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On2\~'57 III The Forest's management objective is to maintain this landscape. character to the greatest extent possible. Timber management activities will contribute considerably to reach the established management objective by providing healthy, vigorous timber stands, thus perpetuat- ing the natural variety of deciduous trees, conifers and open grass and shrub areas. Before any management activity is planned, visual quality objectives for the affected areas on the Forest will be established based on liThe Visual Management System," chapter one, volume two, National Forest Landscape Management. (See Appendix 5.) F. Recreation 1. Roads and logging areas will generally enh.ance the dispersal opportunities for winter recreationists. 2. Roads will provide access to planned recreation developments and encourage dispersal of recreation use in general areas by providing additional trail heads for use of wildlife. 3. Various prescribed logging practices can be utilized to improve opportunities for sightseeing of the visual and physical properties of the forest stand in the travel influence zone by eliminating monotony, opening vistas, and providing a greener healthier residual stand. 4. The alteration of stand composition through timber management can provide a more desirable and usable forest setting. 5. Timber management practices can be used to add visually acceptable variety to the characteristic landscape. 6. Roads and timber management areas will provide better hunter access and increased chances of encounter with big game. Basic access to large huntable areas can be pro- vided. At the same time, closing some roads after management activities are complete can restore the isolation where needed to provide for hunting quality and hunter success. G. Fire Management Removal of concentrations of natural dead and'down material as proposed will appreciably reduce the large wildfire potential. Additional roads provide better and mqre rapid access for fire . suppression crews. Aspen and Gambel oak are referred to as fire species; i.e" they are species that succeed coniferous (pine, spruce, etc.) species folloWing destructive fires. Although aspen and oak in pure stands will burn, they do not generally carry the fast moving destructive fires that coniferous stands do. Green deciduous leaves are not as inflammable as green needles. Through timber management practices, small patches and strips of aspen and oak can be intermingled with spruce, fir, and pine stands. Properly planned, these will reduce fire intensities and at the same time provide scenic variety to the forest landscape. H. Timber Timber is a renewable resource and a new crop of trees is grown after older trees are harvested. The new forest is healthier and grows at a more rapid rate than an old overmature forest. A young forest is also more resistant to attacks by insects and diseases. Thinning to remove excess young trees improves the growth rate of those that are left. Planting nonstocked lands with nursery grown trees places additional land in a productive condition. The pUblic needs wood as an alternative to some other materials, many of which require more energy to produce, are not bio- degradable or renewable in nature. and are often more environmentally damaging to produce. I.~ The proposed action will result in improved roads in many parts of the National Forest. Existing roads will be upgraded to permit safer less environmentally damaging travel during a longer period of the year. A well planned and developed network of roads permits more rapid salvage of trees 'killed by insects, disease, wind, and fire, as well as quicker access to wildfires. A direct and immediate benefit of improving existing roads is a reduction in existing soil movement and stream siltation. 23