Environmental Assessment Cabin Creek Road 70207 Realignment and Reconstruction Table of Contents
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United States Department of Environmental Agriculture Forest Assessment Service May 2012 Cabin Creek Road 207 Realignment and Reconstruction Sawtooth National Recreation Area Sawtooth National Forest Blaine County, Idaho T 7 N, R 14 E, Section 17 and 20, B.M. Cabin Creek Road 207, May, 2007 For Information Contact: Mark Moulton Sawtooth National Recreation Area 5 North Fork Canyon Road Ketchum, ID 83340 (208) 727-5000 http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sawtooth USDA FOREST SERVICE MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. 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Environmental Assessment Cabin Creek Road 70207 Realignment and Reconstruction Table of Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms ...................................................................................... ii CHAPTER 1 – Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Background ................................................................................................................ 1 Purpose and Need for Action ..................................................................................... 2 Proposed Action ......................................................................................................... 4 Decision Framework ................................................................................................... 4 Management Framework ............................................................................................ 4 Public Involvement ..................................................................................................... 5 Issues ......................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 – Alternatives .............................................................................................. 6 Actions Common to All Alternatives ............................................................................ 6 Alternative 1 – No Action ............................................................................................ 7 Elements Common to Action Alternatives ................................................................... 7 Alternative 2: New Road – Proposed Action ............................................................... 8 Alternative 3: No New Road ..................................................................................... 13 Construction, Planning, Design, and Monitoring Features ........................................ 13 Alternatives Eliminated from Detailed Study .............................................................. 16 Implementation ......................................................................................................... 16 Comparison of Alternatives ...................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 3 – Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences ............. 19 Overview of Affected Area ........................................................................................ 19 Issue: Stream/Fisheries ............................................................................................ 19 Issue: Road Use ....................................................................................................... 32 Issue: Visitor Experience (Recreation) ...................................................................... 35 Issue: Unauthorized Routes ..................................................................................... 50 Other Resources ...................................................................................................... 54 Consultation and Coordination ................................................................................. 70 References .................................................................................................................. 71 Appendix A – Response to Review EA Comments ................................................ A-1 Appendix B – Substantive Changes Between Review Version And Final ............ B-1 Abbreviations and Acronyms ESA Endangered Species Act NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NFS National Forest System NFSR National Forest System Road NRA National Recreation Area MIS Management Indicator Species MPC Management Prescription Category PL Public Law RCA Riparian Conservation Area ROS Recreation Opportunity Spectrum SOPA Schedule of Proposed Actions TEPC Threatened, Endangered, Protected and Candidate (species) TES Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive (species) ii Environmental Assessment Cabin Creek Road 70207 Realignment and Reconstruction [Blank Page] iii Environmental Assessment Cabin Creek Road 70207 Realignment and Reconstruction CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION The Sawtooth National Recreation Area proposes to realign a ¾ mile segment of the Cabin Creek Road 70207 (Road 207) from a lengthy crossing of the extensive wetland associated with lower Cabin Creek, north and west of Alturas and Perkins Lakes. The new route would align entirely within dry uplands except at a single crossing of Alturas Lake Creek over a new bridge. We are also considering an alternative to the proposed action that would close and remove this same segment of Road 207 that passes through the wetland, but construct no realignment. Instead, continued access to the current destinations served would rely on the existing connection with Highway 75 at the opposite end of Road 207 (Figure 2). We have prepared this Environmental Assessment in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other relevant Federal and State laws and regulations. This Environmental Assessment discloses the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts that would result from the proposed action, as well as from the alternative to the proposed action. Additional documentation, including more detailed analyses of project-area resources, may be found in the project file located at the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Ketchum, Idaho. Background _____________________________________ The extensive wetland complex north and west of Alturas and Perkins Lakes is fed primarily by Cabin Creek, and is situated on its low, wide, alluvial fan. Road 207 was constructed in the late 1950s and passes through ½ mile of this wetland, climbing nearly parallel with the drainage slope of the alluvial fan (Figure 3). Meanwhile Cabin Creek, in this highly complex alluvial fan/wetland setting, spreads in several channels and side-channels and attempts to cross Road 207 in multiple locations. However, the roads position on the topography forces a large portion of water (particularly at high flows) to run parallel to the road against the fill slopes until it reaches a cross culvert or overtops the road (cover photo). This causes routine, chronic, and extensive scour to the roadway and sedimentation to Cabin Creek and Alturas Lake. In addition, the culverts serving this condition are undersized, both individually and collectively, to handle the typical snowmelt, and all have been identified as possible barriers to fish passage. Both Cabin Creek and Alturas Lake are designated critical habitat for fish currently protected under the Endangered Species Act. The need for major repairs (and investment) to this segment of road has also been routine (most recently in 2008), but the fundamental challenges with this complex condition persist with little improvement. Annually, both during and after the snowmelt period, the road and water situation can present intimidating hazards for road users (Photo 2). In some seasons the conditions have deteriorated to a point that closure of the route has been required for a period. There are also other closely related situations in the area, including additional authorized and unauthorized roads (Figure 3), and a non-motorized winter recreation area (Figure 5). 1 Environmental Assessment Cabin Creek Road 70207 Realignment and Reconstruction Figure 1: Location Map Figure 2: Vicinity Map Purpose and Need for Action _______________________ The purpose of the proposed Cabin Creek Road 70207 Realignment and Reconstruction project is to address the unsustainable and damaging location of the existing road alignment where it passes through the broad wetland habitats north and west of Alturas and Perkins Lakes (Photo 3). There is a need to address these chronic resource and infrastructure impacts while providing continued safe access to the destinations served by the route. This need