Draft Environmental Assessment Hickory Run State Park Conversion Penn Forest and Kidder Townships, Carbon County, PA A conversion of land protected under Section 6(f)(3) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, Public Law 108-198 and Federal Lands-to-Parks Program and Historic Surplus Property Program: New Uses for Federal Properties. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, 1993. July 17, 2017 Submitted by: PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Recreation & Conservation 400 Market Street Harrisburg, PA 17105 Submitted to: National Park Service, Northeast Region U.S. Customs House 200 Chestnut Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19106 The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), Stateside Assistance grant program, provides funds to states, and through states to local agencies, for the acquisition and development of outdoor recreation resources. Lands that have received funding through LWCF are protected by Section 6(f)3 of the Act unless a conversion is approved by the Secretary of the Interior as delegated to the National Park Service. The Federal Lands to Parks (FLP) Program allows Federal surplus property to be transferred to state and local governments to be used and maintained exclusively, in perpetuity, for public park or recreational purposes (41 CFR 102-75-680). National Park Service is the administrator. Subsequent to the official transfer of the property, if it becomes unsuitable for recreation or if the recipient’s needs change to the point where the property cannot be appropriately used for recreation, NPS may authorize a land exchange to assure no net loss of recreational facilities for the public. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Purpose, Need and Background ......................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Description of Alternatives ................................................................................................................ 3 2.2.1 No Action ...................................................................................................................................... 3 2.2.2 Proposed Action (Preferred Alternative) ....................................................................... 3 2.2.3 Alternatives Considered and Eliminated from Further Analysis .......................... 6 3.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................................. 8 3.1 Hickory Run State Park .......................................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Replacement Lands ............................................................................................................................... 16 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT .............................................................................................................................. 22 4.1 Hickory Run State Park ....................................................................................................................... 22 4.2 Replacement Lands ............................................................................................................................... 26 5.0 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................................... 30 6.0 COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION ....................................................................................................... 31 6.1 Agency Consultation ............................................................................................................................. 31 6.2 Public Outreach ...................................................................................................................................... 31 6.3 Agency Meetings .................................................................................................................................... 31 7.0 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................................... 33 8.0 LIST OF PREPARERS ............................................................................................................................................ 36 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 – Preliminary Impacts to Hickory Run State Park (2013) ...................................................................... 7 Table 2 – Soil Characteristics in Conversion Area ...................................................................................................... 9 Table 3 – Soil Characteristics in Replacement Lands ............................................................................................. 17 APPENDICES Appendix A – Figures Appendix B – Photographs Appendix C – Coordination and Consultation Appendix D – Environmental Screening Form Hickory Run State Park Appendix E – Environmental Screening Form Replacement Lands Hickory Run State Park Conversion Penn Forest and Kidder Townships, Carbon County, PA 1.0 SUMMARY The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PADCNR) proposes to convert from federal protection a portion of Hickory Run State Park (HRSP) to facilitate the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s (PTC’s) Hawk Falls Bridge Replacement Project. The existing bridge carries the four-lane, limited access turnpike (I-476) over Mud Run. The PTC’s right-of-way (ROW) bisects HRSP, and approximately 14.3 acres of land adjacent to the existing ROW will be acquired for transportation use and a temporary construction easement (TCE) will be required from an additional 16.3 acres to gain construction access to the new bridge site and to demolish the existing bridge. HRSP is located in Kidder and Penn Forest Townships, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. The park covers approximately 15,990 acres and has over 40 miles of hiking trails, three state park natural areas, and miles of trout streams. The park land to be converted is currently under federal protection through the National Park Service (NPS) Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) as well as the Federal Lands to Parks (FLP) Program. As specified by Section 6(f)(3) of the LWCF Act, the acquisition of park land for transportation use and the TCE, which allows for a temporary non-recreational use for more than six months duration, are both considered conversions of the Section 6(f) protected park land. The total park land that is proposed to be converted from Section 6(f) is 30.6 acres. This same park land is also subject to the restrictions of the FLP Program; however, this program does not consider the TCE to be a conversion. The total park land that is proposed to be converted from FLP is 14.3 acres. PADCNR proposes to mitigate the conversion of park land from both programs with the acquisition and protection of Tax Parcels 22-51A-3.08 and 22B-51A-15A . The two parcels are located along Old Stage Road in Penn Forest Township, Carbon County, and were identified by the PADCNR as potential replacement lands as part of the Hawk Falls Bridge Replacement project. The Replacement Lands are contiguous with the eastern boundary of HRSP and are 38.0 acres in total. The land supports a red oak – mixed hardwood forest. The general location of the HRSP Conversion Area and the Replacement Lands is shown on Figures 1 and 2 located in Appendix A. The existing Hawk Falls Bridge (I-476 over Mud Run) was constructed in 1957 and is nearing the end of its service life. The bridge is considered functionally obsolete and structurally deficient. Several alternatives for bridge rehabilitation and replacement were evaluated, and the preferred alternative, the Modified East Alignment, was determined to have the least impact to the adjacent HRSP. Based upon the effects of the alternative, the PADCNR is requesting the NPS approve the proposed conversion and replacement. Draft Environmental Assessment Page | 1 Hickory Run State Park Conversion Penn Forest and Kidder Townships, Carbon County, PA 2.0 INTRODUCTION In 1935, the NPS purchased Hickory Run to establish a national recreation demonstration area. In 1945, the Hickory Run National Recreation Demonstration Area (RDA) was transferred to Pennsylvania through the FLP Program and became HRSP. In 1981, a LWCF grant (42-00879) for handicapped standards improvements to four priority areas of the park identified all of HRSP as encompassed within the Section 6(f) boundary. Additional development projects throughout HRSP were funded through LWCF grants under grant numbers 42-00020, 42-00580, and 42- 00975. All of the HRSP lands adjacent to the Pennsylvania Turnpike were included in the Section 6(f) boundary and were also part of the FLP federal land transfer; therefore, any conversion of land will require approval from the NPS. This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to assess the proposed conversion of land under federal protection by the NPS from HRSP to two tax parcels adjacent to the existing park. The EA is in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality National Environmental Policy Act