Integrated Training Area Management EA and Final FNSI

Long-term beneficial impacts to wildlife and fisheries would result from habitat improvement projectsincluding revegetation projects that prevent erosion, stabilize soils, and restore native flora and importantforage and habitat for wildlife. Streambank stabilization practices, such as willow fascines and otherbioengineering techniques, would greatly benefit fisheries habitat as well as provide increased forage andhabitat for wildlife in riparian areas. Vegetation management practices would improve wildlife habitat byproviding clearings important for edge species and by protecting existing vegetation. Estimated acresimpacted from vegetation management activities over the next five years are approximately 20 acres atFort Richardson, 140 acres at Fort Wainwright, and 900 acres at Donnelly Training Area (Appendix A).Of the 900 acres impacted at Donnelly Training Area, approximately 570 acres of impact would resultfrom a prescribed burn at Buffalo Drop Zone, a previously cleared area.Installation of barb dikes or thalweg deflectors would have short-term adverse impacts duringconstruction due to downstream siltation. Once installed, they would improve fisheries habitat by creatingincreasing pools in streams. Gabion installation would benefit desired fish species by excluding nondesiredfish from upstream migration (e.g. longnose sucker) and preventing them from out-competingdesired fish species (e.g. salmon).RTLAThe RTLA program would include avian, wetlands, vegetation, small mammal, and large mammalmonitoring. Aerial monitoring would be conducted at Fort Wainwright and Donnelly Training Area andremote areas of Fort Richardson. Aerial surveys at Fort Wainwright and Donnelly Training Area areconducted mainly to monitor trumpeter swan nesting and broods and bison calving and tracking. Theestimated flight time for swan surveys for 2005 is 80 hours (Kellie Peirce, personal communication2005). Minor short-term adverse impacts may result from monitoring conducted by small plane orhelicopter. For more information on noise impacts, see Section 3.11, Noise.Long-term beneficial impacts to wildlife and fisheries result form RTLA monitoring. Monitoring datawould be used by Army environmental staff to guide and prioritize natural resource managementdecisions. Initial monitoring data would be used as a baseline from which future studies can be compared.Long-term monitoring would provide data to study trends in habitat and wildlife and fish populations.This data can be used to adaptively manage Army training and testing activities.Alternative 2: Implement ITAM Program through a Management Plan (Proposed Action)Under this alternative, the ITAM program would be implemented through a management plan that wouldinclude standard operating procedures for LRAM and RTLA projects. Impacts to wildlife and fisheries onUSARAK lands due to TRI, LRAM, SRA, RTLA, and GIS activities would be similar to those describedunder the No Action Alternative. Implementing standard operating procedures for the LRAM and RTLPprograms would ensure consistent land management and monitoring practices. Standardizing procedureswould especially benefit LRAM activities, since adherence to best management practices (Appendix B)would increase efficiency and may reduce short-term impacts to wildlife and fisheries during projectconstruction.Alternative 3: Suspend ITAM ProgramUnder Alternative 3, all components of the ITAM program would discontinue operation. Training landrehabilitation, maintenance, and range improvements would cease despite continued use of land for Armytraining. In the absence of LRAM and RTLA activities, wildlife would not be disturbed by constructionand monitoring. However, the benefits of LRAM and RTLA for improving and monitoring habitat and_____________________________________________________________________________________________Environmental AssessmentUnited States Army Alaska, Integrated Training Area Management ProgramManagement Plan 42