Common use of Cumulative Impacts Clause in Contracts

Cumulative Impacts. Cumulative impacts are defined under NEPA as “the impact[s] on the environment that results from the incremental impacts of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency (Federal or non-Federal) or person undertakes such actions” (40 CFR 1508.7). Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions that take place over a period of time. The cumulative impacts of the various activities within the scope of this EA vary little between the two alternatives. The differences between the two alternatives are related to the amount of voluntary habitat enhancement and protection measures that will occur through the Applicants’ forest management activities conducted according to Washington and Oregon Forest Practices Rules. This cumulative-impacts analysis focuses on the spotted owl conservation provisions and on forest management activities, because these are the focus of the SHA and the basis for the Federal action. The time period for analysis is the 60-year Permit duration. The direct and indirect effects of the Proposed Action Alternative on the spotted owl, spotted owl habitat, and other elements of the affected environment were described previously. To summarize, the Applicants’ forest management activities would be conducted according to Forest Practices Rules complemented with voluntary measures that include 1) harvest rotations that are longer than the what would occur under the No Action Alternative, 2) commercial thinning to accelerate spotted owl habitat development, 3) a snag conservation and development program, 4) the establishment of SSAs, and 5) spotted owl nest site protection. These additional forest management provisions are expected to result in the development, retention, and/or enhancement of forest habitat with the potential for use by spotted owls, as well as other fish and wildlife species. The effects of the Applicants’ activities are expected to result in a net conservation benefit to the spotted owl while no measurable effects on other elements of the affected environment are expected. The actions occurring in and near the Applicants’ covered lands are expected, for the most part, to be limited to forest management activities. There are some agricultural and small home developments scattered throughout the area. For the foreseeable future, though, timber production will likely remain the dominant industry for the area adjacent to the covered lands. The effects of the forest management activities conducted by Federal, State, and private land managers and landowners are expected to be characteristically similar but would differ in degree. For example, sediment delivery to streams from Federal lands would probably be lower than from private lands as a result of the implementation of the Aquatics Conservation Strategy riparian buffers outlined in the Standards and Guidelines for Management of Habitat for Late- Successional and Old-growth Forest Related Species within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl, i.e. Northwest Forest Plan Standards and Guidelines (USDA and USDI 1994). The aquatic conservation strategy requires wider riparian buffers than the Forest Practices Rules and would, thus, result in greater protection of streams. Forest management activities would differ between landowners with HCPs depending on their location, landscape condition, and species addressed. The difference in the forest management activities being conducted by the land managers and landowners in the analysis area would be in the frequency and level of timber harvest, and the amount of habitat retained, enhanced, and protected. The effects on the spotted owl and natural resources in and adjacent to the covered lands would be reflective of the different forest management activities implemented by the various land managers and landowners, primarily WDNR through implementation of their HCP (WDNR 1997) and the USFS through implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan (USDI 1994). Forested habitats in early seral stages for terrestrial species would be provided throughout the landscape in adequate amounts by timber harvest activities. Availability of this forested habitat in early seral stages is expected to remain similar to the current condition as private landowners manage their ownership under Forest Practices Rules and on a 40- to 45-year rotation. There is, and will continue to be, limited late successional forest on private lands in the area. Riparian zones may eventually provide late successional forest permeating the landscape. Although stands would grow to an average age of 60 years under the Proposed Action Alternative, these stands are not expected to function like an old-growth forest would for the spotted owl. Maintenance and development of older forest habitat would primarily occur on the adjacent state lands under the WDNR HCP and USFS lands as they are managed under the Northwest Forest Plan. The cumulative impacts of the Proposed Action Alternative and anticipated actions by State and private land managers and landowners, as well as the USFS, is expected to result in overall improvements in habitat quality and quantity for spotted owls. Managing for spotted owl dispersal habitat and YFM habitat is expected to facilitate dispersal and demographic functions, especially within the White Salmon SOSEA.