Logo Department Name Agency Organization Organization Address Information

United States Forest National Forests in North Carolina 123 Woodland Drive
Department of Service Nantahala National Forest Murphy, NC 28904
Agriculture 828-837-5152
FAX: 828-837-8510

File Code: 1950

Date: January 25, 2021

Interested Public:
The Nantahala National Forest is seeking comments on a proposal to utilize a programmatic
environmental assessment to authorize stand improvement (SI) treatments on select areas of National
Forest System lands in Cherokee, Clay, Jackson, Graham, Macon, and Swain Counties in North
Carolina between 2021 and 2031. The Forest Service is proposing a variety of vegetation management
activities designed to restore and maintain healthy and diverse forest vegetation communities by
implementing treatments for the following purposes:
• Promote recruitment and development of oak and other hard and soft mast-producing native tree
species where they are at risk of being overtopped and suppressed by direct competition from
species that do not produce mast.
• Restore and maintain native species diversity consistent with the natural range of historic
variation.
• Promote species diversity as well as the health and vigor of individual trees and forest stands in
the 21-50 year age classes.
• Mitigate negative direct impacts from vines to trees in previously managed stands and/or in areas
affected by recent disturbance while maintaining the benefits of vines to game and non-game
species where they are not threatening to overtop, damage, and/or retard the growth of desirable
tree species.
• Restore non-commercial white pine plantations to hardwood or mixed hardwood-yellow pine
forest types consistent with potential natural vegetation models.
• Promote tree regeneration and recruitment in riparian areas where hemlock has been lost to
support riparian structure and function.
• Restore and maintain habitat for non-game and game wildlife species.
• Provide for a range of stand age classes, including maintaining early successional habitat (ESH)
consistent with goals expressed in the Land and Resources Management Plan for the Nantahala
and Pisgah National Forests (LRMP).
• Promote regeneration of tree species consistent with the natural range of historic variation in
poorly stocked stands and/or cull “off-site” tree species - - those that are not natural associates of
desired native plant communities - - which occur due to the negative effects of past disturbance
events such as arson-induced wildfires, windstorms, and/or insect infestations or disease
outbreaks.
• Increase age class, structural, and habitat diversity through treatments that will temporarily
prolong ESH in select areas of some stands by improving conditions favorable for grasses and
forbs.
Routine SI treatments to improve forest conditions and wildlife habitat within the scope of this project
would incorporate two key components: (1) all management activities would be non-commercial and (2)
management activities would not result in ground disturbance. Treatments would be implemented using
mechanical methods - cutting, felling, and/or slashing using hand tools, and/or chemical methods –

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applying approved herbicides or fungicides consistent with all applicable laws and Forest Service
procedures. Only the minimal amount of chemicals necessary to accomplish management goals would
be used and no broadcast spraying would occur – treatments would be targeted to individual stems.
Areas suitable for treatment would vary in size and may represent a wide range of forest conditions. All
forest cover types may be included across all elevational and topographical ranges in Cherokee, Clay,
Jackson, Graham, Macon, and Swain Counties. Each area selected for treatment would be in full
compliance with the management direction set forth in the LRMP and SI treatments would be designed
to improve the health of existing forest ecosystems. No treatments would be implemented within the
one-mile management corridor for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail unless authorized through
consultation with the appropriate tribal governments.
SI operations would include the following:

• Crown-touch release – Release approximately 70 desirable trees per acre through manual and/or
chemical treatment of non-desirable trees that are in direct competition for growing space.
• Release –Release treatments using chemical and/or mechanical means to provide growing space
for desired individual trees and tree species.
• Vine Control – Chemical and/or mechanical control of forest vines species where vines densities
are so prolific that they are inhibiting the growth and vigor of the surrounding vegetation.
• Tree Planting – Convert, improve, or enhance species composition by planting native trees.
• Midstory Oak Treatment – Increase diffused light conditions in the understory to release young
oak seedlings and saplings through mechanical removal of the midstory starting from
approximately one-inch diameter-at-breast height (DBH) trees and up to approximately 12
inches DBH, without creating gaps in the upper canopy.
• Spray Harvest Unit Skid Trails – Spray saplings in harvest unit skid trails post-harvest with
herbicide to extend the time that grasses and forbs occupy these sites for turkey, ruffed grouse,
golden-winged warbler and other species.
• Native Plant Enhancements – Plant herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial native grass,
sedge, and forb species in log landings, openings, and along roadways, especially those that
benefit pollinators to provide foraging habitat for insects, birds, and other wildlife.
• Mixed Hardwood and Pine Restoration – Restore native forest communities in areas that were
converted to white pine plantations through a non-commercial mechanical free thinning of white
pine and/or release of pockets of hardwoods or southern yellow pines.
• Root Disease Treatments – Treat areas which are infested with root rot diseases through
chemical or biological treatment of susceptible conifer stumps using commercially available and
approved biological fungicides or similar products.
• Natural Regeneration through Slashing – Promote natural regeneration of native tree species
within the range of historic variation by heavily thinning damaged, degraded, or poorly stocked
stands to encourage the establishment of shade-intolerant trees, including oaks and other hard
mast-producing tree species.
• Riparian Tree Release and Planting – Release individual trees from competition in riparian
areas where hemlock was abundant and has been largely lost due to the hemlock wooly adelgid
and/or where regeneration potential is low due to an abundance of shrubs. This treatment would
be implemented through mechanical means (e.g., chainsaw felling/slashing) and or chemical
means (e.g. herbicide cut-stump, basal bark streamline, or hack and squirt methods). Some

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 supplemental planting of red spruce, Frasier fir, hemlock, oak, and/or southern yellow pine may
also occur where appropriate. This work would be coordinated with the fisheries biologist.
The purpose of this letter is to invite you to comment on this proposed project and to help us identify
issues, concerns, or opportunities associated with the project. Pursuant to 36 CFR 218.7(a)(2), this
proposed project implements the LRMP for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests and is subject to
36 CFR 218 subparts A and B.
Specific written comments as defined by 36 CFR 218.2 should be within the scope of the proposed
action, have a direct relationship to the proposed action, and must include supporting reasons for the
responsible official to consider. It is the responsibility of all individuals and organizations to ensure that
their comments are received in a timely manner. To establish standing for objection eligibility, the
designated opportunity for scoping comments to be received is close of business on February 26, 2021.
There will be an additional 30-day comment period when the draft programmatic environmental
assessment is completed and made available to the public. Only those who respond to this request for
comments will remain on the mailing list for this project.
Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on these proposed actions and will be available for
public inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; however,
anonymous comments will not provide the agency with the ability to provide the respondent with
subsequent environmental documents.
The Forest Service is encouraging individuals and organizations to submit comments electronically in a
format such as an email message, plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), or a PDF (.pdf) Word (.doc,
.docx) attachment to :SM.FS.R8nctuscom@usda.gov. Persons unable to respond by email should mail
hard copy comments c/o Steverson Moffat, Planning Team Leader, Nantahala National Forest, 123
Woodland Drive, Murphy, NC 28906. Please state “Nantahala National Forest Stand Improvement EA”
in the subject line when providing electronic comments, or on the envelope when replying by mail.
An objection period, if required, will follow the regulation found in 36 CFR 218.7. For objection
eligibility (36 CFR 218.5), only those who have submitted timely, specific written comments during any
designated opportunity for public comment may file an objection. Issues to be raised in objections must
be based on previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project and
attributed to the objector, unless the issue is based on new information that arose after a designated
opportunity to comment (36 CFR 218.8(c)).
If you would like more information or have questions relating to this proposal, please contact Steverson
Moffat, Nantahala National Forest NEPA Planning Team Leader, by email (smoffat@fs.fed.us), or by
phone at 828 837-5152 x108.

Sincerely,

/s/ Andy Gaston /s/ Troy Waskey

ANDREW V. GASTON M. TROY WASKEY

District Ranger District Ranger
Cheoah and Tusquitee Ranger Districts Nantahala Ranger District

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