United States Department of Agriculture Bonneville Power Administration Forest Service Department of Energy Longley Meadows Fish Habitat Enhancement Project Environmental Assessment La Grande Ranger District, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Union County, Oregon August 2019 For More Information Contact: Bill Gamble, District Ranger La Grande Ranger District 3502 Highway 30 La Grande, OR 97850 Phone: 541-962-8582 Fax: 541-962-8580 Email: [email protected] DOE EA - 2100 In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). 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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. ii Contents Contents .......................................................................................................................................... i Chapter 1 – Purpose and Need ....................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 Proposed Project Location ......................................................................................................... 3 Need for the Proposal ................................................................................................................. 5 Public Involvement and Tribal Consultation .............................................................................. 8 Key Issues .............................................................................................................................. 9 Other Issues .......................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2 - Proposed Action and Alternatives .............................................................................. 11 Alternative 1 – No Action ........................................................................................................ 11 Alternative 2 - Proposed Action ............................................................................................... 11 Management Requirements, Constraints, Design Criteria, and Conservation or Mitigation Measures .............................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 3 - Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action and Alternatives .............................. 37 Fisheries and Aquatic Resources .............................................................................................. 38 Hydrology, Floodplains and Wetlands Resources .................................................................... 64 A. Hydrology ........................................................................................................................... 67 B. Floodplains .......................................................................................................................... 71 B. Wetlands .............................................................................................................................. 74 Adjacent State and Private Lands/Structures ............................................................................ 84 Transportation Resources ......................................................................................................... 89 Soils ......................................................................................................................................... 91 Wildlife Resources ................................................................................................................. 100 Threatened, Endangered, Proposed and Sensitive (PETS) Species ........................................ 101 A. Botanical ........................................................................................................................ 101 B. Fisheries ......................................................................................................................... 103 C. Wildlife .......................................................................................................................... 109 Invasive Species ..................................................................................................................... 121 Heritage Resources ................................................................................................................ 131 Recreation .............................................................................................................................. 140 Scenic Resources.................................................................................................................... 145 Required and Additional Disclosures ..................................................................................... 148 Appendix A – Proposed Action Maps Appendix B – Alternative 1 – Existing Stream Channel Map Appendix C – WWNF Forest Plan Management Direction Map Literature Cited Appendix D – Cumulative Effects Analysis Appendix E – Response to Comments i List of Tables Table 1. Temporary Access Roads. .............................................................................................. 15 Table 2. Staging Areas ................................................................................................................. 15 Table 3. Excess Permanent Fill Areas .......................................................................................... 16 Table 4. Summary of proposed activities for each action alternative for the Longley Meadows Project. ................................................................................................................................. 35 Table 5. Selected Indicators from the Matrix of Pathway and Indicators (NMFS 1996, USFWS 1998) .................................................................................................................................... 41 Table 6. Large Wood counts in Longley Project Area and Adjacent Reaches .............................. 44 Table 7. Overview of Pool Frequency in the Longley Project Area and Adjacent Reaches.......... 44 Table 8. Width to Depth Ratio in Longley Project Area ............................................................... 45 Table 9. Relative Level of Effects for Fish and Aquatic Resources .............................................. 47 Table 10. Alternative 1 and 2 project and watershed scale comparison of selected indicators from the Matrix of Pathway and Indicators (NMFS 1996, USFWS 1998) .................................... 49 Table 11. Alternatives 1 and 2 LWM in Longley Project Area Mainstem and Side Channels ..... 55 Table 12. Alternatives 1 and 2 Pool Frequency in Longley Project Area ..................................... 56 Table 13. Alternatives 1 and 2 Width to Depth Ratio in Longley Project Area ............................ 58 Table 14. Key Channel and Streambank Characteristics by Geomorphic Subreach .................... 65 Table 15. Stream Gages in the GRR Basin used in the Hydrologic Analysis .............................. 67 Table 16. Exceedance Statistics for Flows Estimated at the Upstream Project Boundary at RM 146.1 ..................................................................................................................................... 67 Table 17. Habitat Design Flows for the Upstream Project Boundary (RM 143.6) ....................... 68 Table 18. Annual Return Intervals for the Grand Ronde River at the Project’s Upstream Boundary and Its Tributaries within the Project Area ........................................................... 68 Table 19. Field-mapped Wetlands within the Active Project Area .............................................. 75 Table 20. Summary of Acres of Inundation Compared to Acres of Available Floodplain