Integrated Training Area Management EA and Final FNSI

Impact Area, Wills Range Complex, Buffalo DZ, Eddy DZ, Donnelly West, Hays Lake, Delta RiverBison Range, and Bolio Lake Impact Area.3.6.2 Environmental ConsequencesAlternative 1: Continue ITAM Program without a Management Plan (No Action)Under the No Action Alternative, the ITAM program would continue without a management plan. TheTRI, LRAM, SRA, RTLA and GIS components of the ITAM program would continue to have beneficialimpacts on fire management. The TRI program would improve fire management by helping ensure landmanagement practices that integrate consideration of natural resource conditions (including fire risk) withrange operations and training requirements. Impacts of the LRAM, SRA, RTLA, and GIS programs onfire management are discussed below.LRAMLRAM projects would reduce long-term impacts of training and testing by combining preventive andcorrective land reclamation, reshaping, rehabilitation, repair, and maintenance practices. Some of theseprojects would have the added benefit of improving fire management. Road crossings, road and padhardening, and maneuver trail upgrade and maintenance would provide flatter, more solid surfaces for firefighting vehicle movement and may allow faster response times. Hardening low water crossings wouldalso improve vehicle passage over waterways. Projected maneuver trail upgrade and road/pad hardeningprojects for the next five years include approximately 85 acres impacted at Fort Richardson, 245 acres atFort Wainwright, and 135 acres at Donnelly Training Area (Appendix A). Since these projects involvemaintenance and repair of existing range and training land infrastructure, the majority of these projectswould be improvements to existing roads and not creation of new ones.Revegetation practices would also result in reduced fire risk. Revegetation would use native seed mixrecommendations from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Cooperative Extension Service. Deliberateuse of these native mixes would prevent invasive species, which tend to be more fire prone, fromestablishing in areas with disturbed soils. Vegetation thinning and clearing (hand or mechanical) would beconducted for fuel reduction and fuel break projects. Prescribed burns in areas with woody vegetation andgrasses greater than one acre in size would be used to reduce fuels and release plant nutrients into the soil.Installation of berms behind firing targets would minimize ricochet, capture munitions, and reduceaccidental fire starts. Installation of fire/fuel breaks and trenches would assist fire-fighting efforts. Firesuppression would involve using shovels and pulaskis to extinguish small fires, or spraying water orchemicals using backpack sprayers, trucks or helicopters. Projected thinning projects for the next fiveyears include approximately 20 acres impacted at Fort Richardson and 140 acres at Fort Wainwright.About 100 acres impacted by mowing and 800 impacted by burning are projected at Donnelly TrainingArea. Installation of a firebreak is projected at Fort Wainwright and would impact 37 acres (Appendix A).SRAThis program would ensure soldiers are aware of specific environmental concerns, regulations andrestrictions intended to minimize natural resource impacts. SRA guidelines would include procedures forusing fire during training events, such as burning excess powder charges in burn pans and using onlyfallen shrubs/trees for firewood. Guidelines would also remind soldiers that clearance from Range Controlis required before any burning activity takes place; open fires are prohibited except in emergencies or aspart of an approved training exercise; fires are prohibited from June to October when fire danger is high;use of pyrotechnics, smoke pots, and grenades may be restricted when fire danger is high; and smokegrenades and star cluster flares are only to be used in case of emergency when fire danger is high. For_____________________________________________________________________________________________Environmental AssessmentUnited States Army Alaska, Integrated Training Area Management ProgramManagement Plan 47