Department of the Interior Final Environmental Statement
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT FES 73-U6 PROPOSED ANAHO ISLAND WILDERNESS AREA NEVADA PREPARED BY BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WASHINGTON, D.C. /r^^W ^ Director, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife SUMMARY ( ) Draft (X) Final Environmental Statement Department of the Interior, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 1. TYPE OF ACTION: Legislative 2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION INDICATING WHAT STATES AND COUNTIES PARTICULARLY AFFECTED: Proposal recommends that the Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge, WasTiqe County, Nevada, be designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System. 3. SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: No significant immediate or long-range environmental change would occur on the island or the surrounding area as a result of the proposed action. 4. ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: (a) Reject the proposal and continue the present management of the Tsland under existing authorities; (b) change tRe proposal to designate the wilderness with a boundary different from that recommended in the proposal. 5. COMMENTS HAVE BEEN REQUESTED FROM THE FOLLOWING: *Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce *Department of Defense Department of Interior *U. S. Geological Survey *Bureau of Outdoor Recreation * National Park Service * Bureau of Indian Affairs * Bureau of Reclamation * Bureau of Land Management Pyramid Lake Indian Tribal Council Nevada State Clearinghouse Washoe County Regional Planning Commission 6. DATE STATEMENT FORWARDED TO COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC SENT TO FEDERAL REGISTER: Draft Statement: December 6, 1972 Final Statement: August U*, 1973 * Comments Received and Appended. FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT PROPOSED ANAHO ISLAND WILDERNESS AREA, NEVADA I. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Department of the Interior, proposes that the originally designated 247.73-acre Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge in Pyramid Lake, Washoe County, Nevada, be designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System, in com- pliance with the Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-577; Stat. 890- 896). The proposal also includes any lands which might be realized through past and future water level fluctuations. Ownership of island acreage outside the refuge boundary is in need of legal clarification. The Wilderness Act directed the study of every roadless area of 5,000 acres or more and every roadless island within the National Wildlife Refuge System to determine the suitability or non-suitability of each as wilderness. Sections 4(a) and (b) of the Wilderness Act provide that: (1) Wilderness is to be within and supplemental to the purposes for which National Wildlife Refuges are established; and (2) Wilderness areas shall be administered so as to preserve their wilderness character and shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and historical use insofar as primary refuge objectives permit. In fulfilling the responsibilities of the Wilderness Act, a full and comprehensive study has been made of Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge.I/ This environmental impact statement examines the proposed action in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 7969. I/Wilderness Study Report and summary brochure. AMAHO ISLAND N. \'1. R. Location map ?Y*A.».IO lAXS INDIA.', RSSSRVATiOH AN'AHO ISLAND NATIONAl ,WUDUF£ p.Hf UG; ANAHO ISLAND P/ILDERNESS PROPOSAL ANAKO iSLAKD NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUSE The 247.73-acre Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge was established by Executive Order 1819 on September 4, 1913, as a "... preserve and breeding grounds for native birds." The refuge is located in the southeastern portion of Pyramid Lake within Washoe County, Nevada, and is administered from the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. The waters surrounding the refuge are part of the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation. Due to lower water levels Anaho Island (in 1972) was estimated at about 750 acres; 500 more than when the refuge was established. Anaho Island is the site of one of the few white pelican nesting colonies left in North America. In 1971, an estimated 1,499 nests were located on the island and during the summer about 8,000 pelicans, young and adult, congregate around the island. Under refuge protection, this species of national interest has apparently stab!ized in numbers. Also nesting on the island are double-crested cormorants, California gulls, Caspian terns and great blue herons. When added to the pelican numbers, the summer population of water birds reaches about 15,000 individuals. Proposed wilderness designation of these federally owned lands involved consideration of the following factors: 1. The preservation of Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge in a natural state. 2. The effect on existing and future public use of the area. 3. The impact of the proposal on existing and future economic, cultural and social values. 4 4. The effect on refuge programs and the attainment of refuge objectives. The net environmental result, should the proposal be implemented, will be congressional classification of federally-owned lands for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner that will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness. Adverse impacts, considered insignificant in the context of this proposal, would be the prohibition of certain management prerogatives that might be desirable to meet future refuge objectives, and the prohibition of commercial utilization of any natural resources which might be located on the area. Designation of wilderness areas is within and supplemental to the purposes for which national wildlife refuges are established and administered, and the Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge will continue to be administered by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife should the proposal be enacted. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT For perhaps 10,000 years Anaho Island has existed as an island in Pyramid Lake. Prior to that, Anaho was occasionally an island, but for long periods it was beneath the surface of pluvial Lake Lahontan, an immense body of water covering much of western Nevada. This was the origin of present-day Pyramid Lake. Today, the lake is 25 miles long, from 5 to 10 miles wide, and ranges to a depth of 335 feet. It has no outlet, being the terminous of the Truckee River system. Since this lake was always the deepest spot in the Lahontan Basin, a profile of Lake Lahontan's entire life is etched in the mountains surrounding the lake. Tha U. S. Government recognized Indian rights to Pyramid Lake as early as 1859, but the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation was not officially established until 1874 retroactive to 1859. The lake and Anaho Island were included within reservation boundaries; but on September 4, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed Executive Order 1819 which established Anaho Island Reser- vation as a "preserve and breeding ground for native birds." It was placed under jurisdiction of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Later, the administrative responsibility was transferred to the Department of the Interior, and the area was redesignated the Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge, by Proclamation No. 2416, dated July 25, 1940. There is little doubt that the intent of the Executive Order establishing the refuge was to protect the integrity of the island land mass as evi- denced by the dotted meander line drawn about one-quarter mile offshore (page 7). In keeping with this intent and for purposes of the wilderness study, it is assumed that land accruing to the island through reliction is publicly owned; at least to the lowest contour (3,762 feet) which separates the island from the lake shore. However, due to the complicated legal history resulting from the Presidential Proclamation establishing the Indian reserve (page 8), Executive Order No. 1819, Statehood Act and Submerged Lands Act, the legal status of emerged and submerged lands on Anaho Island is clouded. Yet, Indian interests and State and Federal governments are in agreement with the need to protect the natural values which presently exist on the island. Their views are expressed in the public hearing on the Bureau's wilderness proposal on March 10, 1973. Anaho Island is situated in the southeastern portion of Pyramid Lake, Washoe County, western Nevada. Reno and Sparks, the population center \ ANAHO ISLAND RESERWTION For Pro lection of Native Birds NEVADA Embracing an Island in Pyramid Lake.in Sees. 9, IS,and 16 T. 24 N. /?. 22 E. M. DM containing 247.73acresas segregated by broken line and designated 'ANAHO ISLAND RESERVATION' Executive ©rber It is hereby ordered that Anaho Island, located in Pyramid Lake, within the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, and embracing parts of sections nine, fifteen and sixteen, in township twenty-four north, range twenty-two cast, of Mount Diablo meridian, Nevada, as segregated by the broken line upon the diagram hereto attached and made a part of this order, is hereby reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds. It is unlawful fur any person to hunt, trap, capture, wilfully disturb, or kill any bird of any kind whatever, or take the eggs of any such bird within the limits of this reserve, except under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the -Secretary of Agriculture. Warning is expressly given to all persons not to commit any of the acts herein enumerated, under the penalties of section eighty-four. United States Criminal Code, approved March 4, 1909 (35 Stat.. 1088). This reserve to be known as Anaho Island Reservation. WOODROW WILSON THE WHITE HOUSE, > Septtmbtr 4, [No. 1819.] DEPARTMENT OF THE.INTERIOR GENERAL LAND OFFICE Clay Tallman, Commissioner Pyramid JLake, or Trucket Reserve.' lln Ntrnd* Apjocr; occupied by Faiott; mrca, 303J ?io«re mHa.} DEPARTMENT or THE INTERIOR, Office of Indian Affairs, November 29,1859. SIR: My attention has been called, by a letter of the 25th inst.