1 Scenic Resources Revised 7/19/2011 Affected Environment The existing characteristic landscape of the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands includes high mesas, dissected plateaus, deep canyons, volcanic mountains and vast flat grassy plains. The scenic quality of the Grasslands when viewed from recreation sites, prominent vista points, and scenic travel-ways is valued by visitors and residents and contributes to supporting their aesthetic, scenic, and spiritual values. The Grasslands are generally characterized by pastoral landscapes containing ranches and farms. The agricultural landscape contributes to the sense of place and the cultural identity of the region. The eastern part of the Kiowa National Grassland and the Rita Blanca National Grassland greet the traveler with a vast plain of undulating grass punctuated by windmills and farmsteads. The area on the Rita Blanca known as The High Lonesome typifies the prairie of lore. The Mills units are short grass prairie punctuated with patches of piñon-juniper woodlands; Mills Canyon itself is defined by rugged red sandstone cliffs with a ribbon of riparian vegetation winding along the Canadian River in the bottom. Saucer-like depressions [playas], which are actually circular basins varying in diameter from a few rods to a mile and in depth from a few feet to 30 to 40 feet are scattered across the plains grasslands. During storms they fill with water and form temporary ponds that attract wildlife. Plains grassland is the predominate vegetation. Piñon-juniper woodland is also common to parts of the area with scattered ponderosa pine in the Canadian River area. Stringers of riparian deciduous trees and woodland are common along watercourses. Flowing or standing water is very scarce on the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands. There are very few springs or ponds and the majority of the playas do not hold water year round. The Canadian River flows most of the year but in the recent past it typically puddles up in mid-summer depending on rainfall. The rest of the water courses are perennial or intermittent. Water courses of interest include the following: Sauz Creek, Perico Creek, Seneca Creek, Corrumpa Creek, Aqua Fria Creek, Coldwater Creek and Rita Blanca Creek. The landscape character of the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands has been primarily shaped by natural events such as fire, wind, insects, disease, and human events such as livestock grazing and development, ranch development, utility development, small timber logging, and dispersed recreational activities. The landscape ranges from natural appearing to agricultural/pastoral. Roads are evident throughout most of the Grasslands. While roads and occasionally trails add a linear element they are also the transportation system which provides access to viewing scenic resources. Due to the flat nature of the plains, roads tend to be straight, often following section and fence lines. Also due to the flat topography, roads are most evident within the near foreground except in the Mills Canyon area and other points where there is topographic relief.
2 Methodology Effects on the visual resource would be evaluated against the guidance provided by the Forest Service, Visual Quality Management System described below and FS Manual Directives for Landscape Management (2003). Visual Quality Management The 1985 Cibola National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (the 1985 Plan) utilized the Forest Service Visual Management System (VMS) to determine visual quality objectives (VQO) for all National Forest System lands within the Cibola National Forest and Grasslands (USDA Forest Service 1974). Visual quality objectives are designed to integrate the public s concern for scenic quality (sensitivity levels) with the diversity and scenic attractiveness of the natural features (variety classes.) These objectives determine the degree of acceptable alteration of the natural landscape based upon the importance of esthetics. (USDA Forest Service 1974) VQOs are used to describe the degree of alteration that may occur to the visual resource on the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands management areas. The following two VQO classes are assigned to the Kiowa and Rita Blanca in the 1985 Plan: Partial Retention - Management activities must remain visually subordinate to the characteristic landscape. Associated visual impacts in form, line, color, and texture must be reduced as soon after project completion as possible but within the first year. This VQO is assigned to the Mills Canyon area. Modification - Management activities may visually dominate the characteristic landscape. However, landform and vegetative alterations must borrow from naturally established form, line, color or texture so as to blend in with the surrounding landscape character. The objective should be met within one year of project completion. This VQO was assigned to the rest of the Kiowa and Rita Blanca; under this VQO, other management considerations are given a higher priority than scenic quality. The following table shows the VQO classifications (acres) assigned by the 1985 Plan for the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands. The acres reported in this table may not sum consistently with acreages reported elsewhere because land ownership and methods for calculating ownership have changed since the 1985 Plan and Plan Amendment #6 (1991) were developed. Kiowa and Rita Visual Quality Objective Blanca NGs (acres) Partial Retention 8,186 Modification 222,656 Other visual resource management direction contained in the 1985 Plan: Acceptable variations in VQO classifications from the acreages presented in the standards and guidelines for specific management areas are as follows:
3 Preservation: No Change Retention: + or - 2 percent in foreground, + or - 5 percent in middle ground and background Partial Retention: + or - 5 percent in foreground, + or - 10 percent in middle ground and background Modification: + or - 10 percent in all zones Manage for the visual quality objectives of retention or partial retention for developed site plan perimeter using a definition of characteristic landscape, which includes manmade features. Complete inventory for existing visual condition (EVC) and visual absorption capability (VAC). Roads and Sensitivity Levels Analyzing roads and trails in relation to scenic quality is complex. The roads and trails are a viewer platform from which people experience the landscape, and are often used to define sensitivity levels and distance zones. Constituency analysis helps define the meaning people give to a subject landscape. It determines the relative importance of aesthetics to the public. For example, K600 in Mills Canyon is often visited for the scenic views especially in the fall. There is high public interest in scenic quality from this road, so views within a ½ mile are assigned a sensitivity level of one, the highest sensitivity level, which reflects the relatively high importance of aesthetics. Roads and trails are also linear elements within the landscape, so the impact they have on the view is also considered. Primary View Corridors / Points There are a number of important travel routes on NFS lands considered primary view corridors: Mills Canyon - The most notable is Road 600 that provides access into Mills Canyon. This road is a remarkable scenic experience not only for its traverse down the canyon wall but also for the dramatic visual experience of traveling west across typical grassy plains, coming upon an edge landscape of juniper, ponderosa pine and sage, then suddenly dropping into a deep canyon. Management of visual elements along this travel route and the adjacent seen areas is considered important. The public enjoys the visual quality of the area because there are not many signs in the canyon and it looks primitive. Mills Upland - The original (1999) VQO and VMS work for this area of the Grassland determined that there were no important travel routes on NFS lands considered primary view corridors. Since then, La Frontera del Llano Scenic Byway was designated a New Mexico scenic byway coincident with State Highway 39. Southern Prairie - The original (1999) VQO and VMS work for this area identified Texas State Road 87, which skirts a Grassland parcel that is part of the cultural landscape near Texline, Texas and Texas Farm to Market Road 296, which travels through ranch/farm land reminiscent of the historic prairie settlement and Soil Conservation Service
4 rehabilitation era. However, there are two other visually important travel routes: the Santa Fe National Historic Trail and Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway. Currently, the Visual Management System (VMS) is used along with updated inventory of scenic area concerns on a district-by-district basis. In 1996, the VMS handbook was replaced with "Landscape Aesthetics - a Handbook for Scenery Management". The Chief of the Forest Service directed forests in 1997 to implement the Scenery Management System (SMS) concurrent with revision of forest plans. As each geographic area is inventoried and evaluated SMS will replace the VMS for inclusion in the computerized geographic information system (GIS) being developed for the Cibola National Forest. The Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands Forest Plan is currently in the revision process. The draft plan presents the revised Scenic Integrity Objectives that are being considered. However, since the decision for travel management is anticipated in advance of the decision for the revised plan, this report uses the Visual Management System and associated VQOs for analysis. (A Visual Quality Objective map is included with this report.) Other Background Information: Geographic Area Assessments The scenic resource information was documented in preparation for the Grassland Plan Revision, which revises the Cibola National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. The Cibola National Forest published existing condition reports for the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands in 1999. The reports covering these Grasslands are as follows: Mills Canyon Geographic Area Assessment Describes the area from the east rim of Mills Canyon west to the Grassland boundary, 10/18/99 Mills Upland Geographic Area Assessment - Describes the area from the east rim of Mills Canyon to the eastern Grassland boundary Sugarloaf or Mills units, 10/18/99 Southern Prairie Geographic Area Assessment Describes the area from the eastern part of the Kiowa (Clayton side of the District) and all of the Rita Blanca National Grassland, 10/01/99 Public interest is increasing in scenery because of its recreation, economic, and enhancement values. The accelerated interest increases the demand for vegetation management and mitigation of potential visual intrusions, evidence that land managers are caring for the views. Views are important to people from a variety of vantage points throughout the Grassland. Mills Canyon along the Canadian River contains land and water forms creating scenery of the highest quality significant to local residents and visitors, who come to this beautiful canyon as a destination. Mills Upland and Southern Prairie grasslands have a unique scenic value as pastoral landscapes and they contain ranch lands typical of the area. The broad flat plain with a luminous, everchanging sky above is a significant part of the sense of place experienced by residents of towns, villages and ranches, and part of the experience enjoyed by visitors.
5 Description of Alternatives Baseline Conditions The baseline condition represents the transportation system and access allowed by the 1985 Forest Plan, as amended; meaning there would be no change from the current management direction. Under the Baseline Condition: 387 miles of National Forest Service Roads would be open to all vehicles Motorized cross-country travel off of System roads would be allowed Unrestricted travel on user created, or unauthorized routes would be allowed All District lands would be open to dispersed camping and motorized big game retrieval No change would be anticipated for scenic resources. The Visual Quality Objectives in the 1985 Forest Plan would be met. The VQO of Partial Retention would continue to be met for Mills Canyon; however, the continued use of the unauthorized routes in the northern part of the Canyon could become an increasing intrusion when viewed from the overlooks along K600. There may be additional motorized cross-country travel, increasing the development of unauthorized roads and trails, disturbing the grasses and shrubs creating additional linear features as seen from the roads across the landscape because of the gentle terrain and generally open vegetation. Where the VQO is modification, the objective would not likely be exceeded, because the disturbance from unauthorized roads and trails is not anticipated to dominate the landscape. Since this area has been open to motorized cross-country travel at least since 1986, many of the areas where this type of use is possible have been disturbed, and unauthorized roads and trails have been established. Popular dispersed camping sites within Mills Canyon would continue to be visually evident, where some bare soil is visible from nearby roads. However, is not expected that additional sites would be established. Alternative 1: Proposed Action Under this alternative, 184 miles of existing National Forest System Roads would be considered for designation and 43 miles of undetermined roads would be added to the system, for a total of 227 miles of open roads. Cross-country travel would be prohibited. Little change to scenic quality is anticipated from this alternative. Where routes are not used, over time, the visual contrast of the road s bare soil would be reduced as grasses and shrubs grow in the track. Evidence of unauthorized routes would also become less evident, eventually returning to a more natural condition as plants grow in the track. This would enhance the natural appearing quality of the landscape. In Mills Canyon, this would be consistent with the VQOs of Partial Retention.
6 Motorized dispersed camping would result in some reduction in visual quality where sites are frequently used and soil compaction reduces vegetation coverage. However, it is likely that few new dispersed sites would be developed. Popular sites within the Mills Canyon dispersed camping corridors would continue to be visually evident, where some bare soil is visible from nearby roads. Where an established motorized dispersed camping area is not designated, over time, the visual contrast of the site s bare soil would be reduced as grasses and shrubs grow. This would enhance the natural appearing quality of the landscape. Alternative 2: Existing System Roads Under this alternative, public motorized use would continue on all currently open National Forest System roads (387 miles). Currently open system roads are those that are NFS roads and are available to the public for motorized use. Not all system roads are accessible to the public; some can only be accessed by crossing private lands for which the Forest Service does not have legal right-of-way. This alternative would prohibit all cross-country travel and use of unauthorized roads. This alternative would be expected to enhance scenic quality on the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands. Where unauthorized routes are unused, the visual contrast of bare soil would be reduced as grasses and shrubs grow in the track. Cross-country travel would be prohibited. Scarring of the landscape would cease and old scars would eventually revegetate. This would enhance the natural appearing quality of the landscape. Alternative 3: Public Access Alternative Although 67 miles of unauthorized roads would be added to the system, 265 miles of routes being considered for designation are existing routes, and little change in scenic quality would be anticipated under Alternative 3. Under this alternative, 332 miles of NFS roads would be open to all vehicles. This alternative would designate 12 miles of ATV trails, six motorized dispersed camping corridors, and cross-country big-game retrieval would be permitted off designated routes except Mills Canyon and around the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. Additional motorized dispersed camping would result in some reduction in visual quality where sites are frequently used and soil compaction reduces vegetation coverage. Popular sites within the Mills Canyon dispersed camping corridor, Thompson Grove, and other dispersed sites would continue to be visually evident, where some bare soil is visible from nearby roads. In those areas where motorized dispersed camping is not designated, over time, the visual contrast of the site s bare soil would be reduced as grasses and shrubs grow. This would enhance the natural appearing quality of the landscape. Alternative 4: Natural Resource Emphasis This alternative would enhance scenic quality on the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands. There would be fewer roads designated for motorized use as compared to any of the other alternatives. Under this alternative 143 miles of NFSR would be open to all vehicles. There would be no corridors designated for motorized dispersed camping.
7 Where routes are not used, over time, the visual contrast of the road s bare soil would be reduced as grasses and shrubs grow in the track. This would enhance the natural appearing quality of the landscape. In Mills Canyon, this would be consistent with the VQOs of Partial Retention. Since motorized dispersed camping would be prohibited, over time the visual contrast of the more popular sites would be reduced as grasses and shrubs grow in disturbed areas. This would enhance the natural appearing quality of the landscape at those locations, especially in Mills Canyon. Cumulative Effects The cumulative effects area includes adjacent public and private lands within the viewshed of the Grasslands. Due to the fragmented nature of Grasslands ownership, additional development and management has the potential to negatively affect scenic quality as seen from the Grasslands. The action alternatives as proposed in the draft Grasslands Plan would increase emphasis for managing scenic resources across the Grasslands, but do not influence management on other public and private lands. Since there would be limited direct or indirect effects from selecting any travel management alternative, there would not be significant cumulative effects. Prepared by Nancy Brunswick, Landscape Architect, 10/21/2010 Revised by Cynthia Geuss, Land Management Planner, 7/19/2011