U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ] DES 73-78 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT PROPOSED HART MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS AREA, OREGON PREPARED BY BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WASHINGTON, D. C. ACTING Chief, Office of Environmental Quality SUMMARY (X) Draft ( ) Final Environmental Statement Department of the Interior, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 1. TYPE OF ACTION: Legislative. 2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION INDICATING WHAT STATES AND COUNTIES PARTICULARLY AFFECTED: This proposal recommends that approximately 16,462 acres, known as Poker Jim Ridge, entirely within the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in Lake County, Oregon, be designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System and that another 42,829 acres within this same study area be added to wilderness when acquisition of non-Federal lands within the suggested boundaries is comp1etedT~~"~ 3. SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: No immediate or long-range environmental change would occur on or off the refuge as a result of the proposed action.~ 4. ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: (a) No action; (b) designate a wilderness area with boundaries other than those established in the proposal. 5. FEDERAL AGENCIES FROM WHICH COMMENTS HAVE BEEN REQUESTED: Department of Defense Department of Commerce Department of Transportation Department of Agriculture Department of the Interior Bureau of Outdoor Recreation National Park Service U.S. Geological Survey Bureau of Mines Bureau of Land Management Oregon State Clearinghouse Klamath Lake Planning and Coordinating Council 6. DATE DRAFT STATlMENfnM!4DE0MltM¥:PfiOVl:!)rjiftlL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC SENT TO FEDERAL REGISTER: December 10, 1973 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Map, Milderness --- — .--------_---____ j Map,Location --- — _________________ a I. Description of the Proposed Action ------------ i II. Description of the Environment ___ — __ 4 III. Environmental Impact of Proposed Action --- ___ 15 IV. Mitigating Measures in Proposed Action ---------- 19 V. Unavoidable Adverse Impacts -- — ______ — _. — 20 VI. Relationship Between Short-Term Uses and Long-Term Productivity 20 VII. Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitment of Resources which would be involved in the Proposed Action should it be Implemented ----- — - — __- — — _ _ 21 VIII. Alternatives to the Proposed Action - — -- — ----- 21 IX. Consultation and Coordination with Others ---- — 24 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT PROPOSED HART MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS AREA, OREGON I. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ACTION The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, U. S. Department of the Interior, proposes that a portion of the 276,513-acre Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge be designated as wilderness within the National Wilderness Preservation System. The proposal includes approximately 16,462 acres of high desert terrain, known as Poker Jim Ridge, located in Lake County, Oregon. The Wilderness Act directed the Secretary of the Interior to review every roadless area of 5,000 acres or more and every roadless island within the National Wildlife Refuge System and report to the President his recommendations as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each such area for designation as wilderness. In fulfilling this responsibility, a thorough and comprehensive study has been made of the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. The Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge has undergone considerable review relative to determining its suitability or nonsuitability for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Having met the basic criteria of the Act, a field study was completed and a study report submitted, followed by other procedural steps which terminated with a public hearing at Lakeview, Oregon, on April 12, 1967. 1 A wilderness proposal, modified slightly as a result of the public hearings, was introduced in Congress as part of Senate Bill 3014 in October 1969. This proposal called for a wilderness of approximately 47,000 acres in two units--the Fort Warner Unit and the Poker Jim Ridge Unit. Further action on S. 3014 was postoned by the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs in December of that year, pending a review and re-evaluations of the proposal by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. As a result of further field study and additional information from individuals and organizations, both inside and outside government, the Hart Mountain Wilderness proposal was reconsidered. Results of the study and a revision of the proposal are available in the form of a summary of the study report on file in the Bureau's Regional Office, P.O. Box 3737, Portland, Oregon 97208. The Fort Warner Unit, while a de facto wilderness, was dropped from the proposal at this time due to extensive private and State inholdings scattered throughout the unit. Also, some minor boundary adjustments were made on the Poker Jim Ridge Unit. The northern boundary of the proposed Poker Jim Wilderness Unit falls along the northern limits of Sections 20, 21 and 30 T33S, R27E, (Williamette Meridian). The entire eastern boundary is formed by a truck trail that parallels Poker Jim Ridge. The southern boundary lies in the bottom of a deep canyon along the road from Warner Valley to the refuge subheadquarters. The western boundary generally follows the refuge boundary, departing from it to exclude small blocks of 2 private lands and a road along the base of the escarpment. Approximately 16,462 acres are included within the proposed wilderness. The southeast corner of the Poker Jim proposal may be reached by con- ventional automobile from the Hart Mountain headquarters road. The road north, along the east boundary of the study area, is very rocky and requires a vehicle with high clearance. This road will remain open to public use. A road along the east side of Warner Valley makes travel by conventional automobile possible along the west boundary of the study area as far north as Bluejoint Lake. The north boundary is accessible to high clearance vehicles by road from the Frenchglen Road. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (P.L. 91-190) requires the preparation of an environmental statement on any proposal for legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Proposals relating to possible wilderness classification of lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System in accordance with the Wilderness Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-577; 78 Stat. 890-896) are believed to qualify under this Act. This state- ment is prepared to fulfill requirements of P.L. 91-190. This statement describes the environmental effects anticipated if the Poker Jim Ridge Unit of Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Maps of the proposal are attached. Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge was established through Executive Order and purchase in 1936. Its primary purpose was to provide a suitable habitat for the preservation of the pronghorn antelope, which at that time were threatened with extinction. Provisions were also made for the protection of other native wildlife, including mule deer and sage grouse. At the time of settlement of this general area, Hart Mountain was also the home of the California bighorn sheep, a species which was rapidly decimated by the turn of the century. In 1954, big- horn sheep were reintroduced through the efforts of the Bureau and the Oregon State Game Commission. Designation of a wilderness area is within and supplemental to the purpose for which a national wildlife refuge is established and administered. If implemented, this proposal will result in Congressional classification of Federally owned lands for the use and enjoyment of the American people in an essentially unimpaired state for present and future use as wilderness. The Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge will continue to be managed by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife consistent with the purposes for which the area was established so as to preserve its wilderness character. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT a. The Study Area - Lake County, in south-central Oregon, borders on California and Nevada. Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is in southeastern Lake County, the northeast corner of the Refuge bordering the Harney County line. Poker Jim Ridge is in the northwestern part of the Hart Mountain Refuge. Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is about 90 miles northeast of Hart Mountain, and the Sheldon National Antelope Refuge is about 35 airline miles south of the southern boundary of 4 Hart Mountain Refuge. The refuge is administered from a headquarters in Lakeview, Oregon, about 60 miles southwest of Hart Mountain. A subheadquarters is located on the refuge. Exterior boundaries of the refuge enclose an area of about 276,000 acres, including some 35,000 acres of State, county, and privately owned land, leaving approximately 241,000 acres of refuge land. No distinction is made on non-Federally owned inholdings with respect to their management--most are unfenced and they are treated the same as the surrounding public lands. The refuge extends from Warner Valley eastward, for a distance of about 18 miles and includes all of Hart Mountain as well as a considerable area of high desert favored by antelope as summer range. This part of Oregon has a comparatively short history of settlement, although its record of occupation by aborigines goes back to some of the earliest dates found in North America. Excavations in caves in the Fort Rock area of northern Lake County have uncovered materials used by Indians which, by radioactive carbon tests, have an age of around 9,000 years. Numerous artifacts and petroglyphs found over the Hart Mountain Refuge, including the proposed wilderness area, and adjacent areas attest to the presence of Indians of various tribes over a long period of time. No excavations have occurred on the refuge, but surface finds of projectile points, chips and rock etchings are common. Archaeological investigations in adjacent areas have been conducted most recently by Harvard University in cooperation with the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, Nevada.