SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Appendix D ⎯ Responses to Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact StatementOpen Burning, Prescribed Fire, and Permitting and are done so under smokepermits issued to the Installations from the Colorado Department of Healthand the Environment. Strict adherence to fire prescription parameters to reducesmoke impacts is required and closely followed by Fort Carson FireTeam. Prescribed burns are normally announced in local newspapers at thestart of a prescribed burn season and every two weeks during the season.Daily notifications are made to both the state air quality and county health onburn days. Additionally, informational signage is posted along the Installationboundary whenever prescribed fires are accomplished.Fort Cason takes numerous steps to minimize exposure to smoke and toxins.These measures are considered in the planning stages of the burn and discussedduring the pre-burn briefing. The primary way we minimize the exposureto smoke and toxins is by following the Air Quality Burning Permit, issuedby the Colorado Department of Health, to minimize emission productionduring the burn. We burn under ideal conditions to prevent catastrophic wildfirepotential. High ground-level wind speeds, inversions or low mixing height,and low transport wind speeds are shown to be significant contributors to theexposure to smoke and toxins. Our Air Quality Burn Permit provides strict requirementsto ensure adequate smoke and toxin dispersal. A weather forecastis obtained each day to predict smoke and toxin dispersal prior to ignition. Ifthe weather and or smoke conditions become unfavorable during prescribedburn operations, the prescribed burn is canceled. As noted above, the public isalso informed by local media about prescribed burn operations.170. Wildfire Management on page 3–28. One of the drawbacks of having to build fire roads tomake it possible to respond to wildfires caused by military exercises is that they become apathway for alien species to invade native habitats. It would be better to conduct live-fire exercisesin areas already disturbed and not expand training into new areas.Response: The Army monitors for new invasive species on a biannual basis on all landingzones, roads, and trails. In addition, the Army has or will construct severalwash rack facilities placed in strategic locations so that soldiers may powerwash all vehicles after training concludes, and prior to moving to the nexttraining area. This will help ensure that invasive species are not moved by vehiclesfrom one training area to another (e.g. Fountain grass from PTA toOahu training areas). The benefit of being able to stop a fire before it consumeslarge tracks of native habitat far outweighs the risk of spreading invasivespecies.171. Impacts from Maneuver Training on page 5–24: Aside from the danger of wildfire, one potentialimpact of training maneuvers is the establishment of invasive alien species where theyare not already established. Both men and machines can carry seeds into areas where alienspecies are not yet established. As the large Stryker vehicles tear up the earth in a given areathere remains an opportunity for alien species to take root and become established. Frequentwashing of the vehicles before and after maneuvers could help delay the spread of alien species.Monitoring areas subject to maneuvers long-term and intervening when alien speciestake root is another way to stop their spread.Response: The Army monitors for new invasive species on a biannual basis on all landingzones, roads, and trails. In addition, the Army has or will construct severalFebruary 2008 D–57 2/25th SBCT Final EIS