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Riparian Area Management in the Pacific Southwest Region,
USDA Forest Service1
Ivars J. Steinblums
Andrew A. Leven
2
3
Abstract.--This paper summarizes the USDA Forest Service
(FS) direction regarding the management of riparian areas. It
specifically focuses on the direction developed in the Pacific
Southwest (PSW) Region of the FS.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL DIRECTION
wildfire, or severe windthrow.
Introduction
National Direction
The USDA Forest Service has recognized the
unique management requirements of riparian areas
for many years. The Organic Administration Act of
1897 was the forerunner in establishing an environmental management precedent in the language "No
National Forest shall be established, except to
improve and protect the forest within the boundaries, or for the purpose of securing favorable
conditions of water flows, and to furnish a
continuous supply of timber for the use and
necessities of citizens of the United States."
The management of riparian ecosystems, with
respect to both natural and management induced
benefits and effects, is fascinating. It is
important to recognize that the potential of man's
activities to shape and modify the landscape is
small when compared with that of nature. As an
integral part of the management of the National
Forests, the FS takes into account the effect of
natural physical and climatic forces on riparian
ecosystems. Management is tailored towards protecting the riparian ecosystem during planning
the conduct of management activities and evaluating
what mitigation measures can be taken following
natural catastrophic events, such as flooding.
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Nearly seven decades after the Organic Administration Act was passed, the Multiple Use-Sustained
Yield Act of 1960 reaffirmed a conviction to_ a
quality environment in stating: " ... harmonious
and coordinated management of various resources,
each with the other, without impairment of the
productivity of the land, with consideration
being given to the relative values of the various
resources .... " The National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) of 1969 was legislation that directly
emphasized the environment by requiring Federal
agencies to utilize a systematic interdisciplinary
approach in planning and decision-making.
Planning for wise and judicial resource management was directed in the Forest and Rangeland
Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, which
was subsequently amended by the National Forest
Management Act (NFMA) of 1976. NFMA states: "No
management practices causing detrimental changes
in water temperature or chemical composition,
blockages of water courses, or deposits of
sediment shall be permitted within these areas
which seriously and adversely affect water conditions or fish habitat."
In April 1980, a national policy on riparian
area management was issued by the FS (USDA Forest
Service 1980). The language from NFMA was the
foundation for this national policy. The policy
states: "The FS shall manage riparian areas in
relation to various legally mandated requirements,
including, but not limited to those associated
with floodplains, wetlands, water quality,
dredged and fill material, endangered species,
wild and scenic rivers and cultural resources.
Riparian areas must be managed in the context of
the environment in which they are located."
1
Paper prepared for the poster session held
during the Riparian Ecosystems and Their Management: Reconciling Conflicting Uses Conference.
(University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona,
April 16-18, 1985).
2
Ivars J. Steinblums, Hydrologist, Watershed
Management Staff, Pacific Southwest Region, USDA
Forest Service, San Francisco, Calif.
3Andrew A. Leven, Director, Watershed
Management Staff, Pacific Southwest Region, USDA
Forest Service, San Francisco, Calif.
Current FS management allows for other
507
resource uses and activities to occur within
riparian areas to the extent they support or do
not adversely affect the maintenance of ripariandependent resources over other resources and
activities when conflicts occur.
using this system, streams can be evaluated and
then classified as to their value in terms of
beneficial uses.
In July 19_81~ FS national policy and direction
was published for the management of floodplains
and wetlands, to implement the intent of Executive
Orders 11988 (floodplain management) and 11990
(wetland management). The policy was revised in
1984 (USDA Forest Service 1984). The policy
states: "The FS shall ensure that flood hazards,
floodplain and wetland values, and all practicable
alternatives to the conduct, support, or approval
of an action that directly or indirectly affects
a floodplain or that involves new construction in
wetlands are fully considered as an integral part
of the FS planning and decision-making processes."
Each class establishes the relative importance or significance of a stream or stream segment,
based on resource values and beneficial uses, to
be considered in developing a detailed description
of necessary stream protection measures. The
stream classification system consists of four
classes. Class I streams are highly significant
perennial or intermittent streams that are'
important for fisheries, domestic water supplies,
special scenic values, threatened or endangered
plant and animal species, cultural resources,
major water-oriented recreation, and/or have
flows large enough to materially influence downstream water quality. On the other end of the
spectrum, Class IV streams have minor significance
in terms of fisheries, domestic water supplies,
and other resource values.
Regional Processes and Direction
Concurrently with the development of the
buffer strip direction and stream classification
system, fisheries and wildlife biologists in the
PSW Regional Office began developing goals and
objectives for managing the fish and wildlife
values within riparian ecosystems. Their goal
was to gain recognition and acceptance for the
importance of riparian systems to fisheries and
wildlife needs.
The following is a chronology of the
derivation of riparian area management processes
and direction in the PSW Region.
Water Influence Zones
In the early 1960's, "water influence zones"
were used in multiple-use plans to designate
streams of high recreational value, for uses such
as fishing, scenic quality, and water sportsrelated recreational uses. The water influence
zones received management direction aimed at
protecting their recreational values.
Best Management Practices
During 1978 and 1979, the PSW Region began
the development of a non-point pollution abatement
water quality plan, as specified in Section 208
of the Clean Water Act (PL 92-500). The planning
focused on consolidating all existing direction
for non-point source pollution abatement into
specific best management practices (BMPs) for each
functional area. The BMPs were completed in 1979,
described in Water Quali~y Man~~!!!_~_nt __f.Q!:__Na~ion~
Forest System Lands in California (USDA Forest
Service 1979), and were approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of
California Water Resources Control Board.
In addition to the early water influence
zone procedures, in 1966 the PSW Region developed
a procedure to evaluate a stream channel's
ability to accept the impact from uses such as
timber harvesting. Streams were classified as
either "resistant" or "non-resistant" to erosional
processes accelerated by mechanical disturbance.
If timber was to be harvested in the vicinity of
a non-resistant stream, special clauses were
placed in the timber sale contract to preclude
or minimize the amount of direct mechanical disturbance to the streambed and banks.
The use of buffer strips, land areas adjacent
to the stream channel, came into use in the early
to mid-1970's for the purpose of providing protection to t~e stream channel. Resource management activities were permitted within the buffer
strips, but were modified so as to ensure the
integrity of the streambed, banks, and adjacent
terrestrial zone.
Twenty different BMPs relate to the management
of riparian areas for protecting water quality.
This was the first introduction of the term streamside management zone (SMZ) into a formal FS document. Much effort has gone into the implementation
of BMPs in the PSW Region.
Individuals in each
resource are being trained in their use, and
especially in the concept that water quality
management is not a single resource responsibility,
nor an entity unto itself. The quality of water
is interrelated to the quality of the riparian
ecosystem.
Stream Classification.
Streamside management zones
In 1975, the PSW Region developed a stream
classification system to allow land managers to
tailor the level of stream protection to the
stream values (USDA Forest Service 1985a). By
In late 1980, work was begun to develop new
direction in the PSW Region for the management of
SMZs and riparian areas, to supplement National
FSM direction.
Such direction was recently
Buffer Strips
508
completed (USDA Forest Ser~ice 1985a, 1985b)
describing specific guidelines for the management
of SMZs and riparian areas, by and large expanding
on and replacing the buffer strip concept. The
direction focuses on the fact that although
general guidelines can be developed for a particular National Forest, each riparian area and
streamside management zone must be recognized as
having its own unique fingerprint, requiring the
development of management guidelines on a sitespecific basis.
Cumulative Watershed Effects
The PSW Region has been developing a methodology for the assessment of cumulative watershed
effects (CWE). Cumulative off-site effects include
all impacts on the beneficial uses of water that
occur away from the locations of actual land use
and are transmitted through the fluvial system.
Effects can be either beneficial or adverse and
result from the synergistic effects of multiple
management activities within a watershed.
Cumulative off-site watershed effects may
result from changes in peak stream flows, sedimentation rates, or combinations of the two that
occur in response to management activities. For
watersheds undergoing increasing levels of management, these changes initiate acceleration of
adverse off-site impacts. Channel aggradation,
streambank undercutting, increasing rates of
inner gorge mass wasting, and changes in fish
habitat may be indicators that the fluvial
system is experiencing adverse CWEs. Professional judgement is important in evaluating
the potential for CWEs within a watershed,
especially for management activities conducted in
the vicinity of sensitive areas such as streams
and riparian areas.
Planning
In October 1980, the PSW Region began preparing a "Regional Guide" to implement NFMA. The
Regional Guide is a vehicle for passing national
resource production targets for forest commodities
assigned to the region down to the individual
National Forests.
Forest Land and Resource Management plans
are prepared by individual forests to determine
their capability to produce the assigned targets,
thereby validating or adjusting the regional
targets. Forest production capability is aggregated into a regional capability which in turn
is aggregated into a national capability. This
is the cyclic process through which the individual forests use site-specific information to
adjust national targets that may affect riparian
area management.
as forest-wide standards and guidelines. This
ensures that riparian areas are considered and
protected on a case-by-case basis during the conduct of project activities wherever they occur.
Where the riparian areas are known, they
can be delineated as "management areas" for which
geographic-specific direction is provided. During
land allocation modeling, constraints can also be
applied which limit the type, intensity, and extent
of activities which can take place within riparian
areas. Thus, protection is accomplished as part
of the land use resource output decision process.
SUMMARY
The PSW Region of the FS has been formally
implementing various intensities of management
direction for protecting riparian areas since the
mid-1960s. Prior to this date, riparian areas
and streamside management zones were evaluated and
managed based on the direction contained in the
Organic Administration Act.
FS direction, developed on a national and
regional level, provides for the maintenance and
protection of riparian areas and streamside
management zones for each resource management
activity. When natural catastrophic events do
occur, the situation is evaluated and feasible
mitigation measures are implemented. The implementation of the direction depends on careful coordination throughout the EA process, as well as
when each project is carried out in the field.
LITERATURE CITED
Pacific Southwest Region, USDA Forest Service.
1979. Water quality management for National
Forest System lands in California. USDA
Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region,
San Francisco, Calif.
USDA Forest Service. 1980. Riparian areas.
Amendment 26, Forest Service Manual 2526.
USDA Forest Service, Washington, D.C.
USDA Forest Service. 1984. Analysis and evaluations for floodplain management and wetland
protection. Amendment 40, Forest Service
Manual 2527. USDA Forest Service,
Washington, D.C.
USDA Forest Service. 1985a. Stream Protection Streamside Management Zones. R-5 Supplement
36, Forest Service Manual 2521. USDA Forest
Service, San Francisco, Calif.
USDA Forest Service. 1985b. Riparian Areas.
R-5 Supplement 36, Forest Service Manual 2526.
USDA Forest Service, San Francisco, Calif.
Each forest plan specifies direction for the
management and protection of riparian areas.
Where the extent and location of riparian areas
on a forest are not known, due to a lack of
inventory data, direction is commonly included
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