Gifford Pinchot NF Priority Restoration Watersheds

The Task Force created this dataset as one way of prioritizing restoration work. This dataset is a summary of a handful of datasets that we developed when creating a restoration plan for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We often use the individual datasets rather than this particular layer. This dataset incorporates information we gathered on where the best focal areas in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest are for aquatic restoration through road removal, stream restoration through wood placement and riparian enhancement, wolf recovery, creating larger roadless areas through road removal, thinning to enhance old growth characteristics, and invasive species eradication. We then identified which sixth-field subwatersheds these restoration activities would be located in and mapped the watersheds according to the number of priority restoration activities located within a particular watershed. Focusing restoration work in key watersheds can save money and staff time by limiting the amount of area where planning work, surveys and project preparation needs to occur.