United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Environmental Assessment DOI-BLM-ID-C010-2015-0013-EA May 2017 REVISED Wallace L. Forest Conservation Area at Blue Creek Bay Vegetation Treatment and Trails Coeur d’Alene Field Office 3815 Schreiber Way Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815 Contents 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Location ................................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Proposed Action Summary ................................................................................................... 3 2.0 Purpose and Need ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Need ...................................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Purpose .................................................................................................................................. 4 3.0 BLM Decision to be Made ........................................................................................................ 5 4.0 Land Use Plan Conformance, Statutes, Regulation, and Other Plans ...................................... 5 4.1 BLM Land Use Plan Conformance....................................................................................... 5 4.2 Relevant Statutes and Authorities ......................................................................................... 7 4.3 Relevant Regulations ............................................................................................................ 7 5.0 Scoping and Issues .................................................................................................................... 7 5.1 Scoping ................................................................................................................................. 7 5.2 Issues ..................................................................................................................................... 8 6.0 Alternatives ............................................................................................................................. 11 6.1 Alternative A (Proposed Action) ........................................................................................ 11 6.2 Alternative B (No Forestry Treatment on Western Portion of the Ownership, No Prescribed Burning and No Parking Off Bonnell Road) .......................................................... 23 6.3 Alternative C (Forestry Treatment Same as Proposed Action, No Equestrian Use on Eastern Trail System, No Mountain Bike Use on West Side Trail System, and No Parking Off of Bonnell Road) ....................................................................................................................... 24 6.4 Alternative D (No Action) .................................................................................................. 25 6.5 Summary and Comparison of Alternatives ......................................................................... 25 6.6 Alternatives Considered but not Analyzed in Detail .......................................................... 27 7.0 Affected Environment and Environmental Effects ................................................................. 27 7.1 Scope of Analysis ............................................................................................................... 27 7.2 Air Quality .......................................................................................................................... 31 7.3 Cultural Resources .............................................................................................................. 37 7.4 Fisheries .............................................................................................................................. 38 7.5 Forest Vegetation ................................................................................................................ 42 7.6 Fuels .................................................................................................................................... 47 7.7 Invasive, Non-Native Vegetation........................................................................................ 54 7.8 Public Health and Safety ..................................................................................................... 57 7.9 Recreation ........................................................................................................................... 61 7.10 Socio-Economics .............................................................................................................. 65 7.11 Soils and Water ................................................................................................................. 69 7.12 Vegetation Communities, including Special Status Plant Species ................................... 75 7.13 Visual Resource Management .......................................................................................... 87 7.14 Wildlife ............................................................................................................................. 93 8.0 Tribes, Individuals, Organizations, or Agencies Consulted ................................................. 123 9.0 List of Preparers .................................................................................................................... 123 10.0 References Cited ................................................................................................................. 124 Appendix A: Map 1 Forestry Treatments –Proposed Action (Alternative A) ........................... 140 Appendix B: Map 2 Recreation - Proposed Action (Alternative A) ........................................... 141 Appendix C: Map 3 Forestry Roads – Proposed Action (Alternative A) ................................... 142 Appendix D: Map 4 Forestry Administrative Roads .................................................................. 143 Appendix E: Map 5 Forestry - Alternative B.............................................................................. 144 Appendix F: Map 6 Recreation - Alternative B .......................................................................... 145 Appendix G: Map 7 Forest Cover Types .................................................................................... 146 Appendix H: Map 8 Fire Behavior Fuel Model-LANDFIRE 2012 ............................................ 147 Appendix I: Map 9 Inventoried Snag Locations ......................................................................... 148 Appendix J: Map 10 Recreation - Alternative C ........................................................................ 149 Appendix K: Map 11 West Side Trail Designations (Alternatives A and B) ............................. 150 Appendix L: Map 12 Kid Friendly Trail Alternative A .............................................................. 151 Appendix M: Map 13 Parking Locations .................................................................................... 152 Appendix N: Bonnell Parking Concept ...................................................................................... 153 Appendix O: Meadow Parking Concept ..................................................................................... 154 Appendix P: Map 14 Red Trail Parking ..................................................................................... 155 Appendix Q: Comment Response ............................................................................................... 156 Issue 1: Access ........................................................................................................................ 160 Issue 2: Air Quality ................................................................................................................. 161 Issue 3: Cultural and Historic Resources ................................................................................ 162 Issue 4: Fire ............................................................................................................................. 163 Issue 5: Forestry/Vegetation ................................................................................................... 164 Issue 6: Invasive Species ........................................................................................................ 165 REVISED-WFCA Vegetation Treatment and Trails (DOI-BLM-ID-C010-2015-0013-EA) Page iii Issue 7: Noise (Rural and Natural Setting) ............................................................................. 166 Issue 8: Planning/Alternatives ................................................................................................ 166 Issue 9: Pollinators .................................................................................................................. 167 Issue 10: Public Involvement .................................................................................................. 168 Issue 11: Public Safety ............................................................................................................ 168 Issue 12: Recreation ...............................................................................................................