Environmental Assessment Waldo Lake Recreation Use
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Environmental United States Assessment Department of Agriculture Waldo Lake – Managing Recreation Use Middle Fork Ranger District, Forest Willamette National Forest Service Lane County, Oregon December 2006 Responsible Dallas Emch, Forest Supervisor Official: Willamette National Forest 211 E. 7th Ave., P.O. Box 10607 Eugene, OR 97440 (541) 465-6521 For Information Chip Weber, District Ranger Contact: Middle Fork Ranger District 46375 Highway 58 Westfir, OR 97492 (541) 782-2283 http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette/manage/waldolake/index.html Environmental Assessment Waldo Lake Recreation Use Table of Contents Page No. Summary of Proposal .....................................................................................................1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................6 Background ..................................................................................................................6 Purpose and Need for Action .......................................................................................7 Proposed Action .........................................................................................................10 Decisions to be Made .................................................................................................11 Public Involvement .....................................................................................................11 Issues .........................................................................................................................13 Alternatives, including the Proposed Action ..................................................................18 Alternatives Considered but Not Analyzed in Detail....................................................21 Summary Table of Alternatives ...................................................................................23 Comparison Table of Environmental Effects by Alternative .......................................24 Environmental Consequences ....................................................................................25 Significant Issues .......................................................................................................28 Other Issues ...............................................................................................................47 Issues Required by Regulation ...................................................................................50 Proposed Action Monitoring .......................................................................................52 Consistency with Direction and Regulations ..............................................................52 Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitments of Resources .........................................53 Significance of Proposed Amendments to the Forest Plan ........................................53 Consultation and Coordination....................................................................................55 EA References...............................................................................................................56 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.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Environmental Assessment Waldo Lake Recreation Use Summary of Proposal The Willamette National Forest (hereafter referred to as the Forest) proposes to prohibit internal combustion boat motors and floatplanes on Waldo Lake, and to prohibit public use of chainsaws and generators within the Dispersed Recreation, Semiprimitive Nonmotorized management area (MA 10e) surrounding Waldo Lake (Figure 2) to provide a more tranquil recreation experience. The Forest is proposing these changes in response to a conflict between motorized activities and the recreation objectives for the Dispersed Recreation, Semiprimitive Nonmotorized management area (MA 10e) surrounding Waldo Lake. These recreation objectives are defined in the Willamette National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, as amended (USDA. 1990b). By imposing these recreation use restrictions, the Forest will be promoting a unique nonmotorized recreation experience on a large lake (over 1000 acres), a recreation opportunity that is not currently available in the Pacific Northwest region. The analysis area is located at Waldo Lake (T21S, R6E; T21S, R6½E; and T22S, R6½E) within the Middle Fork Ranger District, Willamette National Forest, Oregon (Figure 1). The proposed action would be formalized by amending the Forest Plan with a forest-wide (FW) recreation standard and a management area (MA) standard for the Dispersed Recreation, Semiprimitive Nonmotorized Management Area (MA 10e). These new standards to the Forest Plan would be worded in the following way. o FW- 323 Public use of internal combustion (gasoline, diesel, ethanol, etc.) boat motors and floatplanes on the surface of Waldo Lake shall be prohibited. Public use of electric boat motors on Waldo Lake is allowed. Administrative use (including search and rescue, law enforcement, fire suppression, authorized research, or trail maintenance) of internal combustion motors is allowed on Waldo Lake when approved in writing by the Forest Supervisor. o MA-10e-17 Public use of internal combustion devices (such as chainsaws and generators) on lands immediately surrounding Waldo Lake shall be prohibited. Administrative use (including search and rescue, law enforcement, fire suppression, authorized research, or trail maintenance) of such devices may be allowed when approved in writing by the Forest Supervisor. This Forest Plan amendment would change existing public activities on and around Waldo Lake by: • Restricting boat motor use on Waldo Lake to electric motors only, with exceptions for the administrative use of internal combustion motors when approved by the Forest Supervisor on a case-by-case basis. • Prohibiting floatplanes from using the surface of Waldo Lake. • Prohibiting public use of generators and chainsaws within the Dispersed Recreation, Semiprimitive Nonmotorized management area (MA-10e) adjacent to Waldo Lake. 1 Environmental Assessment Waldo Lake Recreation Use Figure 1: Proposed action Location 2 Environmental Assessment Waldo Lake Recreation Use W 06 05 04 03 i l N la F Figure 2: Management Areas Around Waldo Lake m Round Lake e M Upper Rigdon Lake tt F e 02 Upper Eddeeleo Lake01 R iv e r 10 07 08 09 6 1 5 5 1 1 515 12 5 11 8 9 5 8 1 6 North Waldo CG Lake Chetlo 18 17 16 510 15 Islet CG Elbow Lake 14 13 19 20 21 22 WaWlaldo Laoke Lake 23 24 T21SR55E T21SR06E Green Lake 30 29 28 27 7 Rhododendren Island 9 26 25 8 5 2 1 0 31 32 33 34 011 35 36 010 5 0 4 Shadow Lake 7 9 8 5 545 Shadow Bay CG Legend 06 05 04 03 Project Boundary 58 Bongo Lake 9 M a n a6g e m e n tt A ll ll o c a tt ii o n 02 01 1 Wilderness Bingo Lake Tiny Lake 1-6E NFk MFk Wild & Scenic River Horsefly Lake 10C Disp Rec/Motorized Howkum Lake 10E Disp Rec/Nonmotorized 07 08 12A Dev0 9Rec/FS Site 10 11 12 ± 4 Research Natural Area T22SR55E T22SR06E Betty Lake Request #4561010815/44610840 WA Major Water Bodies Karen Tiller 3/06 3 Environmental Assessment Waldo Lake Recreation Use The proposed standard MA-10e-17 would apply only to Dispersed Recreation, Semiprimitive Nonmotorized lands located between the Waldo lake shoreline and the Waldo Wilderness boundary or the Waldo Lake trail #3590 for the eastern shoreline. Forest lands affected by this new standard are outlined by the proposed action boundary line in Figure 2. This amendment would not change public use of internal combustion motors within management areas surrounding the three developed campgrounds (MA 12a) and their access roads (MA 10c) on the east side of Waldo Lake. Evaluated alternatives to the proposed action (Alternative 4) include: Alternative 1: No new restrictions on motorized uses on or around Waldo Lake. Alternative 2: Restrict boat motor use on Waldo Lake to four-cycle internal combustion and electric motor options, and ! retain floatplane access to the surface of Waldo Lake, and ! retain public use of generators and chainsaws within the Dispersed Recreation, Semiprimitive Nonmotorized management area (MA-10e) around the lake. Alternative 3: Prohibit use of all internal combustion boat motors on Waldo Lake from mid-July to early September (except for approved administrative uses), and ! restrict boat motor use to four-cycle internal combustion and electric models outside the closure period, ! prohibit floatplanes from using Waldo Lake year-round, and ! prohibit public use of generators and chainsaws within the Dispersed Recreation, Semiprimitive Nonmotorized management area (MA 10e) around the lake during the boat motor