Final Environmental Impact Statement

Vestal Final Environmental Impact Statement Chapter 1
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recreation areas, protecting sensitive plant species and habitat and
enhancing/maintaining visual quality.
Goal 8.2-204: Manage fuels to retain a natural forest appearance and to reduce the threat
of wildfire damage to forest resources.
• Opportunity exists to manage vegetation focused on reducing
insect, fire and fuels hazard while retaining a natural forested
setting.
Goal 8.2-206: Control insect-and-disease pest populations in and adjacent to the area
through active monitoring while reducing pest-population potential through vegetative
management…
• Opportunity exists to manage vegetation focused on reducing
insect, fire and fuels hazard to be compatible with goal of
controlling and reducing pest populations within and adjacent to
recreation areas.
Other Direction
The Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 (H.R. 1904) provides improved
statutory processes for hazardous fuel (including insect/disease) reduction projects and
healthy forest restoration on National Forest System lands. Other supporting policy
includes the Healthy Forest Initiative, intended to reduce administrative process delays
related to implementation of fuels (and insect/disease) reduction projects; National Fire
Plan, and The Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy. The main focus of this
National guidance is an emphasis on reducing the probability and occurrence of largescale
wildfire in fire adapted ecosystems, especially near at-risk communities and the
wildland-urban interface (WUI); and to reduce the levels of insect infestations and
disease which threaten forest resources on public and private lands.
The HFRA contains a variety of provisions to expedite hazardous fuel reductions on
specific types of National Forest land. The Vestal Project is an authorized hazardous fuel
reduction project under Section 102(a)(4) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003.
The area qualifies under section 102(a)(4) because there is an existing mountain pine
beetle epidemic occurring within and adjacent to the project area which poses a
significant risk to resource values on National Forest and private lands (see
Determination of Insect Epidemic letter, Appendix H).
Another provision of the HFRA regards the encouragement of communities to prepare a
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Custer County has completed a CWPP
which was adopted by resolution in 2011. The plan discusses a 3 mile zone around
Custer. This 3-mile zone is the WUI. The ‘at-risk’-community of Custer lies within the
project area. Figure 1 displays the 3 mile WUI surrounding the ARC of Custer, as well
as Keystone, Hill City and Pringle outside of the project area. In total, there are 17,693
acres (40%) of private lands and approximately 3,200 structures including homes and
businesses contained within this project area.