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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT PROPOSED MALHEUR WILDERNESS AREA HARNEY COUNTY, OREGON PREPARED BY .DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE WASHINGTON, D. C. SUMMARY (X) Draft ( ) Final Environmental Statement Department of the Interior, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 1. TYPE OF ACTION: Legislative. 2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION IMDICATTNG WHAT STATES AND COUNTIES PARTICULARLY AFFECTED: Proposal recommends that approximately 30,000 acres within the 180,851-acre Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon, be designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System. ~~~ 3. SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: No immediate or long-range environmental change would occur on the refuge as a result of the proposed action. Since designation as a wilderness is designed to protect and preserve natural environ- mentafqualities, no significant adverse environmental effects are anticipated. " ™ h. ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: (a) Continue under present management; (b) designate a wilderness area with boundaries other than those established in the proposal. ~ —— —— —— ___, 5. FEDERAL AGENCIES FROM WHICH COMMENTS HAVE BEEN REQUESTED: Department of Commerce Department of Transportation Department of Defense Environmental Protection Agency Department of the Interior Bureau of Outdoor Recreation National Park Service U. S. Geological Survey Bureau of Reclamation Bureau of land Management Oregon State Clearinghouse Oregon State Game Commission 6. DATE DRAFT STATEMENT MADE AVAILABLE TO COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC SENT TO FEDERAL REGISTER: DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT .PROPOSED MALHEUR WILDERNESS AREA I. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, U. S. Department of the Interior, proposes that approximately 30,000 acres of the 180,851-acre Malheur National Wildlife Refuge be designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System. The proposal encompasses the Harney Lake area entirely within the Malheur Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. The Wilderness Act directed the Secretary of the Interior to review every roadless area of 5,000 acres or more and every roadless island within the National Wildlife Refuge System and report to the President his recommendations as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each such area for designation as wilderness. In fulfilling this respon- sibility, a thorough and comprehensive study has been made of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (P.L. 91-190) requires the preparation of an environmental statement on any proposal for legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Proposals relating to possible wilderness classification of lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System in accordance with the Wilderness Act of 196Ij (P.L. 88-577); 78 Stat. 890-896, are believed to qualify under this Act. This state- ment is prepared to fulfill requirements of P.L. 91-190. < The Malheur Refuge is perhaps one of the best known units of the National Wildlife Refuge System. It contains one of the largest fresh- water marshes in the Mation and provides the life needs for a wide variety of birds and mammals of eastern Oregon. The refuge is extremely important as a breeding area and migration stopover for waterfowl and waterbirds. Habitat tyr>es ranging from fresh-water marshes to lava cliffs provide a great diversity in wildlands and their associated wild- life. The first 80,000 acres of the refuge were set aside by Executive Order in 1908. Later Executive Orders, proclamations, departmental transfers, and land orders increased the refuge to its present 180,851 acres. The proposed wilderness is limited to the Harney Lake area of the Malheur Refuge. Approximately 30,000 acres are proposed as wilderness, including the lake itself and a narrow margin of surrounding uplands. Harney Lake lies at the bottom of Harney Basin and serves as a drainage sump; it has no outlet. The Lake is, at times, a vast shallow body of water and, at other times, a dry expanse of white alkali salts. The alkaline condition of the lake, extreme fluctuations in water level, and the uninviting appearance have kept the area from being either significantly used or changed by man. /The overall impact of wilderness designation of these lands considered the following factors: 1. Preservation of approximately 30,000 acres of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in a natural state. 2. The effect of existing and future public use of the area. 3. The impact of the proposal on existing and future economic, cultural and social values. lj. The effect of existing and planned development outside the proposal. 5. The effect on refuge programs and the attainment of refuge objectives. The preservation in an unaltered state of the Harney Lake area, as represented within the proposal, would outweigh alternative uses that would reduce the area's natural wilderness and wildlife values. Designation of a wilderness area is within and supplemental to the purpose for which a national wildlife refuge is established and ad- ministered. If implemented, this proposal will result in Congressional classifi- cation of Federally-owned lands in an essentially unimpaired state for present and future use as wilderness. The Malheur National Wild- life Refuge and the Harney Lake area will continue to be managed by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife consistent with the our- poses for which the area was established so as to preserve its wilderness character. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT Malheur National Wildlife Refuge lies in the Harney Basin about li,000 feet above sea level in Harney County, southeastern Oregon. This portion of Oregon is sparsely settled and lightly developed. Only about 7,000 people inhabit some 10,000 square miles of Harney County with over half of these residing in the Cities of Burns and Hines. Both population centers are located on U. S. Highway 20 about 30 miles north of the refuge headquarters. State Highway 205 is the principal access route to the refuge. The Harney Basin is a closed drainage with no outlet. The refuge's major lakes—Malheur and Harney—are the final resting place of waters originating in the surrounding mountains. Two major tributaries feed Malheur Lake, the Conner and Bljtzen River arising in the Steens Mountain area southeast of the refuge, and the Silvies River draining the Blue Mountains to the North. Malheur Lake is actually better classified as a fresh-water marsh. Water averages about 3 feet in depth, and large areas contain both submerged and emergent aquatic vegetation. Alkali salts are abundant in soils in and surrounding Malheur Lake and marsh waters show a correspondingly high pH. Although both Malheur and Harney Lakes lie at the bottom of Harney Basin, Malheur Lake, lying almost 10 feet higher than Harney, overflows during high water years. The overflow drains to Harney lake via Mud lake. Harney lake, the lowest sump, has no outlet. Consequently, salts accumulate creating a very high pH (9.2) as well as high salinity. In addition to overflow from Malheur lake, Harney lake is fed by small warm springs on the lake floor, by larger springs west of the lake, and by Silver Creek which drains lands to the northwest of the refuge. The Farney Basin is the result of millions of years of volcanism, depression and sedimentation. Beginning in the Pliocene (5-10 million years ago) and continuing until quite recently, volcanic action, erosion and subsidence created a thick mantle of soil in the basin. In the Pleistocene, the basin was a vast inland lake, a contemporary of Lake Bonneville. Gradually, this lake was reduced to a few small vestiges including Malheur and Karney Lakes. Climatic variations have, and continue to cause extreme fluctuations of water. Taring high water years, lake waters cover large areas Harney lake may reach 30,000 surface acres„ Turing drought years, water recedes and Harney Lake becomes almost completely dry, as it did during the period 1930-32. Data from a 1931 study of precipitation and tree growth in the Karney Basin suggested that extreme fluctuation in water levels have charac- terized Harney Lake for at least two centuries. The lake has never remained sufficiently long at any level to cut a prominent beach, as has Malheur lake. The following table summarizes maximum habitat acreages occurring on Harney Lake during the 15-year period 1957-1971 (the only period such data is available)? HABITAT ACREAGES FOR HARNKY LAKF, 1957-1971 Acreages Year Inland Marsh Water Total 1971 15,071 300 18,000 33,371 1970 23,071 300 10,000 33,371 1969 23,200 100 8,000 31,300 1968 31,000 100 200 31,300 1967 26,000 300 5,000 31,300 1966 11,000 300 20,000 31,300 1965 ?5,ooo 300 20,000 15,300 t 1961i I4ij,200 100 1,000 15,300 1963 Mj,700 0 600 1^5,300 1962 hi , 700 0 600 Ii5,300 1961 30,300 0 15,000 15,300 I960 17,300 0 28,000 15,300 1959 15,300 0 30,000 15,300 1958 15,300 0 30,000 1)5,300 1957 11,000 0 30,000 11,000 Since Harney Lake bed has a very gradual gradient, small differences in water depth mean a great difference in surface area. When water surface is at elevation 14,081 feet, the lake covers nearly 13,500 acres; when it reaches h,082 feet, nearly ?0,000 acres are covered. Climate of the region is rather typical of the cooler portions of the intermountain west—low rainfall, low humidity, cool winters, mild summers and a short growing season. Precipitation averages about 9 inches with most falling as snow or winter rains. Summer precipitation is slight.