Sierra Nevada

For many years, the Pacific Rivers Council has worked diligently with the Forest Service, independent scientists, and fellow conservationists to ensure that watersheds in the Sierra Nevada are managed in an ecologically sound manner -- the same watersheds that produce 60% of California's drinking water and provide invaluable habitat for imperiled species such as the California golden trout, the mountain yellow-legged frog, and the Yosemite toad. After a decade of research and planning, in 2001 the Forest Service unveiled a management plan for the 11 national forests in the Sierra -- called the Framework -- that represented an important step toward achieving the goal of aquatic health.  The 2001 Framework amended the management plans for the eleven national forests within California's Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the Modoc Plateau.

During the Framework's formulation, PRC released a report:  Conservation of Aquatic Diversity in the Sierra Nevada identifying "aquatic refugia" in the area, which prompted the Forest Service to include a network of Critical Aquatic Refuges -- relatively intact watersheds that harbor full suites of native fishes and amphibians -- in the Framework.

PRC published another report in September 2002, Watershed Restoration in the Sierra Nevada, that outlined in great detail an ecologically sound watershed restoration approach for both public and private lands. Additionally, our work on amphibians helped to ensure that fishes were not the only aquatic species addressed by the plan. The Framework offered a landscape based Aquatic Management Strategy (AMS) for the Sierra, and while the strategy is not as protective as we advocated for, it represented a major step forward in aquatic ecosystem protection for the region.

Sierra Framework Under Attack

Under pressure from grazing and other resource industry interests, the Bush administration ordered a review of the Framework. This order was also in light of the recent fire seasons and the perceived need to aggressively manage the forests under the rubric of fire prevention. This review severely and unacceptably weakened the aquatic, riparian, and meadow ecosystem protections for which we fought so hard. In March 2003, the Forest Service concluded the review and recommended major changes to the portions of the plan governing grazing, recreation, and fuels treatments in the northern Sierra. These recommendations were incorporated into a Draft Supplemental EIS (DSEIS) issued in June 2003. Among other flaws, the DSEIS inappropriately weakened protections of meadows (important breeding grounds for the imperiled Yosemite toad) and allowed for a massive increase in road-building without providing any environmental analysis or scientific rationale.

Despite comments from the Science Consistency Review Team, PRC (read our comments), and others outlining the faults in the revised management plan, the Final SEIS (FSEIS) carried forward with the weakened protections. In January 2004, Regional Forester Blackwell signed the Record of Decision (ROD). Over 6,200 appeals were submitted, most of which objected to the changes in management direction. However, in November 2004, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth denied all of the appeals and upheld the 2004 FSEIS and ROD; his decision was later upheld by Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey. This decision parallels the rollbacks proposed for the similarly designed Northwest Forest Plan. (learn about our defense of the Northwest Forest Plan)

Amendments Threaten the Sierra's Aquatic Systems

PRC continues to work on aquatic protection in the Sierra Nevada. On May 16th, 2005, we took our work to the next level by filing a legal challenge against the 2004 Framework. PRC's lawsuit and comments demonstrate, among other things, the following threats to Sierra watersheds and the species they support. The 2004 Framework:

• Does not comply with the National Forest Roads Policy;
• Provides for more than a fivefold increase in road miles within the planning area;
• Fails to analyze soil and watershed impacts from the sizable road system needed to achieve thinning for fire prevention and salvage and green tree logging;
• Weakens meadow protections to the detriment of the Yosemite toad, willow flycatcher, and other at-risk species; and
• Fails to adequately analyze cumulative watershed effects.

It is critical that the 2004 Framework does not continue to be implemented. If anything, the Framework should be strengthened to ensure that watershed protection and restoration in the Sierra Nevada includes:

1. Protect the best, most ecologically-significant areas as anchors for other restoration efforts.
2. Implement an active watershed restoration program that focuses on fixing poorly constructed roads, decommissioning roads in sensitive areas, and ceasing new road construction.
3. Suspend grazing in critical areas, including riparian zones and key habitats for sensitive or endangered species.
4. Stop logging in roadless areas, riparian areas and other important watersheds.
5. Prohibit new dam construction.

These steps would better protect the human and natural communities of this unique region and prevent additional damage to watersheds throughout the Sierra Nevada.

Related Documents

To view the 2004 Framework and other Forest Service documents go to http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/snfpa.

For a brief history of the Sierra Nevada national forest planning effort, click here.

Click here to view the press release on our legal challenge to protect the Sierra Nevada.

Click here to view our comments on the Kings River Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Click here to read a letter in which PRC joins a coalition of conservation groups calling for a closer relationship between the scientific community and the Forest Service in its forest plan revision efforts, which are now underway as of December, 2009.

Related Publications

Our September 2002 report titled, Watershed Restoration in the Sierra Nevada: Ecological and Economic Principles, reflects our multi-year study in the Sierra Nevada. This was conducted by PRC and ECONorthwest -- an economics consulting firm. The heart and soul of the report is the economic cost/benefit analysis, demonstrating that most economic analyses recognize the costs of watershed rehabilitation but do not factor in the benefits, which can substantially outweigh the costs. The report also challenges the classic restoration formula: trying to recover a semblance of health at the worst sites. This often results in the least recovery to the ecosystem at the highest cost. Instead, the priority should be on identifying and protecting the best remaining aquatic habitats that serve as the anchor for rebuilding the rest of the watershed. It also confirms PRC's proposition for improvements to the Sierra Nevada Framework listed above.

Thinning for Increased Water Yield in the Sierra Nevada: Free Lunch or Pie in the Sky?, Pacific Rivers Council, 1998.  Presents overwhelming evidence that the potential benefit of increased water yield from forest thinning is overshadowed by the inescapable harm done to the watershed and offers alternative actions.