Transportation Report
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Giant Sequoia National Monument Specialist Report Signature: __________________________________________ Date: _______________________________________________ The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (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 USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Contents TRANSPORTATION REPORT INTRODUCTION 2 CURRENT MANAGEMENT DIRECTION 3 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSAL 3 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 6 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 15 Legal and Regulatory Compliance 15 Analysis Assumptions and Methodology 25 Direct Effects 33 Indirect Effects 33 Cumulative Effects 40 LITERATURE CITED AND REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES APPENDIX A 47 APPENDIX B 106 APPENDIX C 122 APPENDIX D 124 Transportation Report GSNM Specialist Report Transportation Report Introduction The presidential proclamation (Clinton 2000) establishing the Giant Sequoia National Monument (Monument) required preparation of a management plan. The required plan will amend the existing 1988 Sequoia National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (1988 Forest Plan), as amended by the 1991 Kings River Wild and Scenic River and Special Management Area Implementation Plan and the 2001 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (2001 SNFPA). The proclamation (Clinton 2000) focused on certain resources and uses in establishing the monument, so that the proposed plan amendment will also focus on those areas in implementing the proclamation (Clinton 2000). The Monument management plan may also incorporate the management direction provided by the 1990 Sequoia National Forest Land Management Plan Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA) and the 2004 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (2004 SNFPA SEIS), as applicable, and to the extent that direction is consistent with the proclamation (Clinton 2000). Although the Monument plan environmental impact statement (EIS) must consider these sources of direction, the plan is not constrained by the requirements prescribed in these documents. The plan will be informed by the best available science and will be based on a thorough review of relevant scientific information and practical experience, per the proclamation (Clinton 2000) and planning direction, resulting in a plan which could be substantially different from current management direction. The Monument management plan will describe a long-term vision and the strategic management direction to guide management activities that move resources toward the desired conditions. This Monument plan will define the parameters (limits) for management activities and may offer the flexibility to adapt project level decisions to accommodate rapidly changing social and resource conditions. The purpose and need of this management plan is to establish management direction for the land and resources within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, in order to protect the objects of interest, while providing key resources and opportunities for public use within the Monument. The objects of interest were generally identified in the proclamation (Clinton 2000), with the requirement that the management plan would provide direction for their proper care. Although many valuable objects of interest are identified, the proclamation (Clinton 2000) was also clear that the major purpose of the Monument is to protect and maintain the giant sequoia groves and the rare giants within their unique and natural habitat. Through public and agency dialogue, the objects of interest have been determined to be a mix of specific individuals/locations (e.g., specific caverns or named sequoias) and broad ecosystem processes (such as what occurs with sequoia groves and associated watersheds). The proclamation (Clinton 2000) states that the Monument plan will provide for and encourage continued public and recreational access and use consistent with the purposes of the Monument. The proclamation (Clinton 2000) also states that the Monument plan will establish a transportation plan that provides for visitor enjoyment and understanding about the scientific and historical objects consistent with their protection (65 FR 24098). The transportation system would be managed for public use, related to recreation, special use authorizations, and private land access. In addition, it would emphasize developing access points in coordination with gateway communities and other agencies to provide clear and welcoming entry into the Monument. The transportation system would also focus greater emphasis on providing access to the objects of interest and opportunities for traveling on loop roads and trails. In accordance with the proclamation (Clinton 2000), motorized vehicles, including over-snow vehicles, would be restricted to designated roads and non-motorized mechanized vehicles (mountain bikes) would be restricted to designated roads and trails. GSNM Specialist Report Transportation Report 2 Transportation Report Current Management Direction Transportation System The existing management direction in the 1988 Forest Plan and the Travel Management Rule provides for a road system that is commensurate with the level of management activities occurring in the Monument, providing appropriate access to the objects of interest for their proper care, protection, and management. Public use, related to recreation, special use authorizations, and private land access, is an important, but secondary need and does not conflict with the proper care, protection, and management of the objects of interest. Current management direction requires that the road and trail system be sized and maintained to limit impacts to aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Trails and Motorized Recreation The 1988 Forest Plan, the Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA), the 2001 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (SNFPA), and the presidential proclamation (Clinton 2000) were compared, in order to determine what current direction is for trails and motorized recreation. (See Appendix A in the draft environmental impact statement [DEIS].) The presidential proclamation (Clinton 2000) altered a portion of the forest plan direction by limiting motorized vehicles to designated roads and non-motorized mechanized vehicles (mountain bikes) to designated roads and trails. Some of the forest plan direction pertains to specific management area prescriptions. Most of the management area prescriptions have a statement regarding maintenance and development of trails to protect resource values. The MSA directs wording changes to specific statements in some of the management area prescriptions. Most of these changes relate to off-highway vehicles (OHV), to remove specific reference to OHVs and make the direction more general. Description of Proposal Desired Conditions, Strategies, and Objectives Desired conditions describe a desired future state of a resource or opportunity in the Monument. Desired conditions are aspirations and not commitments or final decisions approving projects and activities, and may be achievable only over a long period of time. Management strategies describe the general approach that the responsible official would use to achieve the desired conditions. Strategies establish priorities in management effort and convey a sense of focus for objectives. Objectives are concise projections of measurable, time-specific intended outcomes that are consistent with the identified strategies and provide a means of measuring progress toward achieving or maintaining desired conditions. Transportation Report GSNM Specialist Report 3 Transportation Report Transportation Desired Condition Safe and fully-maintained roads and trails that minimize adverse resource impacts provide public and administrative access to National Forest System lands and facilities within the Monument. Appropriate access is provided to the objects of interest for their proper care, protection, and management. Strategies Size and maintain the road and trail system to limit impacts on resources and promote aquatic organism passage where needed. Convert to trails or decommission roads not needed to meet management objectives so that natural drainage patterns are restored and natural vegetation will grow back over time. Maintain roads with effective road drainage and erosion controls to conserve existing soil and reduce effects to adjacent riparian and aquatic systems. Complete 6th-field watershed analyses and review the transportation system in the Monument to determine the future status of roads, including changes in status, decommissioning, or convertion to trails. Consult with local tribal governments and Native Americans to provide transportation and access needs, including culturally important sites and resources for use by Native Americans. Coordinate transportation planning, management, and road decommissioning with Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks; other federal, state, and county agencies; and the Tule River Indian Tribe, to reduce traffic congestion