SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 5 – Environmental Consequences5.6.3.4 Cultural ResourcesBefore PCMS was acquired as a training area in the 1980s, it was an area of dispersed farming andranching. This activity in the PCMS has had some effect on archaeological resources. Use of the landwas changed to military training in the 1980s. Since that time, access to the area has been restricted,and development of adjacent areas has been limited. There are no other permitted or anticipatedprojects in the vicinity of PCMS. Implementation of measures for avoidance, monitoring, andmitigation for cultural resources would reduce the severity of impacts that would result from anoverall increase in military training activities associated with implementation of Alternative C.Foreseeable development at Fort Carson would include demolition and renovation of existingfacilities, construction of new facilities, and the increase of training activities with greater numbers ofrotations, and use of larger geographic areas and accommodation of increased troop strength. Thecantonment at Fort Carson has been completely surveyed for cultural resources and contains noknown prehistoric sites. The inventory and evaluation of historic resources through the Cold War erais ongoing, and it is not anticipated that these cultural resources would be impacted. There also wouldbe no impact to resources in the two historic districts in the cantonment area. Proposed construction inthe downrange area is within previously inventoried areas and would have no impact on knowncultural resources. Two National Register districts, the Turkey Creek Recreation Area and the TurkeyCreek Rock Art District, are within the downrange area but training activities are restricted in theseareas. Increased training activities may have the potential for adverse impact to the Turkey CreekRock Art District.Even with the ICRMP, there could be cumulative impacts on known and undiscovered culturalresources on both Fort Carson and PCMS because archaeological sites, TCPs, and historic buildingscould be impacted by improvements to facilities and increased training activities. The ICRMPoutlines the protection of sites that can be avoided and data recovery on those that cannot tocontribute to our knowledge of prehistory and history in this region. Despite these measures, there is apossibility the proposed action would impact known or unknown cultural resources, a cumulativeimpact that cannot be mitigated to less than significant.5.6.3.5 Land Use and RecreationIndividually, Alternative C would result in less than significant impacts to the existing land uses,public access, or recreation. However, additional cumulative impacts to land use and recreationresources could result from continued development in the region. Some residential land usessurrounding Fort Carson and PCMS are currently affected by the noise currently generated bymilitary training activities. Under Alternative C, future use of the PCMS is projected to increase.Noise increases outside of the installation boundaries during training activities could limit the locationof new additional residences or other sensitive receptors in the areas adjacent to the installations.Cumulative land use impacts would also result from the addition of new firing ranges, and expansionof existing or development of new maneuver areas, and population growth near FTC. Training of the2/25th SBCT at FTC would increase the future use of several planned range improvement projectsand those foreseeable activities that involve maneuver training exercises. The PCMS is usedapproximately 4 months per year on average. Use of the PCMS in recent years; however, has beenlower because of overseas deployments of military personnel. Future use of the PCMS is projected toincrease, and SBCT training would contribute to the training load at PCMS.Cumulative impacts to land use and recreation are expected to be less than significant for AlternativeC.February 2008 5-270 2/25th SBCT Final EIS