8 Explanatory Notes USDA, Forest Service will be determined for forest and project level planning. Instream flow requirements of aquatic ecosystems, and their associated environmental and human values, will be determined at approximately one-half the sites needed to fully manage these resources. Management actions will be taken to secure protection of these values for the public. Critical work and deadlines of 44 active water rights adjudications in 8 western States will be met, but a considerable amount of supporting resource and legal work will be postponed or foregone. Development of the Water Uses Tracking System (WUTS) by the Southwestern Region (Region 3) will be implemented nationally in FY 1998. Soil capabilities and potential will be assessed within the context of Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventories (TEUD) on about 6.7 million acres. Most of the soils data this generates will be incorporated into the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) database to benefit many federal, State, and Local agencies and the general public. The Soils Program component will continue to support development of data base analysis packages and interface with Forest Service and USDA corporate data structures. Monitoring ground disturbing activities for condition and trend of key environmental indicators, such as water, soil and air quality, soil productivity and biological diversity, will be limited to 20% or less of the optimum level. Emphasis will remain on old growth forests, anadromous fish habitat, endangered and sensitive species, and riparian areas. Funding is provided for planning restoration treatments to improve watershed' conditions and planning for maintaining past treatments accomplished in previous years with Watershed Improvement funds. The review of Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permits under the Clean Air Act will continue. Necessary protection measures will be sought for Class I areas during negotiations with the applicant, States, and EPA. Data from approximately 600 remote automatic weather stations will be collected and stored in the Weather Information Management System for use by many agencies. Healthy watersheds serve many key functions in forests and grasslands. They absorb rainfall, nurturing plants and limiting flood water runoff. They grow vegetation and provide clean water to streams and lakes that are habitat for thousands of wildlife species. They provide abundant clean water for industry and households alike. The Bull Run watershed outside Portland, Oregon is one such example of an essential municipal watershed. Healthy watersheds provide sediment-free water to irrigate farm and pasture lands. They grow forage for domestic livestock and wildlife and are the source of timber for our nation. Riparian areas and wetlands, those areas adjacent to streams and lakes, are home to many Threatened and Endangered species. The southwestern Willow Flycatcher needs healthy riparian areas to survive and prosper. Similarly, anadromous fish need quality riparian areas to survive. A considerable part of the watershed improvement program focuses on restoring healthy conditions to critical riparian areas and wetlands. For a wide variety of reasons, many watersheds are not in healthy condition, and thus are producing goods and services at well below their potential. Currently, over 20 percent of our watersheds need specific treatments to bring them back to satisfactory condition. The watershed improvement program inventories watersheds to identify problem areas and maintains an inventory of these needs. It develops land management and treatment prescriptions specifically tailored to improve these areas. It implements these treatments and maintains them to assure their continued healthy function. Highest priority is given to damage watersheds that threaten to downstream life and property, negatively effect key riparian areas and wetlands, and injure Threatened and Endangered species and their habitat. Treatment measures take many forms. They fill and reshape gullied land and revegetate denuded and flood-prone areas. They close unnecessary roads and modify others to prevent erosion and runoff that pollute rivers and stream. Treatments restore riparian vegetation to cool waters and filter out sediments and other harmful materials. Some measures treat abandoned mines to prevent the release of materials toxic to humans, animals, fish, and vegetation. They prevent loss of topsoil, a critical element to all forest and range vegetation production. These treatments are designed to work within a watershed and ecosystem context to speed restoration of entire watershed systems rather than treating isolated symptoms. Watershed improvements play a critical role in assuring compliance of federal facilities with numerous federal laws, including CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and related statutes. Rapid treatment of many small but toxic spills are accomplished with watershed improvement funds. Similarly, watersheds are key in restoring watershed function under the President's Plan for the Pacific Northwest, the Columbia River Basin plans, and implementing our National Riparian Strategy. Soil, Water, and Air Management will continue the Challenge Cost-Share effort started in FY 1997. Since the challenge cost-share program encourages direct public involvement in managing the resources on the ground, the net effect will include on the ground resource improvements benefiting all water dependent resources including fisheries, water quality and quantity, soil quality and also establishes long term partnerships. 1998 Explanatory Notes USDA Forest Service individuals at no charge or sold at appraised value or by competitive sale if used commercially, and usually made available to municipalities at no charge. The Forest Service also uses large quantities of mineral materials in its construction and maintenance program. Reserved and outstanding rights involve private minerals underlying NFS lands. The Forest Service cooperates with developers of private minerals to mitigate effects on forest resources and users, and to ensure proper reclamation. In terms of magnitude, the minerals program manages approximately eight million acres leased for oil and gas, over 150,000 mining claims, about 7,000 mineral material pits and quarries, over 2,000 new operations each year that require bonds, and more than 20,000 total operations to monitor and inspect. The largest coal mine in the United States is on NFS lands; much of the nation's phosphate and lead production comes from NFS lands; the value of energy and minerals from within the NFS exceeds $4 billion per year; and annual revenues to the federal government exceed $200 million. These revenues are derived from annual lease rentals, royalties on production, bonus bids for competitive leases, and sales. Revenues are in turn distributed to the States, the fund created by the Reclamation Act of 1902, and the General Treasury. The geology program provides basic scientific information about the earth's materials and processes. Forest Service geologists identify and interpret geologic conditions and hazards for land management decisionmaking and cost-effective project design; inventory and evaluate sites with geologic resources such as ground water, fossils and caves for appropriate management; and, interpret sites having significance for scientific, educational or recreational use. The abandoned mine program involves reclamation of mines causing damage to the environment or posing risks to public health and safety. There are thousands of such mines on NFS lands. The program involves inventory of abandoned mines and coordinating reclamation with other programs, particularly improvement of watersheds and wildlife and fish habitats. Emphasis is on removal of hazards and simple reclamation at sites that clearly do not involve Comprehensive, Emergency Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) situations, and which would complement other watershed improvement efforts being conducted. • Program in FY 1998 In FY 1998, emphasis will be placed on ensuring potential environmental effects are analyzed and appropriate mitigating measures are required prior to allowing surface disturbing activities. Approximately 2,200 proposals, of a scale that requires operators to submit formal plans and file reclamation bonds, will be analyzed. Most of the proposals will be reviewed in a timely manner; however, there will be some delays due to lack of funding. Emphasis will also be placed on monitoring and inspecting large operations and operations in sensitive environments. Approximately 60% of the 20,000 existing operations (including those without formal Plans or reclamation bonds) will be monitored and inspected. A survey of Regions done to comply with an FY 1996 OIG Audit indicated an additional $4 million would be needed to inspect all operations and ensure environmental protection. Program areas receiving less emphasis will include reclamation of abandoned mines, unless there is imminent threat to public safety or unless some other program has funding for reclamation (see the Watershed Improvements section of the Explanatory Notes). Certain assessments and evaluations needed to determine capabilities of ecological units, or to manage significant geologic resources such as caves and fossils will also be deferred. |