Environmental Assessment Restore Visitor Access to Fort Pickens Area
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Gulf Islands National Seashore DRAFT Environmental Assessment ___ Restore Visitor Access to Fort Pickens Area, Santa Rosa Island October, 2006 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Draft Environmental Assessment: Restore Visitor Access to Fort Pickens Area, Santa Rosa Island Gulf Islands National Seashore Escambia County, Florida October 2006 Summary The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to restore public access to the Fort Pickens Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) to pre-Hurricane Ivan levels. Access to this portion of the park has been severely limited since the Fort Pickens Road was destroyed in 2004 and 2005 by Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis. The Fort Pickens Road is approximately 7miles long and connects Pensacola Beach with Fort Pickens, a listed National Historic District. It has been closed to vehicular traffic since September 2004. Over 700,000 visitors access Fort Pickens Area each year. The Fort Pickens Area is about 1740 acres in area. This environmental assessment analyzes potential impacts to the human environment resulting from five alternative courses of action. These alternatives are: Alternative A (No action); Alternative B (Provide Access via Alternative Transportation (i.e., a passenger ferry); Alternative C (Reconstruct Fort Pickens Road with Protective Sand Berms); Alternative D (Reconstruct Fort Pickens Road with a Mix of Protective Elements), and Alternative E (Reconstruct Fort Pickens Road in Conjunction with Beach Renourishment and Dune Enhancement). Alternative A is the environmentally preferred alternative. Alternative D is the NPS preferred alternative. The impacts from alternatives B, C, D, and E range from negligible to moderate. Alternatives B, C, D, and E would not impair park resources or values. Note to Reviewers and Respondents Our practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses, home phone numbers, and email addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider withholding this information you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments. In addition, you must present a rationale for withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be released. We will always make submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives of or officials of organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety. COMMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY December 2, 2006. The public is requested to submit written comments to the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) web page (http://parkplanning.nps.gov). Those without computer access may address written comments to: Superintendent, Gulf Islands National Seashore 1801 Gulf Breeze Parkway Gulf Breeze, FL 32563-5000 1.0 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION 2 1.1 Purpose of the Proposed Action The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to restore full access to the Fort Pickens Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) and repair associated visitor-use facilities and infrastructure. The purpose of the proposed action is to meet the NPS obligation under the Organic Act (16 USC § 1 et. seq.) to provide opportunities for visitor use and enjoyment of the national parks while protecting park resources unimpaired for future generations. The action is also intended to fulfill the Seashore’s enabling legislation, which directs NPS to preserve for public use and enjoyment certain areas possessing outstanding natural, historic and recreational values (Public Law 91-660 (1971)) and to preserve Fort Pickens for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States (16 USC § 461). 1.2 Need for the Proposed Action The proposed action has been made necessary due to the destruction of large portions of the Fort Pickens Road by Hurricane Ivan and subsequent storms. The Fort Pickens Road is a segment of National Park Service-owned and -maintained road on Santa Rosa Island, Escambia County, Florida. The road extends approximately 7 miles between Pensacola Beach and Fort Pickens. This road has been in place for over 50 years under state, and then federal, ownership. During that time the natural processes and dynamics of the barrier island have proceeded, although the location of the road did impact the process of dune migration and development. Sand moved, vegetation and wildlife flourished, wetlands appeared and disappeared with relatively little effect from the road. The eastern four miles of the road were destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, and damaged by subsequent tropical events in 2005. The road has been closed to the vehicular traffic since that time. Prior to Hurricane Ivan, the Fort Pickens Road ran through a primary dune field along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. In the past, this road had received frequent damage from storms and hurricanes because of its proximity to the Gulf. Serious erosion, the result of storm overwash, was common. NPS had considered relocating the road after each damaging episode; however, because of funding constraints and the relatively moderate extent of damage, the relocation alternative was not implemented. But with the severe damage inflicted by Hurricane Ivan, NPS was prompted to once more consider altering the road’s alignment. In January 2005, the NPS Southeast Regional Director approved reconstruction of Fort Pickens Road along an alignment away from the shore and much closer to Santa Rosa Sound. Reconstruction began in February 2005 along the approved alignment, with a projected opening of June 2005. Unfortunately, within five days of the re-opening of the road, Tropical Storm Arlene made landfall and damaged portions of the newly constructed road. Necessary repairs were underway when Hurricanes Cindy and Dennis subsequently struck the Florida Panhandle in July 2005 destroying portions of the work that had been completed up to that time and resulting in the cessation of all construction activities (approximately 70% of the post-Ivan reconstruction/repair work survived). Storm surges that crossed the island scoured two breaches initially caused by 3 Hurricane Ivan in 2004. As a result, the island has formed two transient free flowing shallow water courses during storm events. However, current indications are natural processes are beginning to fill and close these breaches. The largest breach area remains wet year round and provides mudflat/sandflat habitat. The second area is predominantly dry for much of the year but continues to experience overwash even during relatively minor storms. Over time, these areas will fill by natural processes of surf, tidal build up of sand, and aeolian transport. With the destruction of the Fort Pickens Road, land access to Fort Pickens and associated recreational areas has been severely curtailed for over two years. The need exists to restore full access to this area since GUIS is the most visited of all the national seashores and in the top ten most-visited units in the National Park system. 1.3 Project Location The project is located on Santa Rosa Island, Escambia County, Florida (see Figure 1). The alternatives for restoring public access are described in Section Two below. The road route proposed in alternatives C, D, and E (it is the same route in each alternative) is illustrated in figures 2A and 2B. Figure 1 1.4 Laws, Policies and Authorities 4 The authority and limits for considering and implementing the proposed action are found in congressional legislation, regulations and policies that provide guidelines for all federal agencies and /or for administering units of the National Park System. These laws, policies and authorities are extensive and a summary of the federal, NPS, and GUIS regulations, policies, and guidelines that provide the authority and basis for allowing the proposed action are found in Appendix A. 1.5 Related Plans and Environmental Documents NPS Management Policies 2006 provides that actions taken that may affect parklands be supported by appropriate documentation of compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and other laws. This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared as part of compliance with NEPA. The EA is not tiered from any other environmental document. In 2003, GUIS began a five year planning process to develop a revised General Management Plan. This General Management Plan will follow its own NEPA and NHPA process. This EA follows upon and is related to an earlier document entitled Final Environmental Assessment for Relocation of Roads on Santa Rosa Island, December 2004. The administrative record of the earlier effort to repair the Fort Pickens Road may be found in the files of GUIS. 1.6 Mission, Purpose, and Significance of Gulf Islands National Seashore Mission. GUIS preserves for public use and enjoyment certain outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational resources along the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida and Mississippi. These include several coastal defense forts spanning more than two centuries of military activity, archeological values, pristine examples of intact Mississippi coastal barrier islands, salt marshes,