Final Environmental Impact Statement

Vestal Final Environmental Impact Statement Chapter 3
brings with it numerous risks and effects. Homes in the path of a wildfire are perhaps the
most immediately recognized value at risk, however, severe wildfires put the numerous
other important values at risk including: critical infrastructure, critical fish and wildlife
habitat, firefighter and public health and safety, soil productivity, clean air, and functional
fire-adapted ecosystems (Graham et al. 2004). Some of these values are also threatened
by the secondary effects of wildfire, such as landslides, soil erosion, and the spread of
exotic species (Graham et al. 2004).
The proposed action alternative is expected to have positive long term cumulative effects.
The proposed treatment combined with foreseeable future projects, including anticipated
fuel reductions on non-Forest Service lands, would decrease the potential for large-scale,
high intensity wildfire as well as decrease fuel loading moving the project area to a more
desirable condition. The proposed treatments would reduce stand density and canopy
closure bringing the forest back to a more historical type condition. These treatments on
private lands combined with the treatments proposed in Vestal would decrease the
hazardous fuels much more efficiently for longer periods of time.
Air Quality
The smoke and other emissions that may be generated by activities planned under the
selected alternative may contribute to local and regional pollutant loading. The
cumulative effect of prescribed fire activities or other planned land management activities
would be short-lived and once smoke and/or dust has dissipated, the impact is over and
would have no further overlap in time or space with other pollutants that are generated by
non-Forest Service activities. As a result, planned land management activities (including
prescribed fire) are not expected to have long term or significant impacts to National
Ambient Air Quality Standards throughout all alternatives and should not contribute to
significant future impairments of visibility in Class 1 Airsheds.
Approved prescribed burn plans use design criteria approved in NEPA project decisions.
These design criteria have proven effective over the last ten years in maintaining smoke
emissions at acceptable levels, as demonstrated by State monitoring which has shown
only one temporary violation of PM2.5 standards at the monitoring site in Rapid City that
may have resulted from prescribed fire activity on the Black Hills National Forest. The
Forest Service believes these design criteria have been shown to be effective and the
same criteria can be expected to be effective under the selected alternative for this
project.
Botany, Rangeland, and Noxious Weeds
Affected Environment
Botany
A comprehensive botanical survey was completed in 2006 exclusively for the Vestal
project area to collect information related to plant communities, identify rare plant
species habitat, and locate rare species. The term “rare” will be used to describe species
uncommon in the Black Hills, the State of South Dakota, or the Rocky Mountain Region.
These species include plant species listed on the Regional Forester’s sensitive list (see
Vestal Botany Biological Assessment and Evaluation), Black Hills National Forest
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