Redfish Lake Complex Road and Bridge Reconstruction Environmental Assessment Sawtooth National Recreation Area
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United States Environmental Department of Agriculture Assessment Forest Service Redfish Lake Complex Road and Bridge October 2011 Reconstruction Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Sawtooth National Forest Custer County, Idaho For Information Contact: Brenda Geesey 2647 Kimberly Road East Twin Falls, ID 83301 208-737-3200 http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sawtooth Cover Photo: 1930’s Civilian Conservation Corp road construction of Redfish Lake Road The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 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Redfish Lake Complex Road and Bridge Reconstruction Environmental Assessment Sawtooth National Recreation Area Table of Contents Chapter One PROPOSED ACTION ................................................................................ 1 Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 Purpose and Need for Action .................................................................................................. 3 Proposed Action ..................................................................................................................... 4 Decision Framework .............................................................................................................. 4 Management Framework ........................................................................................................ 5 Public Involvement ................................................................................................................ 5 Tribal Involvement ................................................................................................................. 6 Issues ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter Two ALTERNATIVES ....................................................................................... 8 Alternative 1: No Action ........................................................................................................ 8 Alternative 2: Proposed Action ............................................................................................... 8 Alternative 3: Replace Two Bridges in Place .........................................................................10 Actions Common to Alternatives 1, 2, and 3 ..........................................................................12 Actions Common to Alternatives 2 and 3 ...............................................................................12 Mitigation Measures for Alternatives 2 and 3 ........................................................................14 Implementation .....................................................................................................................16 Comparison of Alternatives ...................................................................................................16 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Detailed Analysis ............................................17 Chapter Three AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT and ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES ....................................................................................................... 19 Overview of Affected Area ...................................................................................................19 Bridges, Roads, and Safety ....................................................................................................19 Key Issues .............................................................................................................................21 Other Resource Effects ..........................................................................................................49 Recreation Resources ............................................................................................ 49 Wild and Scenic Rivers ......................................................................................... 53 Botanical Resources .............................................................................................. 54 Visual Resources ................................................................................................... 58 Cultural Resources ................................................................................................ 64 Utilities ................................................................................................................. 64 Costs ..................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter Four CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION .............................................. 67 Interdisciplinary Team Members: .......................................................................... 67 Federal, State, and Local Agencies: ....................................................................... 67 Others: .................................................................................................................. 67 Chapter Five REFERENCES......................................................................................... 68 i Redfish Lake Complex Road and Bridge Reconstruction Environmental Assessment Sawtooth National Recreation Area List of Figures Figure 1-1: Project Vicinity Map .................................................................................... 2 Figure 2-1: Alternative 2 ................................................................................................ 9 Figure 2-2: Alternative 3 .............................................................................................. 11 Figure 2-3: North Shore Improvements ........................................................................ 13 Figure 3-1: Action Area for Aquatic, Fish, and Wetland Habitat................................... 26 Figure 3-2: VQO Update Map ...................................................................................... 61 List of Tables Table 2-1. Implementation Schedule ............................................................................ 16 Table 2-2. Comparison of Alternatives ......................................................................... 16 Table 3-1. Comparative ranking of Alternatives with respect to Water and Fish resources .............................................................................................................................. 33 Table 3-2. Acres of travel surfaces, including their footprints (cuts and fills), within RCAs of the action area ......................................................................................... 33 Table 3-3. Distances (miles) / travel time (minutes)* between points of interest in the Redfish Lake Complex .......................................................................................... 41 Table 3-4. Economic Indicators ..................................................................................... 45 Table 3-5. Estimated Costs for Each Alternative ........................................................... 66 ii Redfish Lake Complex Road and Bridge Reconstruction Environmental Assessment Sawtooth National Recreation Area Summary The Sawtooth National Forest proposes to improve bridges, roads, trails, parking areas, and utilities in the Redfish Lake Complex. The Redfish Lake Recreation Complex is located about 6 miles south of Stanley, Idaho. The Complex is located in Townships 9 and 10 North, Range 13 East, Boise Meridian within Custer County, Idaho and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The Proposed Action would relocate the primary access road to the east side of Redfish Lake Creek, build a new bridge crossing, and build a new road to access the east side of Redfish Lake. Connected actions, such as moving the underground utilities to the new alignment, constructing an overlook, reconfiguring one bridge as a pedestrian/bicycle bridge, as well as the trails and parking within the North Shore area, and improving signage, are included as part of the Proposed Action. In addition to the Proposed Action, the Forest Service also evaluated an alternative that replaced the two bridges in place, as well as a No Action Alternative. This environmental assessment (EA) presents an analysis of the environmental effects of the alternatives and addresses comments and concerns expressed during the comment period. iii Redfish Lake Complex Road and Bridge Reconstruction Environmental Assessment Sawtooth National Recreation Area iv Redfish Lake Complex Road and Bridge Reconstruction Environmental Assessment Sawtooth National Recreation Area Chapter One PROPOSED ACTION Background _____________________________________ Redfish Lake is named