Annual program summary and monitoring report for fiscal year 2003

Alternate Titles

• Annual program summary
• Medford District annual program summary and monitoring report

Description

This Annual Program Summary (APS) is a review of the programs on the Medford District Bureau of Land Management for the period of October 2002 through September 2003. The program summary is designed to report to the public, local, state and federal agencies a broad overview of activities and accomplishments for fiscal year 2003. This report addresses the accomplishments for the Medford District in such areas as watershed analysis, Jobs-in-the-Woods, forestry, recreation and other programs. Included in the Annual Program Summary is the Monitoring Report for the Medford District. In April 1994 the Record of Decision for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl was signed by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior. The Resource Management Plan/Record of Decision (RMP/ ROD) was approved and adopted in April 1995 incorporating the Standards and Guidelines from the Northwest Forest Plan (NFP) in the form of Management Actions/Directions. Both the NFP and the RMP embrace the concepts of ecosystem management in a broader perspective than had been traditional in the past. Land use allocations covering all federal lands within the range of the spotted owl were established in the NFP. Analyses such as watershed analyses and late-successional reserve assessments are conducted at broader scale and involve landowners in addition to BLM. Requirements to conduct standardized surveys or inventories for special status species have been developed for implementation at the regional level. Implementation of the NFP began in April 1994 with the signing of the Northwest Forest Plan Record of Decision. Subsequently, with the signing of the RMP Record of Decision in April 1995, the Medford District began implementation of the RMP which incorporates all aspects of the Northwest Forest Plan. The Medford District administers approximately 859,000 acres located in Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Coos, and Curry counties. Under the NFP and RMP/ROD, management of these lands are included in three primary Land Use Allocations: the Matrix, where the majority of commodity production will occur; Late-Successional Reserves, where providing habitat for late-successional and old-growth forest related species is emphasized; and Riparian Reserves, where maintenance of water quality and the aquatic ecosystem is emphasized. The RMP established objectives for management of 17 resource programs occurring on the District. Not all land use allocations and resource programs are discussed individually in a detailed manner in the APS because of the overlap of programs and projects. Likewise, a detailed background of the various land use allocations or resource programs is not included in the APS to keep this document reasonably concise. Complete information can be found in RMP/ROD and supporting Environmental Impact Statement, both of which are available at the District Office.

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