[Federal Register: May 15, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 94)]
[Notices]
[Page 26281-26283]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15my03-30]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Alaska Region, (R-10), Chugach National Forest, Glacier and
Seward Ranger Districts, Commercially Guided Helicopter Skiing
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Chugach National Forest proposes to authorize a 5-year
special use permit to Chugach Powder Guides, Inc. (CPG) for guided
helicopter skiing on National Forest lands on the Kenai Peninsula near
Girdwood and Seward, Alaska. Guided helicopter skiing would be
permitted on 13 zones totaling 342,700 acres on the Glacier and Seward
[[Page 26282]]
Ranger Districts. The season of use would be from approximately
December 15 through April 20. Three helicoptors would be used and 2,400
client days would be authorized.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by June 6, 2003. The draft environmental impact statement is expected
in July 2003 and the final environmental impact statement is expected
in September 2003.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Teresa Paquet, Interdisciplinary
Team Leader, Glacier Ranger District, P.O. Box 129, Girdwood, Alaska
99587-0129, or FAX comments to 907-783-2094, or send by e-mail to:
tpaquet@fs.fed.us. For further information contact Teresa Paquet,
Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Glacier Ranger District, P.O. Box 129,
Girdwood, Alaska 99587-0129.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa Paquet, Interdisciplinary Team
Leader, Glacier Ranger District, P.O. Box 129, Girdwood, Alaska 99587-
0129.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action
The Forest Service is responding to a request by a commercial guide
service to provide helicopter skiing on the Kenai Peninsula. Chugach
National Forest lands on the Kenai Peninsula provide many winter
recreational opportunities including snowmobiling, cross-country
skiing, ski touring, fixed-wing supported skiing, and helicopter
supported skiing. Heli-skiing requires untracked powder snow, several
vertical runs per day and a backcountry experience. Many areas on the
Kenai have excellent physical characteristics (terrain and snow
conditions) for helicopter skiing. There is not enough suitable terrain
on private lands to meet this need. The proposed areas are near a major
population center, Anchorage, which is needed to support such an
operation. This proposal would help meet the public demand for quality,
safe, guided helicopter skiing. Guided helicopter skiing would help
meet the Chugach National Forest Revised Land and Resource Management
Plan's goals to (1) maintain quality settings for motorized recreation
opportunities and (2) provide helicopter access for skiing at
appropriate locations.
CPG has submitted an application for a 5-year special use permit
for outfitting/guiding helicopter skiing on National Forest lands on
the Kenai Peninsula, near Girdwood and Seward Alaska. The applicant
requested the use of 13 zones (342,700 acres) during the winter ski
season (December 15, through April 20). Eight of these zones have been
used by CPG under temporary permits and five are additional exploratory
zones. The eight core zones are: Glacier-Winner, West Twentymile, North
Twentymile, East Twentymile, Placer-Skookum, Grandview, and Bench Peak.
The five exploratory zones are Seattle Creek, Moose Creek, Ptarmigan,
Snow River and Mount Ascension. The project area is bordered on the
west by the Hope Highway, Seward Highway, and the Forest boundary near
Resurrection River, on the north by the Forest boundary, on the east by
the divide between the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound and
non-National Forest land, and on the south by the Forest boundary and
non-National Forest land.
Proposed Action
The Chugach National Forest proposes to authorize a 5-year special
use permit to Chugach Powder Guides, Inc. (CPG) for guided helicopter
skiing on National Forest lands on the Kenai Peninsula near Girdwood
and Seward, Alaska. Guided helicopter skiing would be permitted on 13
use areas totaling 342,700 acres on the Glacier and Seward Ranger
Districts. The season of use would be from approximately December 15
through April 20. Three helicopters would be used and 2,400 client days
per season (1,800 core and 600 exploratory) would be authorized.
Possible Alternatives
Alternative 1. No Action.
Alternative 2. Submitted by proponent. 1,800 core clients days 600
exploratory client days. All use areas. All staging areas and 30 cycles
(take off and landing) per staging area per day. Timing restrictions in
Bench Creek West.
Alternative 3. Proponent's proposal with design features to address
noise and user conflicts. 1,800 core and 600 exploratory client days.
No use in Seattle Creek West, Moose Creek West and Ptarmigan West. No
staging area in Moose Pass. 30 cycles per staging area per day. Timing
restriction in Seattle Creek East and Bench Peak West.
Alternative 4. Designed to maintain current helicopter activity. No
use in Seattle Creek, Ptarmigan, Moose Creek, Mount Ascension and Snow
River. 1,200 client days. No staging areas in Moose Pass. 30 cycles per
day per staging area. Timing restrictions in Bench Peak West.
Alternative 5. Designed to minimize user conflicts. 1,800 core and
600 exploratory client days. No use in Seattle Creek West, Seattle
Creek East, Moose Creek West, Ptarmigan West, and Bench Peak West. No
staging area in Moose Pass. 30 cycles per staging area per day.
Alternative 6. Designed to minimize noise and social impacts in
Moose Pass. 1,800 core and 300 exploratory client days. No use in Moose
Creek, Ptarmigan, Bench Peak West, Seattle Creek West, and Seattle
Creek East. No staging area in Moose Pass. 30 cycles per staging area
per day, except Girdwood Airstrip which would have 20 cycles per day.
Responsible Officials
Michael R. Kania, District Ranger, Seward Ranger District, 334
Fourth Ave., P.O. Box 390, Seward, Alaska 99664-0390; and James M.
Fincher, District Ranger, Glacier Ranger District, Forest Station Road,
PO Box 129, Girdwood, Alaska 99587-0129.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The decision to be made from this analysis is whether or not to
issue a 5-year permit to Chugach Powder Guides for helicopter skiing on
the Glacier and Seward Ranger Districts, and if so, for what areas, for
what period of time and with what restrictions.
Scoping Process
Public Involvement was initiated in September 2002 with the Chugach
National Forest Schedule of Proposed Actions. On October 31, 2002, a
letter describing the proposed action and seeking public comment was
mailed to over 800 interested individuals, businesses and environmental
groups. Public meetings, to share information and gather comments
regarding the proposal, were held at Seward and Moose Pass on November
22, 2002, and at Hope and Girdwood on December 12, 2002. Additional
public meetings, to share information and gather comments regarding
draft Alternatives were held at Moose Pass on April 29, 2003, Seward on
April 30, 2003, and at Hope and Girdwood on May 1, 2003.
Preliminary Issues
1. Wildlife. Helicopter operations and skiing activities can
disturb wildlife. Factors include the distance to disturbance,
sensitivity of individual species to noise and level of habituation.
Excessive disturbance can cause harm to overall health, growth rates
and reproductive success. Some of the species with the greatest
potential to be impacted in the permit area are brown bear, wolverine,
mountain goat, and Dall sheep.
2. Impacts on communities. Lifestyles of rural community residents
can be negatively impacted by increases in permitted recreation
activities either
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incrementally over a number of years or by sudden increases in the
number of helicopter trips. The noise of helicopters during flights
could affect the quality of life for residents in the following areas:
Girdwood, Sunrise, Moose Pass, and Seward.
3. Impacts to recreationists. Heli-skiing activities could
negatively impact backcountry ground-based recreationists' experience
by helicopter noise disturbance, increasing avalanche hazards and their
sudden presence in areas that ground-based recreationists have expended
effort to reach.
4. Wilderness recommendations. Permitted landings in roadless areas
could affect future Wilderness recommendations.
5. Wildlife cumulative effects. Cumulative effects of various
recreation activities (motorized and non-motorized) can have
detrimental effects on wildlife use of habitat in alpine areas.
Permits or Licenses Required
USDA Forest Service Special Use Permit.
Comment Requested
This notice of intent continues the scoping process which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. Comments
specific to the proposal and draft Alternatives are being sought.
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: A draft environmental impact statement will be
prepared for comment. The comment period on the draft environmental
impact statement will be 45 days from the date the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in the Federal
Register.
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
draft environmental impact statements must structure their
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and
contentions, (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,
553 (1978)). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the
draft environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised
until after completion of the final environmental impact statement may
be waived or dismissed by the courts, (City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803
F.2d 1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v.
Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980)). Because of these
court rulings, it is very important that those interested in this
proposed action participate by the close of the June 6, 2003, comment
period so that substantive comments and objections are made available
to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them
and respond to them in the final environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21)
Dated: May 5, 2003.
Gerald F. Xavier,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 03-11871 Filed 5-14-03; 8:45 am]
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