Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

Draft Southeastern Oregon 

Resource Management Plan Amendment 

and Environmental Impact Statement

Appendix I

Glossary
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A 

Access — The opportunity to approach, enter, or make use of public lands.

Acquired lands — Lands are acquired for BLM administration in various ways such as, but not 

limited to: 

• any lands purchased by congressionally appropriated funds, 

• land donations, 

• land exchanges, 

• Land and Water Conservation Fund acquisitions,

• land withdrawals returned to public land status through withdrawal revocations and/or 

relinquishments, 

• split-estate acquisitions, 

• federal agency jurisdictional transfers, 

• easement acquisitions, and/or 

• lands acquired by any other means.

Acquisition — The act or process of acquiring fee title or interest of property. 

Actions (Management) — Anticipated measures, which are considered by managers to achieve 

desired outcomes of a particular resource or resource use. Proposed management actions will 

authorize, recommend, or implement actions to address the Purpose and Need. Actions include 

maintaining, restoring, or improving land health. 

Active Use — That portion of the grazing preference that is 1) available for livestock grazing use 

under a permit or lease based on livestock carrying capacity and resource conditions in an 

allotment, and 2) not in suspension (43 CFR, Part 4100.0-5).

Activity occasion — A standard unit of recreation use consisting of one individual participating 

in one recreation activity during any reasonable portion of any one day. 

Actual use data — The number of livestock, kind, or class of those livestock, and time period 

those livestock actually grazed a specific allotment or pasture.

Adjacent — Specific to an inventory unit and its relative location to a WSA. The inventory unit 

is “adjacent” to the WSA if the two are separated by a road or other human created 

(anthropomorphic) linear feature. See Contiguous. 

Administrative Use (related to Administrative Access) — Travel-related access for official use 

by BLM employees and agency representatives during the course of their duties. Access is for 

resource management and administrative purposes and may include fire suppression, cadastral 

surveys, permit compliance, law enforcement, and resource monitoring or other access needed to 

administer BLM-managed lands or uses. 
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Agate — A variety of chalcedony that exhibits several different color patterns (such as flat 

and/or concentric bands, swirls, and loops) usually caused by mineral impurities. It is generally 

used as an ornament or gemstone. Moss, lace, and plume agate are notable varieties.

Aggregate — Material made up of crushed stone or gravel used as a base course for riprap, 

asphalt, or concrete pavement. Aggregate is also used in asphalt and concrete mixes.

Allocations (land use) — Broad program classifications (based on desired future conditions)

given to public lands. These determine whether certain categories of activities are allowed, 

restricted, or excluded in all or part of the planning area. For example, OHV allocations speak to 

where off-road use may occur within the planning area.

Allotment — An area of land where one or more individuals graze their livestock. An allotment 

generally consists of federal rangelands, but may include intermingled parcels of private or state

lands. The BLM stipulates the number of livestock and season of use of each allotment.

Allotment management plan (AMP) — A plan for managing livestock grazing on specified 

public land.

Allowable Uses — Identified site-specific resource allocations the BLM allows, restricts, or 

prohibits on public lands and mineral estate. Legislative, regulatory, or policy requirements may 

allow (or deny) specific uses. Implementation planning or the permit authorization process often 

identify reasonable development scenarios. Allocations establish criteria to guide future actions 

and use levels for activities.

All-terrain vehicle (ATV) — Small recreational vehicles (other than a snowmobile) capable of 

operating in rugged terrain. ATVs are steered with handlebars, travel on three or more tires, with 

a seat straddled by the operator.

Amendment — The process of considering or making changes in the terms, conditions, and 

decision of approved plans. Usually only one or two issues are considered that involve only a 

portion of the planning areas.

Animal unit — One cow, one cow/calf pair, one horse, or five sheep.

Animal unit month (AUM) — The forage needed to support one cow, one cow/calf pair, one 

horse, or five sheep for one month. Approximately 800 pounds of forage.

Appropriate management level (AML) — The optimum number of wild horses that provides 

a thriving natural ecological balance on the public range.

Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) — A conservation ecology program in the 

western U.S. 1976 FLPMA established the first conservation ecology mandate, directing the 

BLM to protect important riparian corridors, threatened and endangered species habitats, cultural 

and archeological resources and unique scenic landscapes that the agency assesses as in need of 

special management attention.
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Areas Managed for Wilderness Characteristics — Wilderness characteristics units within the 

planning area that have been selected in an alternative to be managed to emphasize protection of 

wilderness characteristics as a priority over other multiple uses. All inventoried units found to 

meet the size and naturalness criteria are identified as Areas with wilderness characteristics, but 

each alternative determines which units would be selected for protection management. See 

Wilderness Characteristics. 

Areas with Wilderness Characteristics — Also known as Lands with Wilderness 

Characteristics. Wilderness Characteristics Inventory Units found to possess the minimum 

criteria for wilderness characteristics. See Wilderness Characteristics. 

Asbestos — A group of fibrous silicate minerals, generally used in the manufacture of heat and 

fire resistant materials (such as cloth, yarn, paint, paper, brake-linings, and tile).

Assets (related to linear transportation features) — An engineering term used to describe 

roads, primitive roads, and trails that are included in FAMS. Assets are maintained through the 

maintenance program. 

Attribute — A discreet feature or characteristic of biotic or physical resources that can be 

measured (example: plant density, which is the number of individuals or stems per unit area). 

Authorized Administrative Uses — Policies and regulations for management allowances 

within designated areas of federal lands, as well as access to them. 

Authorized Use (Authorized Access) — Travel related access for users authorized by the BLM 

or otherwise officially approved. Access may include motorized access for permittees, lessees, or 

other authorized users, along with approved access across BLM-administered public lands for 

other state and federal agencies.

B 

Band — A group of wild horses running together or a lone wild horse.

Basalt — A dark, heavy, fine-grained silica-poor igneous rock composed largely of iron and 

magnesium minerals and calcium-rich plagioclase feldspars.

Beneficial use — Any of various uses of water in an area. Water may be for agricultural, 

domestic, or industrial use, salmonid spawning, recreation, wildlife habitat, or other uses.

Bentonite — A soft, plastic, porous, light-colored rock composed essentially of clay of the 

smectite group, plus colloidal silica, and produced by the devitrification and accompanying 

chemical alteration of rhyolitic tuffs or volcanic ash. It has the ability to absorb large quantities 

of water and expand several times its original volume. It is used as a sealant on dams and 

reservoirs, in drilling mud, and pet litter, and as a binder.

Best management practices (BMPs) — A suite of techniques that guide management actions to 

aid in achieving desired outcomes. BMPs are applied based on site-specific evaluation and 

represent the most effective and practical means to achieve management goals for a given site.
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Often developed in conjunction with land use plans, they are not considered a land use plan 

decision unless specified as mandatory. They may be updated or modified. 

BLM assessment species — Plant and animal species on List 2 of the “Oregon Natural Heritage 

Data Base,” or those species on the “Oregon List of Sensitive Wildlife Species” (OAR 635-100-

040) that are identified in BLM Instruction Memo OR-91-57 and are not included as federal

candidate, State listed, or BLM sensitive species.

BLM sensitive species — Plant or animal species eligible for federal listed, federal candidate, 

state listed, or state candidate (plant) status, or on List 1 in the “Oregon Natural Heritage Data 

Base,” or approved for this category by the BLM State Director.

BLM tracking species — Plant and animal species on List 3 and 4 of the “Oregon Natural 

Heritage Data Base,” or those species on the “Oregon List of Sensitive Wildlife Species” (OAR 

635-100-040) that are identified in BLM Instruction Memo OR-91-57 and are not included as 

federal candidate, state listed, BLM sensitive, or BLM assessment species.

Boundaries, Inventory Unit — Inventory unit boundaries are normally formed by wilderness 

inventory roads, property lines, developed rights-of-way, or other substantially noticeable 

imprints of human activity. Dead-end roads (cherry stem roads) extend into the unit and are 

excluded from the unit, which modify the unit boundary. 

Boundary road setback area — Within the Wilderness Characteristics Inventory Units, a 

buffer or border, including a “zone of influence.” Inventory Unit boundaries were established by 

the presence of a road. Where the boundary was established, the setback is a buffered section of 

the unit. For various alternatives, setback areas would be managed separately from those areas 

managed for wilderness characteristics, permitting activities and uses that may emphasize other 

multiple uses. Locations of the setback are measured toward the interior of the unit by 250 feet

from the edge of the road disturbance.

C 

Caldera — A volcanic depression much larger than the original crater and generally formed by 

the violent eruption of rhyolitic magma (examples: Crater Lake and Mahogany Mountain 

Caldera).

Category A — Those lands where wildland fire should be excluded using only prescribed fire to 

achieve the desired resource conditions or management of the area. The wildland fire response 

for these lands will be designated as full suppression. 

Category B — Those lands where wildland fire could/should be used in addition to prescribed 

fire to meet desired resource conditions or management. Under this category of land, the 

wildland fire response could vary based on predetermined fire and resource criteria for land in 

and adjacent to the fires location. 

Clay — As a soil separate, the mineral soil particles less than 0.002 millimeter in diameter. As a 

soil textural class, soil material that is 40 percent or more clay, less than 45 percent sand, and 

less than 40 percent silt. Geology: A rock or mineral fragment of any composition finer than 
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0.00016 inches in diameter. Mineral: A hydrous aluminum-silicate that occurs as microscopic 

plates, and commonly has the ability to absorb substantial quantities of water on the surface of 

the plates.

Closed area — An area where OHV use is prohibited. Access by means other than OHVs, such 

as by motorized vehicles that fall outside the definition of an OHV or by mechanized or 

nonmechanized means, is permitted. The BLM designates areas as closed, if necessary, to protect 

resources, promote visitor safety, or reduce user conflicts (43 CFR 8340.0-5(h)).

Commercial thinning — A cutting made in a forest stand to remove excess merchantable 

timber in order to accelerate growth or improve the health of the remaining trees.

Commodities — Goods and services produced by industries.

Connectivity — Specific to an inventory unit and its relative location to a WSA. This term is 

used where a unit is contiguous to a WSA or an area possessing wilderness characteristics. See 

Contiguous.

Conservation — Controlled use and protection of natural resources. The process or means of 

achieving recovery of variable populations.

Consumptive Use — A use of resources that reduces the supply.

Contiguous — Specific to a wilderness characteristics inventory unit and its relative location to 

an established area with wilderness characteristics within the planning area. This term is used 

where a unit is contiguous to a WSA.

Contiguous Road Boundary Setback — See Boundary road setback area.

Corridor — A tract of land forming a passageway for linear utilities or transportation uses. A 

transportation/utility corridor is a parcel of land with fixed limits or boundaries, used as the 

location for one or more transportation or utility right-of-way.

Critical Habitat — Specific to geographic areas and designated by the USFWS, critical habitat 

are areas containing features essential to the conservation of an endangered or threatened species, 

which may require special management and protection. Critical habitat may also include areas 

that are not currently occupied by the species, but needed for its recovery. Not all listed species 

have critical habitat designated.

Cumulative Action — Proposed actions, which, when viewed with the proposed action, potentially 

have cumulatively significant impacts related to one or more identified issues. Cumulative actions 

“should be discussed” in the same NEPA document (40 CFR 1508.25(a)(2)). 

Cumulative Effect — “...the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact 

of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless 

of what agency (federal or nonfederal) or person undertakes such actions” (40 CFR 1508.7) and (40 

CFR 1508.25).
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Custodial management — Management of a group of similar allotments with minimal 

expenditure of appropriated funds to continue protecting existing resource values. 

D 

De minimus — An insignificant or inconsequential amount. In the context of the impact table, it 

suggests that while some level of impact might occur, it would be difficult to discern, or else 

ephemeral in nature.

Decision criteria — The important factors that will influence a decision.

Decision support system — A decision support system is a tool for organizing the criteria that 

are important for a decision-making process. The decision support system can provide benefits 

by ensuring that important criteria are applied consistently to a series of decisions. 

Deep soil — A soil that is 40 to 60 inches deep over bedrock or to other material that restricts the 

penetration of plant roots. 

Design features — Measures or procedures incorporated into the proposed action or an alternative, 

including measures or procedures which could reduce or avoid adverse impacts. Because these 

features are built into the proposed action or an alternative, design features are not considered 

mitigation.

Designated road — Specific roads identified by the land management agency where some type 

of use (motorized or nonmotorized) is appropriate and allowed either seasonally or yearlong and 

which have been inventoried and mapped and are appropriately signed on the ground. 

Desired outcomes — Specific management goals and objectives identified in BLM land use 

plans, which direct the actions in most effectively meeting legal responsibilities and national 

policy, and other social needs. Outcomes are identified for resources, uses, and other social and 

economic factors.

Diatomite — A soft, crumbly, lightweight, highly porous sedimentary rock consisting mainly of 

microscopic siliceous skeletons of diatoms (single-celled aquatic plants related to algae). It is 

used for filter aids, paint filler, abrasives, anti-caking agents, insecticide carriers, and insulation. 

Disturbance — Any management activity that has the potential to accelerate erosion or mass 

movement. Also, any other activity that may tend to disrupt the normal movement or habits of a 

particular wildlife or plant species.

Drainage, surface — Runoff, or surface flow of water, from an area.

DRFCs — This acronym stands for Desired Range of Future Conditions. 

E 

Easement — A document issued in replacement of an existing right-of-way grant over lands 

being transferred out of BLM management or federal ownership. 
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Earnings — Wages and salaries, other labor income, and proprietor’s income (including 

inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments).

Ecological site condition — See Ecological status.

Ecological site inventory (ESI) — The basic inventory of present and potential vegetation on 

BLM rangelands. Ecological sites are differentiated on the basis of the kind, proportion, or 

amount of plant species.

Ecological status — The present state of vegetation of a range site in relation to the potential 

natural community for that site. Four classes (see table below) are used to express the degree to 

which the production or composition of the present plant community reflects that of the potential 

natural community (climax):

Ecological status (seral stage) Percent of community in climax condition

Potential natural community 76–100

Late seral 51–75

Mid seral 26–50

Early seral 0–25

Ecosystem-based management — (1) Management driven by explicit goals, executed by 

policies, protocols, and practices, and made adaptable by monitoring and research based on our 

best understanding of the ecological interactions and processes necessary to sustain ecosystem 

composition, structure, and function, and (2) any land management system that seeks to protect 

viable populations of all native species, perpetuate natural-disturbance regimes on the regional 

scale, adopt a planning timeline of centuries, and allow human use at levels that do not result in 

long-term ecological degradation.

Ecotone — A transitional area of vegetation between two different plant communities, such as 

forest and grassland.

Effect — Impact to the human environment brought about by an agent of change, or action. 

Effects analysis predicts the degree to which the environment will be affected by an action. The 

CEQ uses both the terms “effect” and “impact” in the NEPA regulations; these terms are 

synonymous in the NEPA context. As a noun, other synonyms include consequence, result, and 

outcome. Effects can be both beneficial and detrimental, and may be direct, indirect, or 

cumulative.

Encumbrance — Any right or interest in land, held by someone other than the owner. 

Encumbrances may consist of mortgages, deeds of trust, agreements for support, life estates, 

leases, tax liens, outstanding mineral rights, reservations, restrictions, and rights of reverter.

Endangered — Under the Endangered Species Act, species may be listed as “endangered” (in 

danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range) or “threatened” (any 

species which is likely to become an endangered species).
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Enhancement of habitat for special status animal and plant species — Taking deliberate, 

proactive measures that are expected to make habitat conditions more productive, diverse, or 

resilient to disturbances for the benefit of special status animal and plant species.

Enhancement of populations of special status animal and plant species — Taking deliberate, 

proactive measures in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife or U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service to meet their respective species management goals. For animal species, 

enhancement means allowing supplemental releases of fish or wildlife into existing populations 

to increase overall numbers of animals or to improve their genetic health. For plants, 

enhancement means transplanting or seeding species to supplement existing populations.

Ephemeral stream — A stream, or reach of a stream, that flows only in direct response to 

precipitation. It receives no continuous supply from melting snow or other source, and its 

channel is above the water table at all times.

Exchange of Use Agreement — An agreement between the BLM and a private landowner, 

which allows livestock (that graze on an unfenced private property) to graze on BLM without 

any charge to those animals. This is done with the understanding that the livestock will spend 

most of its time on private property with an occasional drift onto federal lands. In addition, the 

private property is not fenced and is intermingled with public lands in the allotment, the use of 

these lands will be in harmony with the management objectives of the allotment, and the use of 

these lands is compatible with existing livestock operations on the allotment. 

Exclusion area — An area identified through resource management plans or in the process of 

designating corridors for which rights-of-way are to be excluded.

F 

Facility Asset Management System (FAMS) — Inventory of routes as the BLM’s current 

transportation system. 

Federal Lands — All classes of land for which the federal government claims ownership. 

Federal Protected Area Designations — Include the National Park System, National Forests, 

National Conservation Lands, National Recreation Areas, National Estuarine Research Reserves, 

National Trails System, National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, National Wilderness 

Preservation System, and National Wildlife Refuge System. 

Federal Register — The official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of federal

agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. The 

Federal Register is published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA).

Fine textured soil — Sandy clay, silty clay, or clay.

Fire effects — The physical, biological, and ecological impact of fire on the environment.
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Fire intensity — The product of the available heat of combustion per unit area of ground and the 

rate of spread of the fire.

Fire management area — One or more parcels of land having a common set of fire management objectives.

Fire regime — Periodicity and pattern of naturally occurring fire in a particular area or 

vegetative type, described in terms of frequency, biological severity, and area extent (Society of 

American Foresters, 1996).

Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) — FRCC 1 represents ecosystems with low (<33 

percent) departure from a defined reference period – that is, landscapes still within the natural or 

historical range of variability; FRCC 2 indicates ecosystems with moderate (33–66%) departure; 

and FRCC 3 indicates ecosystems with high (>66 %) departure from reference conditions (Hann 

et al. 2008, 1).

Fire return interval — The number of years between two successive fires documented in a 

designated area (such as the interval between two successive fire occurrences).

Fire strategy — An overall plan of action for fighting a fire that gives regard to the most costefficient use of personnel and equipment in consideration of values threatened, fire behavior, 

legal constraints, and objectives established for resource management. Leaves decisions on the 

tactical use of personnel and equipment to line commanders in the suppression function.

Fire suppression — All the work activities connected with fire extinguishing operations, 

beginning with the discovery and continuing until the fire is completely extinguished.

Fluvial (Fluviatile) deposit — A sedimentary deposit laid down, transported by, or suspended 

in, a stream.

Forb — Any herbaceous plant not a grass or a grasslike species.

Forest health — The condition in which forest ecosystems sustain their complexity, diversity, 

resiliency and productivity while providing for human needs and values.

Forestland — Land that is now, or is capable of being, at least 10 percent stocked by forest tree 

species such as ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, western larch, white fir, or lodgepole pine.

Four-wheel drive vehicle (4x4, 4WD) — A passenger vehicle or light truck having power 

available to all wheels generally capable of off-highway travel.

Fuels — Includes living and dead plant materials that are capable of burning.

Fuel type — An identification association of fuel elements of distinctive species, form, size, 

arrangement or other characteristics that will cause a predictable rate of spread or resistance to 

control under specific weather conditions.
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G 

Goals — Broad statements of desired outcomes. The goals and objectives that are considered 

and incorporated into this RMP Amendment reflect both those that were set with the 2002 

SEORMP and those that have since been added, modified, or updated. (For example, the 2015 

Oregon Greater Sage-grouse Approved RMP Amendment set objectives for habitat management 

for that species.)

Graben — A fault-bounded down-dropped portion of the Earth’s crust.

Gravel — Rounded or angular fragments of rock as much as 3 inches (2 millimeters–7.6 

centimeters) in diameter. An individual piece is a pebble.

Gravel — (Geology) Unconsolidated, rounded rock fragments greater than 0.08 inches in 

diameter. Sizes range from pebbles (.008–2.5 inches) to cobbles (2.5–10 inches) to boulders 

(greater than 10 inches).

Grazing permit — A document that authorizes grazing use of the public lands under Section 3 

of the Taylor Grazing Act. A grazing permit specifies grazing preference and the terms and 

conditions under which permittees make grazing use during the term of the permit (43 CFR, 

Part 4100.0-5). The permit specifies a specific number, kind, and class of livestock for a 

specified period on a defined allotment or management area. 

Grazing preference — The total number of animal unit months on public lands apportioned 

and attached to base property owned or controlled by a permittee, lessee, or applicant for a 

permit or lease. Grazing preference includes active use and use held in suspension. Grazing 

preference holders have a superior or priority position against others for the purpose of 

receiving a grazing permit or lease (43 CFR, Part 4100.0-5).

Grazing relinquishment — The voluntary and permanent surrender by an existing permittee or 

lessee, (with concurrence of any base property lienholders), of their priority for a livestock 

forage allocation on public land (their preference) as well as their permission to use this forage 

(their grazing permit or lease), in whole or in part.

Green stripping — The practice of establishing or using patterns of fire resilient vegetation 

and/or material to reduce wildfire occurrence and size. Examples are establishing fire resilient 

vegetation adjacent to roads or railways, around or interspersed in valuable shrub stands, or 

within large blocks of flash fuels.

Ground water (geology) — Water filling all the unblocked pores of the material below the 

water table.

Guidelines — Recommendations or rules that lead or direct a course of action to achieve 

objectives.

H 

Hazardous materials — “Any substance or material in a form which poses an unreasonable 

risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce” (U.S. DOT).

Herd — One or more wild horse bands using the same general area.
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Herd area (HA) — A geographic area identified as having provided habitat for a wild horse 

herd in 1971.

Herd management area (HMA) — A geographic area identified in a management framework 

plan or resource management plan for the long-term management of a wild horse herd.

Herd management area plan — A plan that prescribes measures for the protection, manage- ment, and control of wild horses and their habitat on one or more HMAs, in conformance with 

decisions made in approved management framework or resource management plans.

High resource values — Lands with high resource values are considered to be public lands that 

have the caliber of resources to qualify them for inclusion in SMAs such as ACECs, NWSRs, 

WSAs, and high resource areas such as critical wildlife habitat areas, wild horse herd areas, 

critical fish habitat areas, cultural site areas, threatened and endangered species habitats, and so 

on. Long-term retention of public lands in these SMAs is either required by law through 

congressional action or identified through the land use planning process.

I 

IDT — An interdisciplinary team consisting of BLM staff. 

Impacts — The effect an action has on other resource conditions. Long-term impacts are 

considered having effect for more than five years.

Impetus — The driving force or reason for an action. In the context of the decision support 

approach the impetus refers primarily to the strength of the legal, economic or social driver, and 

the extent to which the action is discretionary.

Indirect effects — Effects that “...are caused by the action and are later in time or farther 

removed in distance, but are still reasonably foreseeable. Indirect effects may include growthinducing effects and other effects related to induced changes in the pattern of land use, 

population density, or growth rate, and related effects on water and air and other natural systems, 

including ecosystems” (40 CFR 1508.8(b)). 

Individual tree selection cutting — A cutting method in which selected trees are removed 

throughout a harvest unit to meet a specific goal. Goals can range from harvest of a specific 

volume to improving the health of the remaining trees.

Intermittent stream — A stream, or reach of a stream, that flows for prolonged periods only 

when it receives groundwater discharge or long, continued contributions from melting snow or 

other surface and shallow subsurface sources.

Issues, planning — Disputes or controversies about existing and potential land and resource 

allocations, levels of resource use, production, and related management practices. 
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J

K 

Known geothermal resource area (KGRA) — “An area in which the geology, nearby 

discoveries, competitive interest, or other indicia would, in the opinion of the Secretary, 

engender the belief in men who are experienced in the subject matter that the prospect for 

extraction of geothermal stream or associated geothermal resources are good enough to warrant 

expenditures or money for that purpose” (43 CFR 3200.0-5(k)).

L 

Land adjacent to WSA — BLM-administered land identified in the 1991 Wilderness Study 

Report, Oregon (WSRO) as “Land Outside WSA Recommended for Wilderness” or “adjacent 

wilderness study areas.” These parcels are outside of, but immediately adjacent to WSAs, which 

were also determined suitable for BLM to recommend to Congress for wilderness designation 

review.

Land tenure adjustments — Actions that result in the disposal of BLM-administered land, or 

the acquisition by the BLM of nonfederal lands or interests in land. 

Land tenure zones (LTZs) — These allow the BLM to identify opportunities to exchange, 

dispose, or acquire public lands to consolidate public ownership and facilitate management. 

Land use allocation — Identification of activities and foreseeable development that are allowed, 

restricted, or excluded for the planning area, based on desired future conditions. 

Land use authorizations — FLPMA gives the BLM authority to authorize long- or short-term 

land use agreements (permits, easements, leases). The most common BLM authorizations are the 

ROWs.

Land use plan (LUP) — A set of decisions contained in Resource Management Plans that 

establish management direction for land within an administrative area, as prescribed under the 

planning provisions of FLPMA, an assimilation of land use plan level decisions developed 

through the planning process outlined in 43 CFR 1600, regardless of the scale at which the 

decisions were developed.

Lands with wilderness characteristics — See Areas with Wilderness Characteristics. 

Long-term impacts — See Impacts. 

M 

Maintenance of habitat for special status animal and plant species — Avoidance or 

mitigation of projects and land uses so that they cause no new significant adverse impacts on 

habitats of special status animal and plant species. The quality of the habitat to be maintained 

is probably variable and may range from poor to excellent. The amount of habitat may be 

below its potential. Under maintenance management options, especially where habitat quality 
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is low, there is some risk that species may eventually need to be listed under the authority of 

the ESA.

Maintenance of populations of special status animal and plant species — Avoidance or 

mitigation of projects and land uses so that they have no new significant adverse impacts on 

populations of special status animal and plant species. Populations to be maintained may range 

from low to high over time and may be below their potential level. Under maintenance 

management options, especially where populations are small, there is some risk that species may 

eventually need to be listed under the authority of the ESA. 

Management actions — Identified through land use plans, management actions are proactive 

measures recommended to achieve desired outcomes. These measured criteria guide activities 

occurring on public land. Priorities to maintain, restore, or improve land health will be delineated 

in management actions for specific land uses. In certain instances, conditions develop over time 

that will not correct themselves without management intervention.

Management decision — BLM decisions made to manage public lands. Management decisions 

include both land use plan decisions and implementation decisions.

Mechanical treatment — Use of mechanical equipment for seeding, brush management, and 

other management practices.

Mechanized travel — Movement (having moving parts) by means of mechanical devices, using 

any contrivance over land, water, or air. Provides a mechanical advantage to the user and has a 

power source, but not powered by a motor. This includes sailboats, hang gliders, parachutes, 

bicycles, carts, and wagons, but excludes skis, wheelchairs, and rafts.

Mitigation measures — These “overlay” an action and are intended to reduce the action to 

eliminate or decrease the impacts. They may be added to an action that has been analyzed and 

found to have impacts to a resource or use. 

Monitoring — The periodic and systematic collection of resource data to measure progress 

toward achieving objectives.

Motorized primitive route — See Primitive route. 

Motorized primitive trail — See Primitive route. 

Motorized travel — Travel by means of vehicles propelled by motors such as cars, trucks, 

OHVs, motorcycles, boats, and aircraft. Movement incorporates machines that use a motor, 

engine, or other nonliving power sources (other than on rails, wheelchairs, or mobility devices).

Motorized vehicle — See OHV. Examples include all-terrain vehicles (ATV), utility type 

vehicles (UTV), sport utility vehicles (SUV), motorcycles, and snowmobiles. 

Multiple use management — Management of public land and resource values to best meet 

various present and future needs of the American people. This means coordinated management 

of resources and uses to assure the long-term health of the ecosystem.
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

I-14

Multiplier — A change in an economic measure resulting from a specified change in some other 

economic measure.

N 

National Conservation Area — A designation for certain protected areas in the U.S. They are 

conservation areas managed by the BLM under the NLCS. Restrictions vary between these areas, 

but they are generally not leased or sold under mining laws. Congress designates NCAs to 

conserve, protect, enhance, and manage the public lands.

National Conservation Lands — Also known as the National Landscape Conservation System 

(NLCS), these federally recognized areas are the “crown jewels of the American West.” The 

NLCS was created in 2000 and adopted through the National Landscape Conservation System 

Act of 2009. The 2010 Settlement Agreement refers to WSAs, WSRs, and the National Historic 

Oregon Trail (plus ACEC/RNA and designated critical habitat).

National Historic Trail — A designation for a protected area in the U.S. containing historic 

trails and surrounding areas. They are part of the National Trails System. Scenic Trails and

Historic Trails may only be designated by an act of Congress, to protect the remains of 

significant overland or water routes to reflect the history of the nation. Most are scenic highway

routes and not hiking trails. 

National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) — See National Conservation Lands.

National Trails System (NTS) — The network of scenic, historic, and recreation trails created 

by the National Trails System Act of 1968. These trails provide for outdoor recreation needs, 

promote the enjoyment, appreciation, and preservation of open-air, outdoor areas and historic 

resources, and encourage public access and citizen involvement. 

National Wild and Scenic River (NWSR) — A system of designated rivers having outstanding 

scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, and other similar values. The 

NWSR Act of 1968 recommended to protect rivers from development that would change their 

wild or scenic nature.

Naturalness (a primary wilderness value) — An area that generally appears to have been 

affected primarily by the forces of nature with the imprint of people’s work substantially 

unnoticeable.

Nonmotorized travel — Movement by foot, stock, or pack animal (or other animal-powered 

travel), boat, or by a mechanized vehicle such as a bicycle.

Notice of Availability (NOA) — The Federal Register notice that an EIS (draft or final) or record of 

decision is available. Publication of a notice of filing of an EIS by the Environmental Protection 

Agency formally begins the public comment period. A NOA may also be published for an EA. 

Notice of Intent (NOI) — This Federal Register notice announces that an environmental impact 

statement or an EA-level land use plan amendment will be prepared. Publication of this notice 

formally starts the scoping process.
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

I-15

O 

Objectives — Specific desired outcomes and management decisions for resources to reach those 

outcomes. They are clearer statements of the specific activities required to achieve the goals, 

based on law and regulation. Objectives represent land use plan decisions and reflect the 

projected direction that management of these lands should follow in the future. 

Off-highway vehicle (OHV) — Also known as off-road vehicle. Any motorized vehicle 

designed for and capable of being operated on or off improved and regularly maintained roads. 

Definition excludes: 

• non-amphibious registered motorboat

• military, fire, emergency, or law enforcement vehicle

• vehicle whose use is expressly authorized, approved, or in official use

• combat or support vehicle for national defense

OHV area designations — Used by federal agencies in the management of OHVs on public 

lands. Refers to planning decisions (allocations) that permit, establish conditions, or prohibit 

OHV activities on specific areas. The CFR requires all BLM-managed public lands to be 

designated as open, limited, or closed to off-road vehicles and provides guidelines for 

designation. The definitions of open, limited, and closed are:

Open: Motorized vehicle travel is permitted year-long anywhere within an area designated 

as “open” to OHV use. Open designations are used for intensive OHV use areas where 

there are no special restrictions or where there are no compelling resource protection needs, 

user conflicts, or public safety issues to warrant limiting cross-country travel (43 CFR 

8340.05).

Limited: Motorized vehicle travel within specified areas and/or on designated routes, 

roads, vehicle ways, or trails is subject to restrictions. The limited designation is used 

where OHV use must be restricted to meet specific resource management objectives. 

Examples of limitations include number or type of vehicles, time or season of use permitted 

or licensed use only, use limited to designated roads and trails, or other limitations if 

restrictions are necessary to meet resource management objectives, including certain 

competitive or intensive use areas that have special limitations (43 CFR 8340.05).

Closed: Motorized vehicle travel is prohibited in the area. Access by means other than 

motorized vehicle is permitted. Areas are designated closed if closure to all vehicular use is 

necessary to protect resources, promote visitor safety, or reduce use conflicts (43 CFR 

8340.05).

Old growth forest — Dry site pine stands meeting the following criteria: at least 10 trees/acre 

that are at least 150 years of age and/or 21 inches dbh, and have a basal area of 24 square 

foot/acre at least 10 acres in size, or, in very late-seral stands, at least 2 trees/acre that are at 

least 200 years of age and/or 31 inches dbh, and have a basal area of 11 square foot/acre.

Organic matter — Plant and animal residue in the soil in various stages of decomposition. 
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

I-16

Outstandingly remarkable value (ORV) — Referred to in the Wild and Scenic Rivers section 

of Chapter 3 when referring to Wild and Scenic Rivers within or overlapping the wilderness 

characteristics units.

Outlier — In statistics, an outlier is an observation point that is distant from other observations. 

An outlier may be due to the variability in the data used. 

Overstory — The trees in a forest that form the upper crown cover. 

P

Parcel — For a sub-unit of a wilderness characteristics unit, see Wilderness Characteristics 

Inventory Unit (WIU). 

Pending lek — A lek not counted regularly in the last seven years, but birds were present one or 

more years of that period. 

Perennial stream — A stream in which water is present during all seasons of the year.

Perlite — A rhyolite volcanic glass that contains more water than ordinary obsidian. It 

commonly contains a cracked texture caused by contraction during cooling. The material is used 

primarily as lightweight aggregate and as an insulator.

Permeability — The quality of the soil that enables water to move downward through the 

profile, measured as the number of inches per hour that water moves downward through the 

saturated soil.

Pervasive and omnipresent impacts — These are noises or visual disturbances that have such a 

ubiquitous and noticeable effect on a wilderness characteristics unit that they make it difficult to 

manage to preserve naturalness or presence of primitive and unconfined recreation.

Physiographic province — A geographic region with similar climatic, land form, and geologic 

features, and which is significantly different from adjacent regions.

Pluvial — Referring to a period of greater rainfall.

Porphyry deposit — A large, low-grade metallic mineral deposit containing disseminated 

sulfide minerals (examples: copper, gold, molybdenum, or tin). 

Preferred alternative — The alternative the BLM believes would reasonably accomplish the 

purpose and need for the proposed action while fulfilling its statutory mission and 

responsibilities, giving consideration to economic, environmental, technical and other factors. 

This alternative may or may not be the same as the BLM’s or the proponent’s proposed action. 

Prescribed burning — Controlled application of fire to wildland fuels in either their natural or 

modified state, under specified environmental conditions that allow the fire to be confined to a 

predetermined area and at the same time to produce the fire line intensity and rate of spread 

required to attain planned resource management objectives.
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

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Prescribed fire — Any fire ignited by management actions to meet specific objectives. A 

written, approved prescribed fire plan must exist, and NEPA requirements must be met, prior to 

ignition.

Prescription — Written statement defining objectives to be attained, as well as measurable 

criteria, which guide the selection of appropriate management actions. Prescription criteria may 

include safety, economic, public health, environmental, geographic, administrative, social, and 

legal considerations under which the fire will be allowed to burn.

Preventative maintenance — Scheduled servicing, repairs, inspections, adjustments, and 

replacement of parts that result in fewer breakdowns and fewer premature replacements, and 

achieve the expected life of facilities and equipment.

Primary wilderness values — The primary or key wilderness values described in the 

“Wilderness Act” by which WSAs and designated wilderness are managed to protect and 

enhance the wilderness resource. Values include roadlessness, naturalness, solitude, primitive 

and unconfined recreation, and size.

Primitive and unconfined recreation (a primary wilderness value) — Nonmotorized and 

undeveloped types of outdoor recreation activities. Refers to wilderness recreation opportunities

such as nature study, hiking, photography, backpacking, fishing, hunting, and other related 

activities. Does not include the use of motorized vehicles, bicycles, or other mechanized means 

of travel.

Primitive route — Any transportation linear feature located within a WSA or lands with 

wilderness characteristics designated for protection by a land use plan and not meeting the 

wilderness inventory road definition (not a boundary road). Also known as motorized primitive 

route or motorized primitive trails. A WSA primitive route was also known as a “way.” See 

Route classification. 

Productivity — (1) Soil productivity: the capacity of a soil to produce plant growth, due to the 

soil’s chemical, physical, and biological properties (such as depth, temperature, water-holding 

capacity, and mineral, nutrient, and organic matter content). (2) Vegetative productivity: the rate

of production of vegetation within a given period. (3) General: the innate capacity of an 

environment to support plant and animal life over time.

Project acres — (fire) Total project size.

Protected areas — Land managed by federal, state, and tribal authorities with varying levels of 

protection. See Federal Protected Area Designations. 

Public access — The right of passage, established by law, over another’s property. Access can 

be created by an easement dedicated or reserved for public access.

Public land — Any land or interest in land owned by the United States and administered by the 

Secretary of the Interior through the BLM. Federal, state, or municipal land is held in trust for 

the governed populace (public landowner).
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Public resource values — Lands with public resource values are considered to be any public 

lands located outside SMAs, and high resource areas that do not have the caliber of resources to 

qualify them for inclusion in SMAs and high resource areas. For these types of lands, the BLM

would maintain its land tenure adjustments options within Zone 1, 2, and 3 areas. Any land 

tenure adjustments involving public lands having “public resource values” must be determined to 

be in the public interest and must meet the requirements of NEPA and the General Management 

Criteria of Appendix L. 

Public road — Any road open to public travel, under the jurisdiction of a public authority, 

maintained by federal, state, county, city, or local government. See Route classification. 

Pumice — A glassy, rhyolitic rock exhibiting a vesicular, or frothy texture. It is generally used 

as a lightweight aggregate and an abrasive.

Q 

R 

Range Administration System (RAS) — RAS provides grazing administrative support and 

management reports for the BLM and the public. The Rangeland Administration system serves 

as an electronic calendar for issuance of approximately 18,000 applications and 2,400 grazing 

authorizations (Permits, Leases, and Exchange-of-Use Agreements) per year, eliminating the 

need for manually processing these forms. RAS also creates approximately 30,000 grazing bills 

per year. RAS provides distribution information to the Collections and Billings System (CBS) 

for tracking, collecting, and distributing grazing receipts. Additionally, the system maintains 

electronic files about allotments, authorizations, and grazing bill history.

Range site — An area of rangeland where climate, soil, and relief are sufficiently uniform to 

produce a distinct natural plant community. A range site is the product of all the environmental 

factors responsible for its development. It is typified by an association of species that differ from 

those on other range sites in kind or proportion of species or total production.

Rangeland — Land on which the potential natural vegetation is predominantly grasses, grasslike 

plants, forbs, or shrubs suitable for grazing or browsing. It includes natural grasslands, savannas, 

many wetlands, some deserts, tundras, and areas that support certain forb and shrub 

communities.

Rangeland health — The degree to which the integrity of the soil and the ecological processes 

of rangeland ecosystems are sustained.

Reaction, soil — A measure of acidity or alkalinity of a soil, expressed in pH values. Soils with 

pH values less than 7 are acidic and those with pH greater than 7 are alkaline.

Reasonably foreseeable action — Actions for which there are existing decisions, funding, 

formal proposals, or which are highly probable, based on known opportunities or trends. 

Recreation site — An area where management actions are required to provide a specific 

recreation setting and activity opportunities, to protect resource values, provide public visitor 
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

I-19

safety and health, and/or to meet public recreational use demands and recreation partnership 

commitments. A site may or may not have permanent facilities.

Recreational river — A river or section of a river that is readily accessible by road or railroad; 

it may have had some development along the shorelines and may have undergone some 

impoundments or diversions in the past.

Regeneration — The new growth of a natural plant community that develops from seed.

Rehabilitation — The activities necessary to repair damage or disturbance caused by wildfire or 

the fire suppression activity.

Research Natural Area (RNA) — A physical or biological unit maintained in current natural 

conditions, where natural processes predominate and which is preserved for research and 

education. Under current BLM policy, these areas must meet the relevance and importance 

criteria of ACECs and are managed as ACECs.

Reserve common allotment — An area that is designated in the land use plan as available for 

livestock grazing but reserved for use as an alternative to grazing in another allotment in order to 

facilitate rangeland restoration treatments and recovery from natural disturbances such as 

drought or wildfire. It would provide needed flexibility that would help the agency apply 

temporary rest from grazing where vegetation treatments or management would be most 

effective.

Resistance and resilience — A measure of the relative ecological integrity of a unit based on 

factors that indicate a likely ability of resident plant communities to recover quickly or avoid 

change due to disturbances. Resilient ecosystems have the capacity to regain their fundamental 

structure, processes, and functioning when altered by stressors like drought and disturbances. 

Resistant ecosystems have the capacity to retain their fundamental structure, processes, and 

functioning when exposed to stresses, disturbances, or invasive species. 

Resource Advisory Council (RAC) model — This model was used as the basis for Alternative 

D. It rated the vegetation, hydrology, and connectivity of each wilderness characteristics unit.

Resource management plan (RMP) — A land use plan as described by the FLPMA. A BLM 

planning document, generically referred to as a “land use plan,” prepared in accordance with 

Section 202 of FLPMA that presents systematic guidelines for making resource management 

decisions for a planning area. An RMP is typically based on an EIS. 

Restoration — Holistic actions taken to modify an ecosystem to achieve desired, healthy, and 

functioning conditions and processes.

Restoration of habitat for special status animal and plant species — Taking deliberate, 

proactive measures to reestablish habitat suitable for supporting special status animal and plant 

species.

Restoration of populations of special status animal and plant species — Taking deliberate, 

proactive measures in cooperation with the ODFW or USFWS to meet their respective species 
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

I-20

management goals. Restoration means reestablishing a species into a currently unoccupied 

suitable area.

Rhyolite — A fine-grained light-colored silica-rich igneous rock composed largely of potash 

feldspars and quartz.

Rift — A graben of regional extent; it marks a zone where the entire crust is ruptured under 

tension.

Right-of-Way (ROW) — A grant or permit for an easement authorizing the use of public land 

for certain specified purposes, commonly for pipelines, roads, telephone lines, electric lines, 

reservoirs, to use a specific land for certain projects for a specific period of time. Also describes

the reference to the land covered by such an easement or permit.

Right-of-Way grant — An authorization to use a specific piece of BLM-administered land for a 

certain project, such as roads, pipelines, transmission lines, and communication sites. ROW 

grants authorize rights and privileges for a specific use of the land for a specific period of time. 

Generally, a BLM ROW is granted for a term appropriate for the life of the project. Minor 

ROWs are typically less than about 15 miles in length and are not to exceed about 52 acres of 

disturbance. 

Right-of-way corridor — A parcel of land identified by law, Secretarial order, through a land 

use plan or by other management decision as being the preferred location for existing and future 

right-of-way grants and suitable to accommodate one type of right-of-way or one or more rightsof-way that are similar, identical or compatible.

Riparian/wetland areas — See Chapter 2, the Water Resources and Riparian/Wetland Areas 

section, Riparian and Wetland Definitions, Processes, Functions, and Patterns.

Risk assessment — Assessing the chance of fire starting, natural or human-caused, and its 

potential risk to life, resources and property. 

Road — A linear route (as declared by owner) managed for use by low-clearance vehicles, 

persons, or animals. Roads are improved and maintained by mechanical means for regular and 

continuous use. See Wilderness Inventory Road.

Road, primitive — A linear route managed for use by four-wheel drive or high-clearance 

vehicles. Primitive roads do not normally meet any BLM road design standards. Unless 

specifically prohibited, primitive roads can also include other uses such as hiking, biking, and 

horseback riding.

Road, primitive road, and trail identification — Road and trail identification refers to the onthe-ground process (signs, maps, and means of informing the public) of implementing the road 

and trail network selected in the land use plan or implementation plan. Guidance on the 

identification requirements is in 43 CFR 8342.2. 

Road, primitive road, and trail selection — BLM chosen network of roads, primitive roads, 

and trails available for motorized use and other access needs. This includes nonmotorized, 
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

I-21

mechanized use, and animal-assisted modes of travel consistent with the goals, objectives, and 

actions. 

Routes — An umbrella term for the multiple roads, trails, and primitive roads that represent the 

BLM transportation system. Generically, components of the transportation system are described 

as “routes” or “assets.”

Routes, temporary — Defined as short-term overland roads, primitive roads, or trails

authorized or acquired for the development, construction, or staging of a project or event that has 

a finite lifespan.

Route classification — The grouping of similar transportation features.

Road: A linear route declared a road by the owner, managed for use by low-clearance 

vehicles having four or more wheels, and maintained for regular and continuous use. Also an 

open way for the passage of vehicles, persons, or animals on land.

Primitive Road: A linear route managed for use by four-wheel drive or high-clearance 

vehicles. These routes do not customarily meet any BLM road design standards. 

Trail: Linear routes managed for human-powered, stock, or off-road vehicle forms of 

transportation or for historical or heritage values. Trails are not generally managed for use by 

four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicles.

Runoff — The precipitation discharged into stream channels from an area. The water that flows 

off the surface of the land without sinking into the soil is called surface runoff. Water that enters 

the soil before reaching surface streams is called ground water runoff or seepage flow from 

ground water.

S 

Sagebrush Focal Area (SFA) — Areas identified by the FWS that represent recognized 

“strongholds” for GRSG that have been noted and referenced by the conservation community as 

having the highest densities of GRSG and other criteria important for the persistence of GRSG. 

Scenic river — A river or section of a river that is free of impoundments and whose shorelines 

are largely undeveloped but accessible in places by roads.

Scoping (internal and external) — The process by which the BLM solicits internal and external 

input on the issues and effects that will be addressed, as well as the degree to which those issues and 

effects will be analyzed in the NEPA document. Scoping is one form of public involvement in the 

NEPA process. Scoping occurs early in the NEPA process and generally extends through the 

development of alternatives (the public comment periods for EIS review are not scoping). Internal 

scoping is simply the use of BLM staff to decide what needs to be analyzed in a NEPA document. 

External scoping, also known as formal scoping, involves notification and opportunities for feedback 

from other agencies, organizations, and the public.

Section 202 lands — Lands being considered for wilderness designation under section 202 of 

FLPMA.
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Sediment — Soil, rock particles, and organic or other debris carried from one place to another 

by wind, water or gravity.

Setback area — See Boundary road setback area.

Settlement Agreement — A 2010 judgement on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 

2008 case ONDA v. BLM, providing interim management for the planning area. 

Shallow soil — A soil that is 10 to 20 inches deep over bedrock or to other material that restricts 

the penetration of plant roots.

Short-term impacts — See Impacts. 

Significant impact — Effects of sufficient context and intensity that an environmental impact 

statement is required. The CEQ regulations at 40 CFR 1508.27(b) include ten considerations for 

evaluating intensity.

Silica — Silicon dioxide (SiO2), occurring in both crystalline (such as quartz, cristobalite, and 

chalcedony) and amorphous (such as opal) form, as well as impure (such as diatomite, and chert) 

forms, and combined as silicates for numerous significant minerals (such as feldspars or 

amphiboles).

Silt — Geology: A rock fragment or detrital particle smaller than very fine sand and larger then 

coarse clay, ranging from 0.0024 to 0.00016 inches in diameter and commonly having a high 

content of clay minerals. As a soil separate: Individual mineral particles ranging in diameter 

from the upper limit of clay (0.002 millimeter) to the lower limit of very fine sand (0.05 

millimeter). As a soil textural class: Soil that is 80 percent or more silt and less than 12 percent 

clay.

Slope — The inclination of the land surface from the horizontal. Percentage of slope is the 

vertical distance divided by horizontal distance, then multiplied by 100. For example, a slope of 

20 percent is a drop of 20 feet in 100 feet of horizontal distance.

Soft triggers — Represent “an intermediate threshold indicating that management changes are 

needed at the implementation level to address habitat or population losses. If a soft trigger is 

tripped, the BLM will apply more conservative or restrictive implementation (project-level) 

conservation measures to mitigate for the causal factor(s) in the decline of populations or 

habitats, with consideration of local knowledge and conditions,” as defined in the Oregon 

Greater Sage-Grouse Proposed RMPA/Final EIS, June 2015 (Appendix D, p. 2). 

Soil — A natural, three-dimensional body at the Earth’s surface. It is capable of supporting 

plants and has properties resulting from the integrated effect of climate and living matter acting 

on earthy parent material, as conditioned by relief over periods of time.

Soil association — A group of soils geographically associated in a characteristic repeating 

pattern and defined and delineated as a single soil map unit.
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Soil classification — The systematic arrangement of soils into groups or categories on the basis 

of their characteristics.

Soil compaction — An increase in soil bulk density of 15 percent or more from the undisturbed 

level.

Soil complex — A map unit of two or more kinds of soils in such an intricate pattern or so small 

in area that it is not practical to map them separately at the selected scale of mapping.

Soil productivity — The capacity of a soil for producing a specified plant or sequence of plants 

under specific management.

Soil profile — A vertical section of the soil extending through all its horizons and into the parent 

material.

Soil survey — A field investigation resulting in a soil map showing the geographic distribution 

of various kinds of soil and an accompanying report that describes the soil types and interprets 

the findings.

Soil texture — The relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay particles in a mass of soil.

Solitude (a primary wilderness value) — The state of being alone or remote from habitations; a 

lonely, unfrequented, or secluded place. The intent is to evaluate the opportunity for solitude in 

comparison to habitations of people.

Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) — An area where recreation is one of the 

principal management objectives, where intensive recreation management is needed, and where 

more than minimal recreation-related investments are required.

Special status species (SSS) — Plant or animal species known or suspected to be limited in 

distribution, rare or uncommon within a specific area, and/or vulnerable to activities that may 

affect their survival. Lists of special status species are prepared by knowledgeable specialists 

throughout the State of Oregon; the BLM prepares a list of state sensitive species predominantly 

based on the lists prepared biennially by ONHP.

Special stipulation — A specific operating condition or limitation added to a mineral lease to 

protect sensitive resources. It modifies the original terms and conditions of that lease.

Stand — A community of trees occupying a specific area and sufficiently uniform in species, 

age, spatial arrangement, and condition as to be distinguishable from trees on surrounding lands. 

Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) — The standards set by a Resource Advisory Council to 

ensure the administration of BLM grazing helps preserve currently healthy rangelands and 

restore healthy conditions to those areas that are not functioning properly. Standards and 

Guidelines provide specific measures of rangeland health and will identify acceptable or best 

management practices. The authority for these Standards and Guidelines is found in 43 CFR 

4180. 
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Stream channel — The hollow bed where a natural stream of surface water flows or may flow. 

The deepest or central part of the bed, formed by the main current and covered more or less 

continuously by water.

Structure, soil — The arrangement of primary soil particles into compound particles or 

aggregates.

Suitability and need — Decision criteria that assess the appropriateness of an activity occurring 

in a particular wilderness characteristic unit. The criteria assess whether the unit is suited to the 

activity (or in the case of conservation, how much of a priority the action is), the feasibility of the 

action, and the relative need for the action to occur in this particular unit.

Sunstone — A calcium-rich variety of plagioclase feldspar that exhibits a pink to red metallic 

shimmer when viewed perpendicular to the surface. The shimmer is caused by light reflecting off 

the surface of minute parallel platelets of native copper suspended in the stone.

Supplemental wilderness values — Includes ecological (such as vegetation, wildlife, and 

overall biological/botanical processes and values associated with the natural environment), 

geological, scientific, educational, scenic, and historic values. When present they can enhance 

primary wilderness values, but are not mandated by Congress.

Sustained yield — Maintenance of an annual or regular periodic output of a renewable resource 

from public land consistent with the principles of multiple use.

T 

Talc — A very soft, light green mineral (Mg3Si4O10 (OH2)), found in basic igneous rocks and 

metamorphosed dolomites (CaMg (CO3)2). It is used in a wide variety of applications (such as 

filler, cosmetics, lubricants, and as a source of ornamental stone).

Talus — Rock fragments of any size or shape, commonly coarse and angular, derived from and 

lying at the base of a cliff or very steep rock slope. The accumulated mass of such loose, broken 

rock formed chiefly by falling, rolling, or sliding.

Temporary impacts — For purposes of the impact tables a “temporary impact” is one that is not 

expected to last more than 5 years.

Thinning — A cutting made in a forest stand to remove or kill excess timber in order to 

accelerate growth or improve the health of the trees that remain.

Thriving natural ecological balance — The condition of the public range when resource 

objectives related to wild horses in approved land use and/or activity plans have been achieved.

Thunderegg — An agate, opal, or chalcedony-filled nodule deposit formed in rhyolitic lavas or 

tuffs. Official rock of the state of Oregon. 

Trail — A designated, linear route on land or water with public access for recreation or 

transportation purposes. Trails are managed for human-powered, stock, or off-road vehicle forms 
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

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of transportation (hiking, bicycling, horseback, kayaking, and backpacking) or for historical or 

heritage values. The BLM does not generally manage trails for use by four-wheel-drive or highclearance vehicles. See Route classification. 

Transportation linear disturbances — Linear disturbances identify human-made linear 

features that are not part of the BLM’s transportation system. Linear disturbances may include 

engineered (planned) as well as unplanned single- and two-track linear features that are not part 

of the BLM’s transportation system. 

Transportation linear features — Linear features represent the broadest category of physical 

disturbance (planned and unplanned) on the BLM land. Transportation-related linear features 

include engineered roads and trails, as well as user-defined, non-engineered roads and trails 

created as a result of the public use of the BLM land. Linear features may include roads, 

primitive roads, and trails identified for closure or removal as well as those that make up the 

BLM’s defined transportation system. 

Transportation system — The network of roads, primitive roads, and trails (motorized and 

nonmotorized) that are selected (recognized, designated, or authorized) for use through the 

comprehensive travel and transportation planning process. These collective “routes” are 

designated as facility assets and maintained by the BLM. Also known as Transportation 

Network. 

Travel and Transportation Management (TTM) — The on-the-ground management and 

administration of travel and transportation networks (both motorized and nonmotorized) to 

ensure that public and administrative access are met, resources are protected, and regulatory 

needs are considered. It consists of implementation, education, enforcement, monitoring, 

easement acquisition, mapping and signing, and other measures necessary for providing access to 

public lands for a wide variety of uses. Includes uses for administrative, recreational, traditional, 

authorized, commercial, educational, as well as all forms of motorized and nonmotorized access 

or use (foot, equestrian, mountain bike, off-highway vehicle). 

Treatments — Direct control for invasive plant management include manual (pulling and 

grubbing), mechanical (chainsaws/mowing), biological (including targeted grazing by domestic 

animals or insects), prescribed fire, and herbicide application (using wands, wicks, handguns, 

booms, and aircraft), and the use of competitive seeding or plantings of desirable vegetation. 

Trend — The direction of change in ecological status observed over time. Trend is described as 

toward or away from the potential natural community, or as not apparent.

Tuff — Volcanic ash or rock composed of compacted ash. 

U 

Untrammeled — Unhindered and free from modern human control or manipulation. 

Unit — For a unit under the Wilderness Characteristics Inventory, see Wilderness 

Characteristics Inventory Unit (WIU). 
Draft SEORMP Amendment and EIS Appendix I

I-26

Upland (geology) — Land at a higher elevation, in general, than the alluvial plain or stream 

terrace; land above the lowlands along streams.

Utility Type (or Terrain) Vehicle (UTV) — Any recreational motor vehicle (other than an 

ATV, motorbike, or snowmobile) designed for and capable of travel over designated unpaved 

roads.

Utilization — The proportion or degree of the current year’s forage production that is consumed 

or destroyed by animals (including insects). May refer either to a single plant species, a group of 

species, or to the vegetation as a whole. Synonymous with use.

V 

Values-at-risk — Any or all natural resources, improvements or other values that may be 

jeopardized if a fire occurs (value-at-risk, risk of resource values).

Vegetation manipulation — Alteration of present vegetation by using fire, plowing, or other 

means to manipulate natural succession trends. 

Vehicular way — A route established and maintained solely by the passage of motor vehicles, 

which has not been improved and maintained by mechanical means, which does not ensure 

relatively regular and continuous use. See Primitive route. 

Visit — A unit of measure for evaluating the amount of recreational activity on public land that 

is equivalent to one person spending any part of a day recreating on public land.

Visual resource classes — Refer to Chapter 2. Define the degree of acceptable visual change 

within a characteristic landscape. A class is based on the physical and sociological characteristics 

of any given homogeneous area and serves as a management objective. Categories assigned to 

public lands are based on scenic quality, sensitivity level, and distance zones. Each class has an 

objective that prescribes the amount of change allowed in the characteristic landscape (from H1601-1, BLM Land Use Planning Handbook). The four classes are described below: 

Class I provides for natural ecological changes only. This class includes primitive 

areas, some natural areas, some wild and scenic rivers, and other similar areas where 

landscape modification activities should be restricted. 

Class II areas are those areas where changes in any of the basic elements (form, line, 

color, or texture) caused by management activity should not be evident in the 

characteristic landscape. 

Class III includes areas where changes in the basic elements (form, line, color, or 

texture) caused by a management activity may be evident in the characteristic 

landscape. However, the changes should remain subordinate to the visual strength of 

the existing character. 

Class IV applies to areas where changes may subordinate the original composition and 

character; however, they should reflect what could be a natural occurrence within the 

characteristic landscape.
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W 

Way — See Primitive route.

Wild horses — Unbranded and unclaimed horses that use public land as all or part of their 

habitat, or that have been removed from such land by an authorized officer but have not lost their 

status under section 3 of the “Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.”

Wild river — A river or section of a river that is free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds and shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted.

Wilderness — Areas of undeveloped land retaining its primeval character and influence, without 

permanent improvement or human habitation. “An area where the earth and community of life 

are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” These areas are

protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions. 

Wilderness Act of 1964 — Act of Congress that established federal wilderness areas.

Wilderness area — Uninhabited and undeveloped federal land to which Congress has formally 

designated and granted special status and protection under the National Wilderness Preservation 

System. Established by the Wilderness Act, these areas are managed to preserve the natural 

conditions, allowing foot and horse traffic only; no mountain bikes, OHVs, hang gliders, or other 

“machines” are allowed.

Wilderness characteristics — The attributes that define an area as possessing wilderness, as 

defined in the Wilderness Act. Characteristics include the area’s size, its apparent naturalness, 

and outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation. In the 

planning area, wilderness characteristics units are those lands inventoried and determined by the 

BLM to contain wilderness characteristics, as follows: 

• Size – Roadless areas of at least 5,000 acres of public lands or of a manageable size

• Naturalness – Affected primarily by the forces of nature rather than human activity

• Outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation activity

• May contain supplemental values (ecological, geological, scientific, educational, 

scenic, or historical value) 

Wilderness inventory — (Applies only to the original inventory conducted in 1980 and 

restructured report of the 1991 Wilderness Study Report.) A written description of resource 

information and data, and a map of those public lands that meet the wilderness criteria as 

established under FLPMA and the Wilderness Act. An evaluation of the public lands, showing 

those lands that meet the wilderness criteria. Lands meeting the criteria were identified as 

Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs).

Wilderness characteristics inventory roads — Routes that have been improved and 

maintained by mechanical means to insure relatively regular and continuous use. Often, these 

roads make up the borders of the wilderness characteristics inventory units. The BLM has 

committed to maintain these roads for future use. See Routes. 
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Wilderness Characteristics Inventory Unit (WIU) — An area meeting the size criteria (public 

land at least 5,000 acres or adjacent to other, existing areas with wilderness characteristics like 

WSAs) that was later analyzed for wilderness characteristics.

Unit — An area meeting the size criteria (public land at least 5,000 acres or adjacent to other, 

existing areas with wilderness characteristics such as WSAs) that was later analyzed for 

wilderness characteristics. 

Parcel — The individual sub-unit polygons that make up a wilderness characteristics

inventory unit. 

Wilderness Study Area (WSA) — Parcels of BLM roadless areas with wilderness 

characteristics identified and designated through inventory and study processes, authorized by 

FLPMA and the Wilderness Act. WSAs in the planning area are currently in an interim 

management status awaiting wilderness designation or release by Congress. The general standard 

for interim management is that land under review (WSAs) are managed so as not to impair 

suitability for preservation as wilderness.

Wildfire — An unplanned ignition of a wildland fire (such as fire caused by lightning, 

volcanoes, unauthorized, and accidental human-caused fires) and escaped prescribed fire.

Wildland fire — A general term describing any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland.

Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) — A web-based decision support system 

that provides a single dynamic documentation system for wildland fire managers that provides a 

situational assessment, analyzes hazards and risk, defines implementation actions, and assists to 

develop and document risk-informed management strategies. This system is used beginning at 

the time of discovery and concludes when the fire is declared out. 

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) — The line, area, or zone where structures and other human 

development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels. Describes an 

area within or adjacent to private and public property where mitigation actions can prevent 

damage or loss from wildfire (https://www.nwcg.gov).

Withdrawal — A formal action that accomplishes jurisdiction transfers, closures, or land 

dedications. Withdrawals preserve sensitive environmental values, protect major federal 

investments in facilities, support national security, and provide for public health and safety. A 

withdrawal segregates a portion of public lands and suspends certain operations of laws, such as 

mining claims. Federal policy is to restrict all withdrawals to the minimum time and acreage 

required to serve the public interest, maximize the use of withdrawn lands consistent with their 

primary purpose, and eliminate all withdrawals that are no longer needed. 

Woodland — A forest community occupied primarily by noncommercial species such as 

juniper, mountain mahogany or aspen.
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X 

Y 

Z 

Zeolite — A group of hydrated silicates of aluminum with alkali metals. They contain a porous 

molecular structure that allows them to selectively trap individual molecules within that 

structure. Zeolites are used in water purification and decontamination systems, animal feed 

supplements, drying agents, and for soil improvement.