oklahoma Page
1
Table of
Contents
Ecological, Social and Economic Context.......................................Page
2
Summary of Landscape Strategy................................................
.
Page
4
Proposed Treatment................................................................
.
Page
8
Collaboration and Multi
-
Party Monitoring...........................
.........Page
12
Utilization.........
.....................................................................
Page
15
Benefits to Lo
cal Economies.......................................................
Page
16
Funding Plan............................................................
..
............Page
17
Attachments
Attachment
A: Planned Accomplishment Table
Attachment
B: Reduction of related Wildfir
e Management Costs
o
“Results
-
Cost Savings” of R
-
CAT spreadsheet
o
R
-
CAT documentation of assumptions and data sources
Attachment
C: Members of the Collaborative Table
Attachment
D: Letter of Commitment
Attachment
E: Predicted Jobs Table from TREAT spreadsh
eet
Attachment
F: Funding Estimates
Attachment
G: Maps
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