Integrated Training Area Management EA and Final FNSI

under the No Action alternative. Implementing standard operating procedures for the LRAM and RTLAprograms would ensure consistent and efficient land management and monitoring practices. This wouldfacilitate assessment of effective management strategies aimed at minimizing vegetation impacts.Standardizing procedures would benefit monitoring activities by reducing data collection error andvariability, and providing consistent data collection methods required to assure long-term usability andapplicability of data.Alternative 3: Suspend ITAM ProgramUnder this alternative, all components of the ITAM program would discontinue operation. Training landrehabilitation, maintenance, and range improvements would cease despite continued use of USARAKlands for Army training. Environmental damage from training would not be monitored or rehabilitated,and training lands would deteriorate over time, resulting in damage to vegetation, loss of vegetation,increased areas of soil disturbance amenable to invasive species, and altered composition of vegetativecommunities.In particular, canceling the LRAM program, which is primarily responsible for the maintenance of naturalresources on USARAK training lands, and the RTLA program, which is responsible for monitoring thebiological impacts of military training, would have an increasingly adverse impact on vegetation.The following table presents a summary of qualitative impacts to vegetation resulting from eachalternative. Descriptions of the qualitative terms are provided in Chapter 2, Description of ProposedAction and Alternatives.Table 3.2 Summary of Impacts 1 to Vegetation.ITAM ActivityAlternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3Short Term Long Term Short Term Long Term Short Term Long TermTRI Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Moderate SevereLRAM Minor Beneficial Minor Beneficial Severe SevereSRA Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Minor ModerateRTLA Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Severe SevereGIS Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Minor Minor1 Short-term impacts are defined as impacts lasting from ten days up to one year, or until vegetation has stabilized.Cumulative ImpactsPast impacts to vegetation resulted primarily from maneuver training exercises, construction of ranges,and construction of range and cantonment infrastructure. Impacts included clearing vegetation for roads,ranges, drop zones, landing strips, and camp sites. Constructed ranges have often required ongoingvegetation modification and some must remain free of high-standing vegetation, which preventsvegetation from progressing through successionary stages. Construction of designated roads has resultedin reduced off-road maneuver travel and vegetation disturbance (USARAK 2004). In 1994, USARAKbegan efforts to counteract the cumulative effects of military training by establishing the ITAM program.The greatest impacts to vegetation on installation lands are from military training activities, resulting insimilar impacts from past activities described above. The ITAM program was created to monitor, restore,and repair lands damaged by these activities in order to provide sustained use of military training landswhile also achieving long-term environmental sustainability. ITAM activities also ensure militarypersonnel are aware of requirements to minimize disturbances to vegetation. Although all current andplanned construction activities have the potential for minor adverse impacts to vegetation through_____________________________________________________________________________________________Environmental AssessmentUnited States Army Alaska, Integrated Training Area Management ProgramManagement Plan 29