In the absence of natural fire, landscapes can become overgrown with a heavy understory of shrubs such as ceanothus. This shrub vegetation is now over-mature and of low nutritional value. We propose to increase forb cover and improve nutritive value of shrub vegetation by cutting and piling trees and shrubs less than 7 inches in diameter on approximately 95 acres near Brownsboro, OR. Project location is near Brownsboro, OR area size is 95 acres.Slashing: All live and dead standing vegetation greater than 12 inches in height or length, but not over 7 inches DBH will be completely severed with the stump height not to exceed 6 inches. No cutting of Yew, Dogwood, White Oak, or Black Oak. Piling: All slash less than 7 inches in diameter and greater than 2 feet in length shall be piled.Slash less than 2 feet in length will be left on the ground.Slash left on the ground will not exceed 6 inches in depth. All piles will be constructed by laying limbs, stems, cut boles, and other slash in the pile so as to be parallel with each other.Slash that causes large air spaces in the piles will be cut to eliminate air spaces. Each pile will include an area of small sized slash (small branches less than 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter and/or small branches with needles or leaves attached)to provide "kindling"for
prompt ignition and to aid in combustion of larger slash. These fuels will be placed in the center of the pile. Pile size will be a maximum of 8 feet in diameter by 8 feet in height, and minimum pile size will be 6 feet in diameter by 5 feet in height at the time of final inspection. All piles will be covered with a 4-mil polyethylene plastic or approved alternate material to cover at least 90% of the surface of each pile. All four corners and the middle of the plastic sheets will be anchored with slash. Covering shall be done at the time of piling. Piles will not be closer than 10 feet to leave vegetation or 25 feet to a unit boundary.Slash will not be piled or placed on logs or stumps, in roadways or drainage ditches, or within channel bottoms or streams.Slash will not be piled or placed in buffer zones
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