Nantahala Pisgah Restoration Collaborative Project planning on the Grandfather Ranger District

1. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Nantahala Pisgah Restoration Collaborative Project planning on the Grandfather Ranger District August 2011

2. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework A comprehensive approach for pro-actively implementing integrated restoration on focus watersheds on National Forests and Grasslands Provides the Forest Service with an outcome-based performance measure for documenting improvement to watershed condition at Forest, Regional, and National scales August 2011

3. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework Objectives Establish a systematic process for determining Watershed Condition Class Improve Forest Service reporting and tracking of watershed condition Strengthen the effectiveness of Forest Service watersheds restoration August 2011

4. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework Objectives(con’t) Enable a priority-based approach for the allocation of resources for restoration Enhance coordination with external agencies and partners August 2011

5. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework USDA will use the restoration of watershed and forest health as a core management objective of the National Forests and Grasslands. USDA Strategic Plan for FY 2010 – 2015 August 2011

6. National Forests in North Carolina August 2011

7. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework Watershed Condition Class Class 1= Functioning Properly Class 2 = Functioning at Risk Class 3 = Impaired Function August 2011

8. National Forests in North Carolina Water Quality Water Quantity Aquatic Habitat Aquatic Biota Riparian/Wetland Vegetation Roads and Trails Soils Fire Regime or Wildfire Forest Cover Rangeland Vegetation Terrestrial Invasive Species Forest Health Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework August 2011

9. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework 1 1.66 2.33 3 WCC scores tracked to one decimal point 3 Watershed Condition Classes Class 1 = scores of 1.0 to 1.66 Class 2 = scores >1.66 and <2.33 Class 3 = scores from 2.33 to 3.0 August 2011 Green Yellow Red

10. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework There are 17 watersheds on the GRD Scores range from 1.7 to 2.0 We focused the low scores to move watersheds from yellow to green rather than lowering a score and maintaining yellow August 2011

11. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework We also focused on areas that we had some level of the NEPA process started. We are currently scoping 2 important burns that are in the Curtis Creek and Mackey Creek Watershed. Curtis Creek has a score of 1.9 but is an adjacent watershed. August 2011

12. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework National Forests in NC – WCC 2011 Ratings Map August 2011

13. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework Grandfather Ranger District WCC 2011 Ratings Map August 2011

14. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework 2011 PRIORITY WATERSHEDS Grandfather Ranger District PRIORITY WATERSHEDS WCF-STEP 2 August 2011

15. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Watershed Condition Framework Next Steps for Completing WCF Complete Step 3 Develop Watershed Action Plans for Priority Watersheds by September 2011 Begin Implementation of Step 4 - Action Plan in 2012. August 2011

16. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration USFWS Strategic Plan To compile the best available GIS datasets appropriate for identifying benefits or threats to wildlife and wildlife habitat, and generate an easy to interpret compilation of these datasets. August 2011

17. National Forests in North Carolina Strategic Plan Data Layers USFWS Strategic Plan Benefit Layers Significant Natural Heritage Areas Wetlands (Nat’l Wetlands Inventory) Natural Lands Density Audubon Important Bird Areas Ranked Aquatic Subbasins (DWQ) Land Connectivity (WildlandsCharette) USFWS Critical Habitat USFWS Habitat priorities Managed Lands Indian Lands Threat Layers Impervious Surface Dam Density by Subbasin Discharge Density by Subbasin Mining Density by Subbasin Road Density USFS Insect and Disease Risk Wind Power Potential August 2011

18. Low Priority High Priority

19. Maxent Aquatics Modelling • Predictive habitat maps created for 146 different aquatic species using GIS and maximum entropy modelling (Maxent) • Predicts appropriateness of stream segment as potential habitat for aquatic species • Provide a coarse-scale look at the potential stream suitability of aquatic species in Western North Carolina

20. Prioritization Based on Species Global Ranks Dan River Tuckasegee & Oconaluftee Rivers Cane, N Toe, S Toe Rivers Pigeon River Cheoah River French Broad & Mills Rivers Little Tennessee River

21. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Burn Prioritization The Grandfather RD in collaboration with the Fire Learning Network, TNC, NC WRC, and Wildlaw has developed an ecological model that prioritizes our burns on the district. August 2011

22. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Burn Prioritization Ecological Criteria Considered Distribution on Landscape Current Condition (Good, Fair, Poor) Burn History Return Interval Presence of fire adapted rare species Presence of fire sensitive species Invasive species threats Percentage of site that is fire prone Acreage of Fire Adapted Vegetation Number of Wildlife Openings Presence of Fire Adapted SNHAs August 2011

23. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Burn Prioritization Criteria Used to Develop Ecological Score Pine acres (acres x 3/100) Oak acres (acres/100) Hudsonia Montana (50 if it is present) Globally Rare Fire Dependent Species (x10 for each species) State Rare Fire Dependent Species (x5 for each species) State Natural Heritage Areas with fire dependent elements (15 for National, 10 for State and 5 for Regional significance) Acres of Wildlife Openings 3PA/100 + OA/100 + 50HM + 10GR + 5 SR + SNHA + WO = Ecological Score August 2011

24. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Burn Prioritization August 2011

25. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Burn Prioritization August 2011

26. Ecological Score

27. Grandfather RD Potential Burn Units With Ecological Score National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Burn Prioritization August 2011

28. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Burn Prioritization 42 potential burn units totaling 95,133 acres Ecological Scores from 7 to 175 Our model is strongly acreage driven Linville Gorge Wilderness has the top three scoring sites August 2011

29. Comparisonof NFsNC Districts by % Fire Adapted Acreage

30. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Additional filters to be used once project area is identified Minimum Roads Analysis Assess the need for roads on the forest – where to close roads, put roads ‘in storage’ Budget driven process to analyze what is the minimum road system we can manage with the projected budget August 2011

31. National Forests in North Carolina Project Planning & Integration Additional filters to be used once project area is identified Trails Assessment In the fall of 2010 the forest began a process to review and evaluate trail-condition data with the objective to prioritize future trail-system adjustments or additions and provide a safe trail system that offers experiences for a variety of users with minimal impacts to natural resources. August 2011