2013 Fish and Wildlife Service Lands Long Range Transportation Plan Region 3 FWS Jutz, by Brandon Photographs Cover March 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 1 ES.1 LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN FOR U. S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE LANDS .... 1 ES.2 LEADING THIS EFFORT ....................................................................................................... 1 ES.3 GOALS FOR THIS LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN .................................................... 2 ES.4 IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING TO THE SERVICE ........................................ 2 ES.5 VALUE OF THIS PLAN FOR THE SERVICE ............................................................................. 2 ES.6 REGION 3 AT A GLANCE ...................................................................................................... 3 ES.7 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION ..................................................................................................... 3 ES.8 KEY FINDINGS OF THIS PLAN ............................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 5 1.1 PURPOSE AND NEED ......................................................................................................... 6 1.2 MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES FOR THIS LRTP ........................................................ 7 1.3 REGION 3 BACKGROUND.................................................................................................. 9 1.3.1 National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries ........................................... 9 1.3.2 Region 3 Transportation System ............................................................................... 11 1.4 PRIMARY AUDIENCE ...................................................................................................... 12 1.4.1 Project Leaders ......................................................................................................... 12 1.4.2 Regional Management .............................................................................................. 12 1.4.3 National Management ............................................................................................... 12 1.4.4 Potential Partners ..................................................................................................... 12 1.5 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT ................................................................................................... 13 1.6 CONTENT AND OVERVIEW ............................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 2: GOALS AND BASELINE CONDITIONS ...................................................... 15 2.1 NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION ................................................................................ 17 2.1.1 Resource Protection Data ..................................................................................... 18 2.1.2 Identifying Resource Protection Improvement Areas ........................................... 19 2.1.3 Recommendations for Future Analysis ..................................................................... 21 2.2 SAFETY AND TRANSPORTATION ASSETS CONDITIONS ................................................... 22 2.2.1 Safety and Transportation Assets Condition Data.................................................... 23 2.2.2 Identifying Conditions and Safety Improvement Areas ............................................ 30 2.2.3 Recommendations for Future Analysis ..................................................................... 46 2.3 WELCOME AND ORIENTATION ....................................................................................... 47 2.3.1 Welcome and Orientation Data ................................................................................ 49 2.3.2 Identifying Visitor Enhancement Improvement Areas .............................................. 63 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – LRTP R-3 Page ii 2.3.3 Recommendations for Future Analysis ..................................................................... 64 2.4 PLANNING ...................................................................................................................... 64 2.4.1 Planning Data ........................................................................................................... 65 2.4.2 Identifying Planning Areas ....................................................................................... 73 2.4.3 Recommendations for Future Analysis ..................................................................... 73 2.5 PARTNERSHIPS ............................................................................................................... 74 2.5.1 Partnerships Data ..................................................................................................... 75 2.5.2 Identifying Partnership Opportunities ...................................................................... 75 2.5.3 Recommendation for Future Analysis ....................................................................... 80 2.6 SUSTAINABILITY ............................................................................................................ 80 2.6.1 Data......................................................................................................................... 833 2.6.2 Identifying Sustainability Improvement Areas .......................................................... 93 2.6.3 Recommendations for Future Analysis ..................................................................... 93 2.7 PERFORMANCE MEASURES ............................................................................................ 94 CHAPTER 3: FUNDING AND PROJECT SELECTION ..................................................... 95 3.1 CURRENT AND PROJECTED FUNDING ............................................................................. 95 3.1.1 Refuge Roads Program ................................................................................................ 68 3.1.2 Fish Hatchery Deferred Maintenance ...................................................................... 99 3.2 ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR REFUGE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS ............... 100 3.2.1 Transportation Enhancements ................................................................................ 101 3.2.2 Recreational Trails Program .................................................................................. 104 3.2.3 Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program ........................................... 104 3.2.4 Scenic Byways ......................................................................................................... 105 3.2.5 Public Lands Highway – Discretionary Program .................................................. 107 3.2.6 High Priority Projects Program ............................................................................. 108 3.2.7 Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads ....................................................... 109 3.2.8 Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program ........................................................... 110 3.3 PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS ..................................................................................... 112 3.3.1 Evaluation Criteria ................................................................................................. 112 3.3.1. 1 Process ............................................................................................................... 113 CHAPTER 4: OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION PLAN ......................................... 115 4.1 OUTREACH LEVELS ............................................................................................................ 116 4.2 OUTREACH DELIVERY TOOLS ............................................................................................ 116 4.3 CAPTURING COMMENTS ..................................................................................................... 117 CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE PLAN ACTIVITIES ................. 119 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – LRTP R-3 Page iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Region 3 Boundaries .................................................. 5 Figure 2. Wildlife Refuge and Fish Hatcheries within Region 3 .................................................. 10 Figure 3. How to use Chapter Two ............................................................................................... 16 Figure 4. Sign meaning that the land behind it has been dedicated to preserving native wildlife as it can be retained along modern civilization. .................................................................. 18 Figure 5. IPaC system ................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 6. Boardwalk at Genoa National Fish Hatchery. ............................................................... 23 Figure 7. Safety Hot Spot Criteria ...............................................................................................