Mt. Ashland Ski Area Expansion
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FINAL SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT United States Department of STATEMENT Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Mt. Ashland Ski Area Region - Pacific Southwest Region Expansion April 2011 Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District Klamath National Forest Happy Camp/Oak Knoll Ranger District Lead Agency: USDA Forest Service Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Responsible Official: Scott D. Conroy Forest Supervisor Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest For Further Information Donna Mickley; District Ranger Contact: Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District, or Steve Johnson; Project Leader Ashland Ranger Station 645 Washington Street Ashland, OR 97520; Phone: (541) 552-2900 The U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discimination in all its programs and activities on the base of race, color, national orgin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, OREGON 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 Rogue River-Siskiyou Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence National Forest Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal oppotunity provider and employer. CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 07 Ashland 15 14 13 18 17 16 §¨¦5 22 23 24 19 20 21 22 23 27 26 25 30 29 28 27 26 25 34 35 36 31 32 33 34 35 36 T.39S. T.40S. Rogue River-Siskiyou 02 01 National Forest 06 05 04 03 02 01 06 11 12 Mt. Ashland Ski07 Area 08 09 10 11 12 07 14 13 18 17 16 15 14 13 18 23 24 19 20 21 22 23 24 19 26 25 Klamath 30 29 28 27 R.1W. R.1E. National 26 25 30 35 36 Forest 31 32 33 34 35 36 31 Printed on recycled paper 02 01 06 Mt. Ashland Ski Area Expansion Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Scott River Ranger District Klamath National Forest Jackson County, Oregon April 2011 Lead Agency: USDA Forest Service Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Responsible Official: Scott D. Conroy Forest Supervisor Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest For Further Information Donna Mickley; District Ranger Contact: Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District, or Steve Johnson; Project Leader Ashland Ranger Station 645 Washington Street Ashland, OR 97520; Phone: (541) 592-2900 Abstract: The Mt. Ashland Ski Area (MASA) is an existing winter sports recreation area located within the Siskiyou Mountains in Southern Oregon on National Forest System Lands, and is operated under special use authorization issued and administered by the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District. A small portion of the ski area is located on the Klamath National Forest. MASA is located about 7 air miles south of the City of Ashland, primarily within the Ashland Creek Watershed. The Mt. Ashland Association currently leases the ski area from the City of Ashland, holder of the Forest Service Special Use Permit for the MASA. According to its bylaws, Mt. Ashland Association operates the ski area for the City of Ashland as “a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Oregon exclusively to provide educational and recreational opportunities in Jackson County, Oregon, to members of the general public”. In September 2004, the Forest Service issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Mt. Ashland Ski Area (MASA) expansion, selecting Alternative 2 with some modifications adopted from Alternative 6. The Forest Service received twenty-eight notices of appeal to the ROD. In December 2004, the Forest Service denied all administrative appeals to the ROD. In January 2005, Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC) filed suit against the Forest Service and Regional Forester Linda Goodman seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on the grounds that the MASA expansion project violated both the NEPA and the NFMA. On February 9, 2007, after considering cross-motions for summary judgment, a United States District Court entered summary judgment against ONRC. ONRC filed a timely notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Upon review, the Ninth Circuit remanded the case to the district court and instructed it to promptly enjoin the MASA expansion project contemplated in the 2004 ROD until the Forest Service corrected the NFMA and NEPA violations found in Oregon Natural Resources Council Fund (ONRC) v. Goodman, 505 F.3d 884 (9th Cir. 2007). The Forest Service has prepared this Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) in response to the September 24, 2007 Opinion of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the Mt. Ashland Ski Area Expansion, in addition to public and agency comments received on the March 2010 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS). The Court of Appeals found that the Forest Service did not violate the Rogue River LRMP and the NFMA by authorizing development facilities in currently undeveloped riparian habitat; nor the NEPA requirement that the 2004 FEIS discuss or analyze all federal, state and local laws, including Oregon state wetland laws and regulations. In addition, the Court of Appeals found that the FEIS adequately disclosed the shortcomings in the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) models used to estimate sediment impacts on the municipal watershed and, therefore, complied with NEPA; and that the Forest Service did not violate the NEPA by using the Equivalent Roaded Area model to analyze the cumulative watershed impact of the MASA expansion. The Court of Appeals found that the Forest Service failed to properly evaluate the impact of the proposed MASA expansion on the Pacific fisher; in violation of both the NEPA and the NFMA and that it violated the NFMA by failing to appropriately designate Riparian Reserves and Restricted Watershed terrain. The purpose and need for this supplement is to analyze and correct specific violations identified by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which will allow a determination on whether and to what extent analysis of supplemental information might alter the decision to allow ski area expansion. This action is needed to address the previous decision and to be responsive to the Court of Appeals Opinion and district court injunction. This Supplemental EIS document is designed to supplement the existing 2004 FEIS document by adding information and analysis to Chapter III (Affected Environment) and Chapter IV (Environmental Consequence) to address matters identified by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In some cases (as noted), it will replace certain sections of these FEIS chapters. This supplemental process allows the latest and most complete information and analysis to include the 2004 FEIS with the 2010 supplemental information and analysis. A 45-day public comment period for the DSEIS for Mt. Ashland Ski Area Expansion formally began on March 27, 2010 with publication of a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register Vol. 75 No. 58 (FR page 14594). The 45-day comment period closed on May 10, 2010. 500 paper copies and 25 compact discs of the full DSEIS were produced. Copies of the full DSEIS were distributed to federal and state agencies, local governments, elected officials, seven federally recognized tribes, media representatives, libraries, organizations, and businesses (See DSEIS, Chapter V, for a listing). The full DSEIS was provided to others upon request. The document was also made available on the Rogue River- Siskiyou National Forest website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue-siskiyou/projects/planning/index.shtml. A total of 845 comments to the DSEIS were received at the close of the Comment Period. Approximately 60 additional comments were received after May 10, 2010. All comments received through September 30, 2010 were reviewed for substantive content and read and coded based on content and intent. The Forest Service accepted written, electronic and oral comments as provided in §215.6. Pursuant to 36 CFR 215.6 (b), (1), an appendix documents the Responsible Official’s consideration of all comments submitted in compliance with paragraph (a) of this section. This Response to Comments document is attached to the FSEIS as Appendix B (incorporated by reference). Substantive comments received generally focused on the transparency of analysis, and the detail and basis of assumptions of analysis. There were some comments that were determined to be: (1) outside the scope of the DSEIS; (2) identified additional changed circumstances that warranted a changed condition assessment (FSH 1909.15 Sec 18); or (3) that were related to implementation of ski area expansion and not analysis under NEPA. The majority of comments received were not considered substantive, as they primarily offered opinions or rationale for their viewpoint. These viewpoints tended to focus on support for or opposition to ski area expansion. FINAL SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT MT. ASHLAND SKI AREA EXPANSION TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION A. CHANGES BETWEEN DRAFT AND FINAL .............................................................................................. I-1 B. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................................... I-1 1. Expansion History under the NEPA .................................................................................................