Procedural Guidelines for Developing Soil
Practices
and Water
Piiion-Juniper Ecosystems
Charles L. ~ p a n n '
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Abstract
"Approximately 3.5 million acres or about 35 percent of the
piilon-juniper (P-J) woodland within the boundary of National Forest System
lands in the Southwestern Region are considered to be in unsatisfactory
soil and watershed condition." This condition has lead to a concern about
the quality of water flowing from these lands. To address water quality
concerns like this, where the pollution is diffuse (nonpoint pollution sources,
[NPS]) the Forest Service in the Southwestern Region has developed a
process outlined in "Soil and Water Conservation Practices Handbook." The
process involves using known programmatic approaches to develop site
specific practices. This is done in the framework of the Southwestern
Region's Integrated Resource Management (IRM) process. In addition to
the handbook, the Forest Service is continuing to develop accompanying
documents such as the "Watershed Management Practices for
Pinon-Juniper Ecosystems" a November 1992 guideline.
Soil and water conservation practices that provide favorable
conditions of flow have been a long standing theme of the Forest
Service. The 1897 Organic Administmtion Act, which basically
created the Forest Service, states, "The Secretaty of Agriculture
shall make provisions for the protection.. of the national
forests... and he may make such rules and regulations and
establish such service as will insure the objectives of such
reservations, namely, to regulate their occupancy and use and to
preserve the forests thereon from destruction.." This is the legal
basis for regulating land uses on the National Forests. GifTord
Pinchot, one of the first Chiefs of the Forest Service
(1898-1910), developed the Use Book to guide the Forest
Service in managing National Forest System lands. The Use
Book in many places discusses conservation of soil and water,
for example: "The Forests here are created and maintained... to
prevent the water from running off suddenly in destruction
floods." "The permeate wealth of a country comes form the
soil. To insure permanent wealth the soil must be kept
productive...," and "The forest cover is also very important in
preventing erosion and the washing down of silt." As the Forest
Service developed its practices through the years soil and water
conservation has been one of its guidmg principals. Today in
' ~ ~ d o l o ~ i Southwestern
st,
Region, USDA Forest Service,
Albuquerque, NM.
the Southwestern Region the Forest Service has continued the
Pinchot tradition of putting its guidelines in to handbook form.
The "Soil and Water Conservation Practices Handbook9'FSH
2509.22 and the "Watershed Management Practices in the
Piibn-Juniper Ecosystems" are two good examples of this. The
"Soil and Water Consem&ion Practices Handbook" (SWCPH)
is part of the Forest Service's Directive System and can be
modified as new approaches are developed. In its present form
it outlines the use of soil and water conservation pmctices in
the IRM process to develop Best Management Practices
(BMP's) for protecting and enhancing water and soil quality.
BMP's are defined as "A practice or a combination of practices,
that is determined by a State (or designated area-wide planning
agency, which the Forest Service has been designated by both
New Mexico and Arizona) after problem assessment,
examination of alternative practices and appropriate public
partxipation to be the most effective, practicable (including
technological, economic, and institutional considemtions) means
of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by
nonpoint sources to a level compatible with water quality goals."
This is a definition found in the Clean Water Act. The Forest
Service in the southwestern Region extends this in the SWCPH
to include protection and enhancement of both water and soil
quahty. The IRM process, which guides the development is
broken into phases as follows:
IRM Phases
Scoping
1. Define Decision, Review Plans.
2. Develop Project Concept.
3. Conduct Extensive Reconnaissance.
Resource Management Activities
Pesticide Use Management and Coordination
Range Management
Recreation Management
Management
Watershed Management
Watershed Management
Wildlife and Fisheries Management
Mmmg and Minerals Management
4. Prepare Feasibility Report.
Resource Protection Activities
Analysis
5. Link to Budget.
Fire Suppression and Fuels Management
Emergency Rehabilitation of Watershed Following
Wildf3iI-e
6. Conduct Intensive Reconnaissance.
7. Finalize, Compare Alternatives.
8. Select Preferred Alternative
Documentation
Resource Access and Facilities
Access and Transportation Systems and Facilities.
Each of these have subcategories and each sub-practice is
explained using the following outline.
9. Prepare EnvironmentaVDecision Documents.
Practices
Implementation
Includes the number of the practices and a brief title.
10. Check Process Record.
Objectives
11. Prepare Project Action Plan.
12. Implement Project.
Monitoring
13. Monitoring and Evaluate Results.
Following these phases meets the intent of the Clean Water
Act in developing BMP's for preventing or reducing the amount
of pollution generated by nonpoint sources. Most all of the
activities that the Forest Service conducts in the piilon-juniper
ecosystems are of a nonpoint nature and are related to soil
movement into streams(sedimentation). Again, by using the
programmatic soil and water conservation. practices outline in
the SWCPH and working them through IRM the Forest Service
develops site specific practices for protecting and enhancing soil
and water quality. The programmatic soil and water practices
are broken down functionally as follows:
Describes the desired results or attainment of the practice
as it relates to water quality protection
Explanation
Further defines the brief title and expresses how the
practice is applied. Describes criteria or standards used
when applicable.
Implementation
Describes where the practice is applied, shows is
responsible for application, dit-ection and supervision,
and when the practice is employed.
An example under Resource Management Activities, Range
Management would be:
22.14
- Determining Grazing Capability of Lands
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1. Objective.
. .
T o mamm or improve soil stability, soil productivity,
and water quality by grazing the land within its
capability.
2. Explanation.
This practice is an administrative and preventive contml.
Soil condition classes, based on the relationship of
current and natural soil loss tolerances, are used to
determine grazing capability. Only land with soils in
stable condition are considered as "full capability" range.
Grazing capability ratings are then used in conjunction
with other grazing considerations to detennine the actual
grazing capacity of an area.
3. Implementation.
Soil condition class is determined by qualified soil
scientists using Terrestrial Ecosystem Su~vey(TES). A
m g e conservationist will use the soil condition class in
determining the grazing capacity.To augment the
SWCPH and help the project manager develop more site
specific practices the Watershed and Air Group in the
Southwestern Region develops guidelines like the
"Watershed Management Practices for Piiion-Juniper
Ecosystems." This document discusses the classification
of Woodland Ecosystems, specifically the Piiion-Juniper
Woodland, the use of classification for predicting
watershed response, determining the desired future
condition, current soil and watenhed conditions on
National Forest System lands, possible management
practices that can be used in the piik>n-juniperwoodland,
watershed treatment sequences, and wildlife coordination
in woodland projects. The section on Possible
Management Pmctices discusses the following practices:
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Bulldozing, Pushing
Cabling
Chaining, Chaining and Windrowing
Channel Stabilization
Chemical Treatments
Grazing Management
Hand Methods (Cutting, Chopping,
Grubbing)
Infiltration Enhancement Treatments
Prescribed Fire
Seeding
Silviculture
Slash Treatment
Soil Amendments
Tree Crushing/Roller Drum Chopping
Each of these are defined, the research findings are reviewed,
and recommendations are made for their use.
Both the SWCPH and the "Watershed Management Practices
for Piik>n-Juniper Ecosystems" are dynamic and will be added
to as new and better techniques are developed. The SWCPH is
part of the Forest Service's directive system and can be update
at anytime. As new research comes forward or old =search is
found on the practice being used in the Piiion-Juniper Ecosystem
the Watershed and Air Group will incorporate it into the
"Watershed Management Practices for the Pifion-Juniper
Ecosystem."
By using the Soil and Water Conservation Practices
Handbook and accompanying document like the "Watershed
Management Practices for the Won-Juniper Ecosystems" t
k
Forest S e ~ c and
e others will be able to protect and enhance
the soil productivity and assure quality water for down stream
uses.