SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 5 – Environmental Consequencesnumbers of Soldiers and weapons would also increase. Impacts to wetlands from live-fire trainingwould be less than significant.Impacts to vegetation. Increased live-fire training associated with the SBCT would cause directimpacts to vegetation. Munitions explode and create craters, resulting in areas of bare ground that aresusceptible to erosion from wind and water (Houston 2002). However, the craters accumulate organicmatter, and vegetation usually recovers. The frequency of live-fire training would increase at theDTA BAX. The number of rounds and the numbers of Soldiers and weapons would increase;however, the BAX would remain within operating parameters, including land maintenance andrehabilitation. Impacts to vegetation from live-fire training would be less than significant.Impacts to Threatened and Endangered Species: A larger number of Soldiers would use existing andnewly constructed ranges for live fire training. There would be a corresponding increase in the totalnumber of rounds fired as well as increased vehicular traffic. However, no federal or state threatened,endangered, or candidate plant or animal species are found within or near lands used by USARAK.Several species of concern are found on USARAK lands. USARAK’s policies for management ofendangered species are outlined in the INRMP (USARAK 2007). Endangered species managementgoals and objectives include protection and conservation of endangered or threatened species foundon USARAK posts, identification and delineation of species and their habitats, and compliance withSection 7 of the Endangered Species Act. USARAK would conduct planning for the endangeredspecies program; implement an inventory and monitoring program to identify the location anddistribution of any rare, uncommon, or priority species; and protect habitats of these species. There isno endangered species management plan unless a federally listed endangered or threatened species isfound on an installation. The USARAK ecosystem management program also monitors species ofconcern. Impacts from live-fire training would be less than significant.Listing the Cook Inlet beluga whale as endangered is proposed. Live-fire training would occur atERF, and beluga whales have been observed in the adjacent Eagle River. General use of ERF by the2/25 th SBCT would be about the same as the 4/25 th IBCT currently stationed at FRA. Impacts tobeluga whales from proposed changes in Army training at ERF are being analyzed in a separate EISspecific to year-round training at ERF.Impacts to general wildlife and habitats. Operation of ranges has the potential to displace variouswildlife species. Displacement would be caused by increased human presence in the area, as well asby elevated noise levels. Wildlife species that are more tolerant of human activity may remain in oraround these ranges. Individuals that remain within the impact area and associated surface dangerzones could be directly affected by munitions. Higher training levels at existing ranges wouldincrease incidental mortality to wildlife. However, such mortality is not expected to cause measurableimpacts to wildlife populations. Therefore, SBCT training on the new and existing ranges would havea less than significant impact to wildlife and habitats. Measures described previously under Impactsfrom Range Construction would further reduce the impacts of live-fire training.Introduction and spread of invasive plants and noxious weeds. Management of invasive plant speciesis an issue of concern on USARAK lands. The Land Condition Trend Analysis program monitorsvegetation and documents invasive plant species. These species are managed using integrated pestmanagement techniques, whereby chemical control is minimized.Increasing live-fire training at FRA and DTA, increasing the number of people, and increasing thenumber of vehicles could increase the number and type of nonnative plants, including noxious weeds.However, because the invasive species problem is currently minimal, and USARAK is committed toproactive management, less than significant impacts from noxious weeds are expected.February 2008 5-108 2/25th SBCT Final EIS