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Helicopter Landing Tours on the Juneau Icefield 
2002- 2006
Draft Environmental Impact Statement

File Code: 1950
Date: July 27, 2001

Dear Reviewer:

Enclosed is your copy of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Helicopter Landing Tours on the Juneau Icefield 2001. This document describes the Proposed Action, the No-Action Alternative, and five action alternatives ranging from a 38 percent reduction in the number of landings authorized over 5 years (from 19,039 to 11,881 annually) to a 61 percent increase in the number of landings authorized over 5 years (from 19,039 to 30,662 annually) and additional landing locations. Under the Proposed Action, Alternative E, special use permits could be approved through 2006, limiting helicopter landing tours to the existing authorized level of 19,039 annually, with limited new landing locations and restrictions on the number of days per week that landings are allowed.

The Proposed Action serves as an initiation for public input and review. The proposal for a combination fixed-wing and helicopter landing tour to Antler Glacier Lake is addressed in the Proposed Action, even though it does not meet minimum wildlife buffers identified in the Forest Plan. When the Proposed Action was published in the Federal Register, it was not yet determined that this specific tour proposal did not meet the minimum wildlife buffer. I am including the Antler Glacier Lake tour proposal in the Proposed Action and NEPA review process because it was in the initial Proposed Action published in the Federal Register. Selecting an alternative that would include this specific tour may require a Forest Plan amendment. We are not proposing a Forest Plan amendment at this time.

You will notice there is no Preferred Alternative in this Draft EIS. I would like your comments on the entire range of alternatives considered. Please carefully review all alternatives and their components. I am interested in hearing what you like or dislike about each alternative and why.

Please keep in mind that additional environmental analysis may be required if the City and Borough of Juneau determines that one or more remote heliport sites should be used to reduce helicopter flightseeing noise impacts. Such an analysis would review and consider new information or changed circumstances relative to the environmental impacts of the helicopter icefield landing tours.

The comment period on the Draft EIS will be a minimum of 45 days from the date of publication of the notice of availability in the Federal Register, anticipated to be August 10, 2001. The deadline for comments is anticipated to be September 24, 2001. The Final EIS is expected to be completed by January 7, 2002.

Federal court decisions have established that reviewers of a Draft EIS must structure their participation so that it is meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and contentions. Environmental objections raised after completion of the Final EIS, but not raised at the Draft stage, may be waived because the Forest Service did not have adequate time to meaningfully consider the substantive comments and/or objections and respond to them in the Final EIS.

As the District Ranger, I am the official responsible for authorizing the requested special use permits. The decision I must make is whether or not to issue special use permits for helicopter landing tours on the icefield and, if issued, authorize locations, levels of use, and types of activities covered under the permit(s). I will also determine any mitigating measures that will be required.

Please send written comments or requests for additional copies to Ellen Hall, Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation, 12100 NE 195th Street, Suite 200, Bothell, WA 98011, or to the e-mail address: ehall@fwenc.com.

Sincerely,

/s/ Pete Griffin

PETE GRIFFIN
District Ranger

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