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Frequently Asked Questions General Questions Watershed Analysis Questions
Q. What is CREP? A. CREP is the acronym for the Clavey River Ecosystem Project. It is a collaboration of interested people representing ranching, logging, recreation, OHV, education, government, conservation organizations and business. CREP Steering Committee (SC) members are helping produce a scientifically sound watershed study that incorporates broad community input. The project is expected to go through 2007. Q. Who is on the CREP Steering Committee and how did they come together? A. The Clavey River Ecosystem Project (CREP) Steering Committee is a group of stakeholder volunteers from various backgrounds, all sharing an interest in the Clavey River watershed. These volunteers began meeting in 1999 to implement the top recommendation of the then recently completed “Clavey River Wild and Scenic River Values Review” (link to a copy of the review) Q. Why are there no timber or grazing representatives on the CREP Steering Committee? A. People representing timber and cattle interests have been part of the CREP Steering Committee in past and others have been invited. CREP is open to interested individuals and organizations (stakeholders). The CREP Steering Committee has advisors, such as the Community Education and Outreach Advisory Group that include representatives of timber, cattle and other interests in the Clavey River watershed. Q. What is a watershed? A. A watershed includes all the upland area from which surface water drains into a stream. The Clavey River watershed has nested within it many smaller watersheds like Trout Creek and Bourland Creek. The Clavey River watershed is then a part of the larger Tuolumne watershed and ultimately is nested within the larger Bay-Delta watershed. (link to images of the watershed) Q. Where is the Clavey River watershed? A. It starts in the Central Sierra Nevada’s high country alpine meadows, granite-bound lakes and the red fir and lodgepole forests of the Emigrant Wilderness. The 47-mile free flowing river runs from Bell and Lilly creeks into the Clavey River to its confluence with the Tuolumne River. It flows from about 9,200 feet elevation through four of the five west slope life zones of the Sierra to about 1,200 feet elevation at its confluence with the Tuolumne, roughly 12 miles upstream from the Wards Ferry Bridge. (link to location map) Clavey River Watershed Analysis Questions: Q. What is going on in the Clavey River watershed? A. The Clavey River Ecosystem Project (CREP) has received a nearly $775,000 grant from the State of California and the Federal Government CALFED Bay-Delta program to study the health of the Clavey River watershed, improve the ability of interested individuals and organizations (stakeholders) to be knowledgeable and involved in the watershed, and make recommendations for improved land management. Q. What is the purpose of the Clavey River watershed analysis? A. The multi-year watershed analysis will inform public lands managers and the general public of existing conditions in the watershed, desired conditions for a healthy watershed and recommended actions for future land use management. Anticipated results envisioned by CREP are: ¨ Information for land managers and stakeholders. ¨ Increased involvement of stakeholders in Clavey River watershed management. Q. How will the Clavey River watershed analysis project and land management recommendations affect private property rights? A. Private property rights will not be affected, although owners of private land in the watershed (8%) will have access to information gained in the study. CREP anticipates that private landowners will also find the information useful in managing their lands within the Clavey River watershed. Q. Why did CREP initially choose 6 elements and indicators for study, how were they chosen, and what if we want to add or subtract? A. Using the list of Key Ecosystem Elements in the Forest Services’ Sustaining Ecosystems A Conceptual Framework, the CREP Steering Committee chose to begin with those that seemed most relevant to the Clavey River watershed, and that could be affected by human activity or management. Feedback from the first WA community education and outreach cycle and CREP Steering Committee reconsideration has modified the initial 6 elements. A set of Socio-Cultural indicators were added to the elements and indicators, and the WA indicators were then reorganized into three overarching categories (with elements and indicators distributed within the categories as appropriate). · Hydrology Hierarchy · Social Cultural Hierarchy · Terrestrial Hierarchy CREP expects to learn a lot more from the current WA project, including what if any additional elements may be recommended for future study. Clavey River watershed interested individuals and organizations (stakeholders) may suggest adding or deleting items either through submitting the suggestion to the CREP Steering Committee or preferably participating in review and comments on draft watershed analysis documents (link to online form). It was such participation in the first of four project community education and outreach cycles that lead the CREP SC to reorganize the WA indicators. Q. Is the CREP watershed analysis limited to surveying already existing information and data or is new data being gathered? A. The watershed analysis includes two seasons of new field surveys to update and supplement existing data and to gather entirely new data for some of the watershed analysis’ elements. Q. Will the watershed analysis report be consistent with the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) structure and process? A. No. The watershed analysis structure and process is consistent with the USDA Forest Service Sustaining Ecosystems A Conceptual Framework. The EIR structure and process is used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a specific land management project and is subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Clavey River watershed analysis is considered a pre-NEPA planning process. Q. What are desired conditions (DC)? A. Desired Conditions are land or resource conditions (miles of roads, acres of habitat, volume/amount of recreational useage, etc.) expected to result if planning goals and objectives are fully achieved. They are useful in helping managers choose and design projects that aim toward those goals. Q. What will happen to comments made by or information/questions provided to the CREP by the public at public meetings, on the website and in other ways? A. Public input will be evaluated by the CREP Steering Committee (SC) to determine what information is useful and how it will be incorporated in the assessment. The Steering Committee will consider input and incorporate the input into the project consistent with the CREP SC discussion of desired conditions, land management recommendations and potential projects. Q. How is the information CREP develops as part of the watershed analysis process to be used? A. All of CREP’s information will be turned over to the Forest Service and made available to interested Clavey River watershed stakeholders. The scientific studies will help the Forest Service understand conditions in the Clavey watershed and therefore help to better plan and manage projects. Q. What will happen to the CREP land management recommendations that result from the Clavey River watershed assessment and analysis process? A. Through the watershed analysis process, CREP will make Clavey River watershed land management recommendations to the Forest Service, Stanislaus National Forest. The recommendations will be public and made available to interested stakeholders and private land managers. Q. What will the Forest Service do with the CREP recommendations? A. The Forest Service is not required to follow the recommendations. Nevertheless, because the recommendations will be based on sound science and supported by a wide variety of stakeholders we believe they will be useful. If the Forest Service chooses to implement any of the recommendations brought forth in the study, the Forest Service will follow the full NEPA process prior to implementation. In addition, the NEPA process could go forward more smoothly than if they had to start from scratch with informing and including the public. Q. Is the Clavey River watershed analysis subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)? A. The watershed analysis process itself is not subject to NEPA. If the Forest Service chooses to implement any of the recommendations brought forth in the study, the Forest Service will have to follow the full NEPA process prior to implementation. Q. How does this watershed analysis process interface with other Forest Service planning activities, such as the OHV route designation process and the upcoming 2007/08 Forest Plan Revision on the Stanislaus National Forest? A. Both the watershed analysis and OHV route designation projects are both currently in the inventory phase and they can share information. The Forest Service is expected to consider the desired conditions and management recommendations identified in the watershed analysis as the Forest Service later completes the NEPA process for both final OHV route designation and Forest Plan Revision. Q. Will this watershed assessment process and end recommendations reduce the amount of timber coming off the forest and going to the mills? A. There is no way of knowing the answer to this question. However, the study will give a much more clear picture of the existing condition and identify desired conditions for vegetation in the watershed. If the Forest Service chooses to implement any of the recommendations brought forth from the study, they will follow the full NEPA process prior to implementation. Q. Will the Clavey River watershed analysis recommendations result in closing roads or trails in the Stanislaus National Forest? A. There is no way of knowing the answer to this question. However the study will give a much more clear picture of the existing condition and identify desired conditions for roads and trails in the watershed. If the Forest Service chooses to implement any of the recommendations brought forth as a result of the study, they will follow the full National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process prior to implementation. Q. How is the WA related to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)?The CREP WA is a collaborative project of Clavey River watershed stakeholders that is guided by the CREP Steering Committee. The Stanislaus National Forest is involved in the CREP WA in a supporting role and FACA does not apply to the CalFed Bay-Delta grant funded WA project. Resulting land management recommendations from the WA used by the Forest Service will be required to comply with FACA, NEPA and other applicable regulatory processes. Q. I don’t see my issues or concerns addressed in the Clavey River Watershed Analysis process descriptions or documents. What can I do to include my issues or concerns in the Watershed Analysis? A. There are several ways that you can raise Clavey River watershed issues and concerns within the watershed analysis project. You can submit your issues and concerns to CREP through our on-line comment form (link to form here), you can ask to receive draft CREP Clavey River Watershed Analysis documents for review and comment or you can volunteer to participate as a CREP Clavey River watershed volunteer (link to form). Have a question of CREP? Please use the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) form below to ask about CREP or its work. Thank you.
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The CREP website was last updated 05/02/2007 for CREP website issues contact webstuff@claveyriver.net |