WILD AND SCENIC RIVER ANALYSIS SAN JUAN NATIONAL FOREST

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WILD AND SCENIC RIVERANALYSISSAN JUAN NATIONAL
FOREST
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Eligibility

• Free-flowing
• River
• With Outstandingly Remarkable Values

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Rivers

• Flowing body of water
• Sufficient flow to sustain the ORV

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Selection of Rivers

• Joint FS and BLM plan
• Different scales and amount of details in
  different areas

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Mapped streams in Planning area
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Named streams 665 unique names
Mapped streams grey Named streams blue
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Third order (from USGS) on Forest
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Streams considered 370 unique names named 3rd
order or greater on FS named outside FS
added a few per specialists
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Streams evaluated not CANM not mostly
private or Tribe Rivers broken in several
places 310 segments evaluated
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Free Flowing

• Not McPhee, Lemon, Vallecito, Williams
  Reservoirs
• Calculated decreed water rights in ½ mile
  corridor
• ORVs not always dependent on flow

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Outstandingly Remarkable Values

• Fish
• Occupied TE
• Occupied Colorado River Cutthroat
• Possibility of meta-population
  reintroduction
• Not all reintroduction

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Outstandingly remarkable values

• Wildlife
• Many supporting values not ORV
• Black Swift
• Nests behind or adjacent to waterfalls
• 110 occupied nests in Colorado (20 of world
  population
• SJNF about 30 nests (6 of world population)

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Outstandingly Remarkable Values

• Recreation
• High Use areas for rafting
• Nationally known areas
• Scenic Byway
• Major Wilderness access corridors

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Outstandingly Remarkable Values

• Archeology
• Inventoried National Register eligible
• Not historic road or railroad crossing
• Not lithic scatter or seasonal camps

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Outstandingly Remarkable Values

• Geology
• Headwaters complex time span revealed rivals
  Grand Canyon, pick best example
• Geology controls unique canyon shapes
• Many supporting values, not ORV

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Outstandingly Remarkable Values

• Scenery
• Unique landforms
• Scenic Byway
• Some overlap with recreation
• Many supporting values, not ORV

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Outstandingly Remarkable Values

• Ecology
• Rare plants
• Unique wetlands
• Uncommon assemblages of plants
• CNHP identified (but not all)

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Eligible streams 73 segments Rivers broken in
several places
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Streams considered 370 unique names named 3rd
order or greater on FS named outside FS
added a few per specialists
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Mapped streams in Planning area
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Eligible streams 73 segments Rivers broken in
several places
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Previous studies

• Incorporate previous studies
• Add or extend streams based on previous more
  detailed studies
• Showed on previous map

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Classification
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Eligible rivers with classification 97
segments
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Suitability

• Best use? Protect ORVs vs. other uses?
• Best method? Wild Scenic vs. other protections?

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Suitability discussion
Grey arch only (17) Blue other or
multiple ORVs
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Handout- disclaimer

• Not 1 to1 match with map because of
  classification breaks
• Mileages from various sources, need recalculated
• ORVs and supporting values need ID team
  clarification
• means Hermosa Creek watershed

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