Integrated Training Area Management EA and Final FNSI

Aerial wildlife monitoring would continue at all installations but would not close airspace or incurairspace restrictions that would affect the general aviation community. At Fort Richardson, historicalaverage total flight time is approximately ten hours annually. At Fort Wainwright and Donnelly TrainingArea, flight time is 2004 totaled 53 hours and is projected at 80 hours for 2005. Occasionally (once every5-10 years), remote sites would be accessed for monitoring by helicopter and would generally be short induration (15-30 minutes).While RTLA monitoring activities would not directly affect public access, they would benefit publicrecreation by helping monitor and maintain healthy ecosystems. Additionally, wildlife monitoring wouldprovide information necessary to minimize impacts of training on wildlife and recreational huntingopportunities.GISGIS support would be provided to all components of the ITAM program as an important asset for bothmilitary training and natural and cultural resources management. It would allow all components of theITAM program to be more effective at managing and sustaining natural resources on USARAK lands,thus providing better recreational opportunities for the public.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 public access andrecreation due to TRI, LRAM, SRA, RTLA, and GIS activities would be similar to those described underthe No Action Alternative.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 could cause safety hazards, loss ofvegetation, and loss of useable land for both training and public recreation. Training lands woulddeteriorate over time, resulting in reduced aesthetics and increased impediments to public access due topoor environmental conditions and lack of road and trail maintenance. Areas could increasingly be closedto public access due to poor training land condition and its inability to sustain multiple uses. In particular,canceling the LRAM program, which is primarily responsible for the maintenance of natural resources onUSARAK training lands, and the RTLA program, which is responsible for monitoring the biologicalimpacts of military training, would have an increasingly adverse impact on public access and recreation.The following table presents a summary of qualitative impacts to public access and recreation resultingfrom each alternative. Descriptions of the qualitative terms are provided in Chapter 2, Description ofProposed Action and Alternatives.Table 3.7 Summary of Impacts 1 to Public Access and Recreation.Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3ITAM ActivityShort Term Long Term Short Term Long Term Short Term Long TermTRI Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Minor MinorLRAM Minor Beneficial Minor Beneficial Moderate SevereSRA Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Minor MinorRTLA Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Minor ModerateGIS Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Beneficial Minor Minor1 Short-term impacts are defined as impacts lasting from ten days up to one year, or for the duration of a project._____________________________________________________________________________________________Environmental AssessmentUnited States Army Alaska, Integrated Training Area Management ProgramManagement Plan 53