Would the Teams recommendations retain the Frameworks Old Forest Emphasis Areas (OFEAs)?
Yes. The recommendations would retain all of the Framework’s land allocations and desired conditions, including OFEAs. To protect OFEAs from severe wildfire, the Forest Service would treat hazardous fuels to reduce fuel loading from its current dangerous levels, strategically placed on about 22-30% of the landscape–consistent with the Framework. As in the Framework, only 32,500 acres of the 4.5 million acres of OFEAs would be thinned annually over the next five years. More than 75 percent of all thinning over that period would be done in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) near communities. The treatments would be carefully placed in such a way that they reduce wildfire severity on the surrounding landscape as well as the specific area actually treated. In line with the Framework, the Forest Service expects OFEAs to have a mosaic of various canopy covers ranging from natural openings to dense stands of older trees.
Related Questions
- What are the fuels treatment and vegetation management rules for old forest emphasis areas (OFEAs) and owl home range core areas (HRCAs) under the preferred alternative?
- What are the major differences between the Teams recommendations and the January 2001 Sierra Nevada Framework Plan Amendment Record of Decision (ROD) or Framework?
- Are there team technical areas on every field?
