DECISION MEMO Summit Ski Area Special Use Permit Boundary Extension Project USDA Forest Service Zigzag Ranger District, Mt. Hood National Forest Clackamas County, Oregon Township 3 South, Range 8½ East, Sections 12, 13, and 24, and Township 3 South, Range 9 East, Section 18 June 2020 BACKGROUND Summit Ski Area (Summit) is located on the south slopes of Mt. Hood at the east end of the Village of Government Camp, just downhill of Timberline Lodge & Ski Area (Timberline). Currently, the Summit Ski Area Term Special Use Permit (SUP) area encompasses approximately 52 acres, of which 19 acres comprises Summit’s alpine ski trail network. Summit has one chairlift providing lift access to seven trails of beginner to lower intermediate skier ability levels. In mid-2018, J.S.K. and Company acquired 100 percent of the Northwest Nordic, Inc. (NNI) stock. NNI’s 20-year special use authorization to operate Summit expires on December 31, 2026. In addition to the chairlift and associated trail network, the SUP area also includes the following facilities: Summit Base Lodge, a ticket building, Ski Patrol A-Frame, maintenance/pumphouse building, Summit Sno-Park, as well as the Snow Bunny Snow Play Area, which is a 9-acre tubing venue located 2 miles east of Summit. Last year, NNI completed its 2019 Summit Ski Area Master Development Plan (MDP), which is a requirement of its SUP to operate on National Forest System (NFS) lands. The MDP provides an assessment of existing operations and facilities, and identifies possible future developments and improvements. Forest Service acceptance of the MDP, which occurred on September 30, 2019, does not imply authorization for the permit holder to proceed with implementation of any of the activities included in the MDP. Rather, all projects in the MDP require site-specific environmental analysis and authorized officer approval per the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before project implementation can begin. In December 2019, NNI submitted a proposal to the Forest Service to consider a SUP area extension. The agency accepted the boundary extension proposal on January 15, 2020. While NNI has expressed its perspective in taking this first step as a “foundational exercise” to allow them to consider the possibilities Summit Ski Area Special Use Permit Boundary Extension Project | Decision Memo 1 Decision Memo within the MDP vision, this project and corresponding environmental review are solely focused on amending the Summit SUP area so that Summit’s extended boundary could practicably contemplate future projects detailed in the MDP.1 Figure 1 depicts the approved SUP boundary extension. PURPOSE AND NEED The purpose and need for this project is to create permitted connectivity between the Summit and Timberline ski areas in order to improve ski area operational efficiencies and form the basis from which to consider future recreation and alternative transportation initiatives contained in Summit’s MDP. DECISION Based on project scoping and analysis conducted, it is my decision to authorize the extension of the Summit SUP boundary northward so that the Summit and Timberline ski areas share a contiguous boundary, as depicted in Figure 1. Specifically, my decision is to amend the Summit SUP to add approximately 206 acres to NNI’s permitted area. The expanded boundary will include portions of the Alpine Trail (a short segment of which is already within Summit’s existing SUP area), Alpine Loop Trail, historic West Leg Road, West Leg Bypass Trail, Crosstown Trail, Timberline to Town Trail and Camp Creek Loop Trail. NNI currently has a permit with the Forest Service to snowplow and use the West Leg Road in the winter as a transportation corridor for snowcat and occasional snowmobile use for operational purposes. This decision will not change the current uses of the West Leg Road; the current road use permit terminates on December 31, 2026 (coinciding with the expiration of the NNI special use authorization). Also, of the acres being added to Summit’s SUP, approximately 12 acres in the lower section (immediately east of the West Leg Road) will be included, which might be appropriate for future access enhancement or parking lot development, however, potential future activities are not included in this decision. This decision will not include any ground disturbance or vegetation removal, and is consistent with management direction provided for the A11 Winter Recreation Area within the 1990 Mt. Hood National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan), as amended. The analysis for this project is documented in a project file maintained by, and available from the Zigzag Ranger District. RATIONALE This decision is a ministerial exercise that will result in no ground disturbance. NNI proposed this project to establish the concept of connectivity between the Summit and Timberline ski areas, for which stakeholders expressed broad support during the MDP writing process and on which the vision of that MDP is based. Without the assurance that ski area operations within the SUP extension are permitted, NNI cannot ascertain whether the projects contained within the Summit MDP are feasible. As such, my 1 On December 19, 2019, this was shared by Jon Tullis, Timberline Director of Public Affairs, in an email to stakeholders announcing their submission of application to extend the Summit SUP boundary. Summit Ski Area Special Use Permit Boundary Extension Project | Decision Memo 2 Decision Memo decision simply enables NNI to rationally conduct further planning, design, and stakeholder involvement on its MDP projects for potential future consideration. It is important to note that any MDP projects subsequently proposed by NNI would require site-specific environmental review under NEPA prior to implementation. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION Decisions may be categorically excluded from documentation in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or Environmental Assessment (EA) when they are within one of the categories identified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 7 CFR § 1b.3 or the proposed action is within a category listed in 36 CFR §§ 220.6 (d) and (e), and there are no effects to extraordinary circumstances that would result in a degree of uncertainty of impacts. I have determined that this project is consistent with the category 36 CFR § 220.6(d)(7), “Sale or exchange of land or interest in land and resources where resulting land uses remain essentially the same.” The Interdisciplinary Team completed an effects analysis by reviewing the relevant resource conditions to determine whether extraordinary circumstances related to the project warrant further analysis (Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Chapter 30, Section 31.2) in an EA or EIS. Due to the fact that no ground disturbance or changes to the existing use of the area were proposed, the effects analysis found that the project would result in no effect to any of the relevant resource conditions. Table 1 provides a discussion of each resource condition and corresponding effects analysis. Table 1. Resource Conditions and Effects Analysis Resource Condition Effects Analysis Municipal watershed: Approximately 134 acres of the The SUP extension will not impact the Government Camp 582-acre Government Camp drinking water source area drinking water source area, as access to the portion of the drinking are within the SUP extension area. This groundwater water source area within the SUP extension area will not change. public water system is a community water system with Furthermore, no ground-disturbing activities of any kind are 494 local water connections. associated with the project; therefore, no impacts to the municipal watershed will occur with implementation of this decision. Wetlands: Within the SUP extension area, there are Two of these are Freshwater Forested/Shrub Wetlands that are three wetlands identified in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife identified as seasonally-saturated Category B and are 2.2 acres Service National Wetlands Inventory. and 0.6 acre in size, respectively. The third is a Forest/Shrub Wetland that is identified as seasonally-saturated Category C and is 0.3 acre in size.2 The SUP extension will not impact any of the three wetlands existing in the project area because no ground- disturbing activities of any kind are associated with the project. 2 The seasonal saturation categories refer to the specific nature of the water regime of the wetland in question. Category B means the substrate within the wetland is saturated at or near the surface for extended periods during the growing season, but unsaturated by the end of the growing season in most years; surface water is typically absent, but may be present for a few days after heavy rain and upland runoff. Category C means surface water is present for extended periods, especially early in the growing season, but is absent by the end of the growing season in most years; the water table after flooding ceases is widely variable, ranging from saturated at the surface to well below the ground surface. Summit Ski Area Special Use Permit Boundary Extension Project | Decision Memo 3 Decision Memo Table 1. Resource Conditions and Effects Analysis (cont.) Resource Condition Effects Analysis Designated critical habitat for Steelhead (listed as The decision will alter land use management of the SUP extension threatened under the Endangered Species Act area; however, no ground-disturbing activities are associated with [ESA]): Within the SUP extension area there is the project, meaning that no changes to vegetative cover, the designated critical habitat for Lower Columbia River drainage network or water quality will occur. The project may Winter Steelhead. impact, but is not likely to adversely affect ESA-listed critical habitat or species. Wolverine (proposed as threatened under the ESA): In general, wolverines are found exclusively in areas that have not Wolverines are usually found at high elevations, greater been developed, extensively modified or accessed by humans, than 4,000 feet, and the species has been previously such as wilderness areas.