Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
Environmental Consequences
The visual resource impact analysis is an assessment of the changes to the landscape character
that would occur from the proposed action. The visual resource analysis stage involves
determining the significance of the potential visual impacts from the proposed activity to include
construction of the mine and associated facilities, operation of the mine, and reclamation of the
land. The significance definitions that will be used to describe the impacts to visual the visual
setting are described in table 71.
Table 71. Significance definitions, impacts to visual resources
Magnitude
Major
Moderate
Minor
Duration
Long Term
Medium Term (limited or
intermittent)
Short Term
Extent
Large
Medium (localized)
Small (limited)
Likelihood
Probable
Possible
Unlikely
Term Definition
Precedence/ Uniqueness
Severe
Moderate
Slight
Proposed activities do not fit at all within the Modification VQO guidance.
Proposed activities fit with the Modification VQO guidance in some ways
but not all.
Proposed activities within the Modification VQO guidance. It may
dominate the landscape but borrow from naturally established form, line,
color, and texture so completely and at such scale that its visual
characteristics are compatible with the natural surroundings.
Alteration lasts 10 years or more
Alteration lasts 1 to 10 years
Alteration lasts less than 1 years
Visual quality is altered for more than 1,000 people
Visual quality is altered for 100 to 1,000 people
Visual quality is altered for less than 100 people
Occurs under typical operating conditions
Occurs under worst-case operating conditions
Occurs under upset/malfunction conditions
Impacts occur in such close proximity to national parks, National Register
of Historic Places, traditional cultural properties, or national historic
landmark sites, or other especially valued, unique, or protected sites, that
the valued features of those nearby sites are severely jeopardized;
Impacts would occur at sufficient distance from any protected site that the
valued features would be perceptibly altered but not severely compromised
or jeopardized;
Impacts would occur at sufficient distance from any protected site that the
valued features would be imperceptibly altered
366 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest