Rimrock Rose Ranch Acquisition and Taos Resource Management Plan Amendment Addressing Livestock Grazing on Two Allotments in Sabinoso Wilderness Environmental Assessment DOI-BLM-NM-F020-2016-0011-EA Taos Field Office 226 Cruz Alta Road Taos, New Mexico 87571 Rimrock Rose Ranch Acquisition and Taos Resource Management Plan Amendment Addressing Livestock Grazing on Two Allotments in Sabinoso Wilderness Environmental Assessment DOI-BLM-NM-F020-2016-0011-EA Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Purpose and Need for Action ........................................................................................... 4 1.3 Land Use Plan Conformance............................................................................................ 4 1.4 Decisions to be Made ....................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Applicable Authorities ..................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Identification of Issues ..................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Issues Considered but Dismissed from Detailed Analysis ............................................... 7 2.0 Description of Alternatives................................................................................................ 8 2.1 Alternative A: Proposed Action ...................................................................................... 8 2.2 Alternative B: No Action ................................................................................................ 9 2.3 Alternative C: Reapportionment of Allotments 735 and 736 (Outside of Wilderness Boundary) ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.4 Alternatives Considered but not Analyzed in Detail ...................................................... 11 3.0 Affected Environment ..................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Sabinoso Wilderness ...................................................................................................... 14 3.2 Sabinoso ACEC.............................................................................................................. 14 3.3 Recreation....................................................................................................................... 15 3.4 Cultural Resources ......................................................................................................... 15 3.5 Paleontological Resources.............................................................................................. 17 3.6 Riparian Resources ......................................................................................................... 18 3.7 Livestock Grazing .......................................................................................................... 20 3.8 Wildlife and Special Status Species ............................................................................... 21 3.9 Economics ...................................................................................................................... 25 4.0 Environmental Consequences ......................................................................................... 26 4.1 Direct and Indirect Effects ............................................................................................. 26 4.1.1 Alternative A: Proposed Action ................................................................................... 26 4.1.2 Alternative B: No Action ............................................................................................. 32 4.1.3 Alternative C: Reapportionment of Allotments 735 and 736 Outside of Wilderness Boundary ............................................................................................................................... 34 4.2 Cumulative Effects Analysis .......................................................................................... 37 4.2.1 Past and Present Actions .............................................................................................. 37 1 4.2.3 Cumulative Effects....................................................................................................... 37 5.0 Consultation and Coordination ...................................................................................... 38 5.1 Summary of Consultation and Coordination .................................................................. 38 5.2 Summary of Public Participation ................................................................................... 38 5.3 List of Preparers ............................................................................................................. 38 6.0 References ......................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix A: BLM Responses to Public Comments.............................................................. 41 Appendix B: Map 1 and Map 2 .............................................................................................. 57 2 ABSTRACT This Environmental Assessment (EA) analyzes an offer to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from The Wilderness Land Trust that has three key elements: 1) a donation of some 3,595 acres of the Rimrock Rose Ranch adjacent to the Sabinoso Wilderness, to become wilderness under the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964, 2) an offer to sell an additional 766 acres of the ranch to the BLM; and 3) the elimination of livestock grazing from the Rimrock Rose Ranch as well as from two allotments for which the ranch served as base property. There are three decisions to be made. The first and second, which are implementation-level decisions (project-level decisions) and do not require the amendment of the current land use plan, are whether to accept the donation and whether to pursue the purchase of the additional acreage. The third decision is whether to adjust the livestock grazing allocations on the two allotments. This decision involves an amendment to the 2012 Taos Resource Management Plan. This EA analyzes the potential consequences of three alternatives evaluated in detail, which include the Proposed Action (Alternative A), which would accept the three key elements described above; a No Action Alternative (Alternative B), which would decline the donation; and a third alternative (Alternative C) developed in response to comments provided to the BLM during the public review and comment period, which would preserve livestock grazing on those portions of the two allotments outside the present wilderness boundary. The EA also includes a discussion of an additional alternative considered but dismissed from detailed analysis. 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The Wilderness Land Trust, a private non-profit organization, has purchased 10 parcels of private land, known as the Rimrock Rose Ranch (ranch property), totaling 4,361 acres adjacent to the Sabinoso Wilderness in San Miguel County, New Mexico. The Wilderness Land Trust is offering to donate 3,595 acres of the ranch property to the United States to be included as part of the Sabinoso Wilderness, administered by the Bureau of Land Management, Taos Field Office (BLM). The donation would provide public access for the first time to Sabinoso Wilderness, an area completely surrounded by private lands. While this proposal would provide an important opportunity to the public, it also poses a unique challenge in terms of resolving issues pertaining to livestock grazing. In summary, under Alternative A, the BLM proposes to accept the donation of 3,595 acres for addition to the wilderness under the authority of Section 6 of the Wilderness Act of 1964 (PL 88-577, 16 U.S.C. 1131-1136). The BLM also proposes to acquire the remaining 766 acres through purchase when funds become available under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 or other sources, to be managed as part of the Sabinoso Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), an administrative designation adjacent to the wilderness. The BLM is also proposing to make the two allotments for which the Rimrock Rose Ranch served as base property (per 43 CFR 4110.2-1) unavailable to livestock grazing. The grazing leases for these allotments, 00735 and 00736, were cancelled at the time the former owner sold the ranch property to The Wilderness Land Trust. These allotments, therefore, are not currently being grazed under an existing lease. The decision to make the allotments unavailable for grazing requires an amendment to the 2012 Taos Resource Management Plan (RMP), the applicable land use plan, since making lands unavailable for livestock grazing is considered a planning-level decision per BLM regulations. 3 The BLM is considering this latter decision—to make the two allotments unavailable—under unique circumstances. The BLM has a clear goal in the Taos RMP of securing public access to Sabinoso Wilderness, a designation of national significance, where