REGIONAL—The Superior National Forest has published a draft decision notice that will impact future forest management efforts across a large portion of the LaCroix ranger district. Known as the LaCroix Landscape Project, the plan, if approved in its current form, will guide future actions across that portion of the LaCroix district located generally west of the Vermilion River.
It’s a portion of the forest that is heavily interspersed with non-federal ownership, including state, county, and industry-owned lands. That portion of the forest is included within the Arrowhead Landscape Collaborative, a multi-agency effort that is taking an “all-lands” approach to forest management planning across half a million acres, which includes much of far northern St. Louis County.
Sunny Lucas, LaCroix district ranger, is proposing to implement alternative 2 as described in the draft decision notice, which describes a variety of harvesting, prescribed burning, fuel reduction, and reforestation efforts that are intended to better align the forest with the objectives laid out in the 2004 forest plan revision.
According to the public notice, which includes a finding of no significant environmental impact, the plan is based on a landscape ecosystem concept, with objectives for vegetation composition, age, tree species diversity, and management indicator habitats. According to the decision, the LaCroix Landscape Project proposes a balanced approach of active management practices and natural processes and aims to increase efficiency and effectiveness in project planning, including compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.
The project will include management activities within potentially thousands of acres of designated old growth stands, although the plan calls for thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed fire, while maintaining the existing canopy within those areas.
The implementation cycle for the plan includes five-year cycles of vegetation management, with opportunities for public participation and comment.
The Draft Decision Notice and other LaCroix Landscape Project documents are available at www.fs.usda.gov/projects/superior/landmanagement/projects and select the LaCroix Landscape Project. The draft decision notice provides more information on how the proposed decision meets the purpose and need along with information on the pre-decisional objection period.
Anyone with questions on the LaCroix Landscape Project, please contact Mike Johnson, environmental coordinator, at michael.w.johnson@usda.gov.