National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Gros Ventre Campground Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect Grand Teton National Park Wyoming May 2009 Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect Gros Ventre Campground Rehabilitation Grand Teton National Park Moose, WY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The National Park Service proposes to rehabilitate the Gros Ventre Campground with infrastructure and facility improvements that would benefit the visiting public, park employees, park operations and wildlife. The purpose of the project is to address health and safety concerns related to aging campground infrastructure, enhance the experience of park visitors, meet current and future visitor demands, reduce impervious surface and restore natural vegetation and wildlife habitat. The project is also needed to provide for additional seasonal National Park Service, concessioner, and partner RV administrative sites. This Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect evaluates two alternatives for rehabilitation of the Gros Ventre Campground. Alternative 1—No Action Alternative: Under this alternative, the Gros Ventre Campground would not be rehabilitated. There would be no new improvements and all existing infrastructure and facilities would remain in place including: the outdated water system; the existing water treatment building; the existing undersized dump station; and existing campground office/contact station and associated parking. The campground would remain non-compliant with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 and the lack of visitor amenities and administrative RV sites would continue. Alternative 2—Preferred Alternative: This alternative proposes to upgrade and/or replace critical campground infrastructure, including: a new water and waste water system; install up to 50 visitor electric hook ups sites; expand of existing administrative campsites; upgrade comfort stations to meet current accessibility standards; construct new shower and laundry facilities for visitor and administrative use; and permanently close two existing campground loops. The campground entry area, including the office, parking area, and dump station, would be realigned and expanded to meet current visitor needs. This alternative also proposes to reduce the existing campground footprint by up to eight acres and revegetate and restore valuable wildlife habitat. The two alternatives were evaluated for impacts to archaeological and ethnographic resources, soils, vegetation, water resources (surface, groundwater, and floodplains), wildlife, park operations, and visitor use and experience. There would be no major, adverse impacts to these resources. This Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect will be on public review for 30 days. If you wish to comment, you may mail comments to the address below or post comments online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/grte. Superintendent Grand Teton National Park P.O. Drawer 170 Moose, WY 83012 Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. United States Department of the Interior • National Park Service •Grand Teton National Park Summary –Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I: PURPOSE AND NEED ................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Purpose & Need for Action ................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Appropriate Use .................................................................................................................................. 6 1.4 Impairment and Conservation of Park Resources and values ........................................................ 7 1.5 Relationship of the Proposed Action to Previous Planning Efforts, Laws, and Policies ............... 7 1.6 Scoping and Relevant Issues .............................................................................................................. 9 1.7 Impact Topics .................................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 2: ALTERNATIVES ....................................................................... 22 2.1 Development of Alternatives ............................................................................................................ 22 2.2 Elements Common to all Alternatives ............................................................................................. 22 2.3 Alternative 1 – No Action ................................................................................................................. 23 2.4 Alternative 2: Gros Ventre Campground Improvements & Restoration (Preferred Alternative)27 2.5 Alternatives Considered but Dismissed ........................................................................................... 31 2.6 Mitigation Measures for Alternative 2 ............................................................................................ 32 2.7 Comparison of the Alternatives ....................................................................................................... 36 2.8 Identification of the Environmentally Prefered Alternative ......................................................... 39 CHAPTER 3: AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES............................................................................................ 41 3.1 Cultural Resources ............................................................................................................................ 44 3.2 Soils .................................................................................................................................................... 50 3.3 Vegetation .......................................................................................................................................... 53 3.4 Water Resources (Surface, Groundwater & Floodplains) ............................................................. 57 3.5 Wildlife, Including Threatened or Endangered Species ................................................................ 62 Gros Ventre Campground Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment Grand Teton National Park i May 2009 3.6 Park Operations and Partnerships .................................................................................................. 82 3.7 Visitor Use and Experience (Including Public Health and Safety) ............................................... 86 3.8 Unacceptable Impacts and Impairment Analysis ........................................................................... 90 CHAPTER 4: CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION ........................... 91 4.1 List of Preparers ................................................................................................................................ 91 4.1 Agencies/ Tribes/ Organizations/ Individuals Contacted .............................................................. 91 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 92 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.7 Impact Topics Retained or Dismissed from Detailed Analysis .......................... 20 Table 2.7a. Comparison of Alternatives by the Project Objectives ..................................... 37 Table 2.7b. Comparison of Impacts by Alternatives ............................................................. 38 Table 3.2. Description of Soil Survey Mapping Units within the Project Area. ................ 51 Table 3.5. Species of Concern that may occur in the Project Area. .................................... 69 Table 4.1 Preparers of this Gros Ventre Campground Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment ....................................................................................................... 91 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Project Vicinity Map ................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2.3a. Alternative 1 – Current Gros Ventre Campground Configuration .............. 25 Figure 2.3b. Alternative 1 – Location of Current Utilities throughout Gros Ventre Campground ......................................................................................................... 26 Figure 2.4a. Alternative 2 – Proposed Gros Ventre Campground Configuration ............ 29 Figure 2.4b. Alternative 2 – Proposed Utility Locations throughout Gros Ventre Campground ....................................................................................................................................................... 30 Gros Ventre Campground Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment Grand Teton National Park ii May 2009 Chapter 1 Grand Teton National Park CHAPTER I: PURPOSE AND NEED 1.1 INTRODUCTION Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway are located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone National Park. Grand