Public Rock Collection Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District, White River national Forest Eagle County, Colorado T7S, R80W, Section 18 & T6S, R84W, Section 16 Comments Welcome The Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District of the White River National Forest welcomes your comments on its proposal to develop a public rock collection program which would allow the public (non-commercial entities only) to acquire a permit to collect decorative rocks from a designated community site(s). Your comments will help us complete an environmental assessment. The assessment will be used to determine whether to prepare an environmental impact statement or a finding of no significant impact. Instructions for submitting comments are described on the last page. Background This project is being introduced to satisfy public demand for low volume sales of decorative rock. Staff members receive approximately six requests per office per season, for a total of 12 inquiries across the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District. It is also assumed that many more individuals illegally collect rocks without ever inquiring at the Ranger District. District staff members have observed the public illegally collecting decorative rocks from forest lands for many years prior. Because of the combination of requests and the knowledge that illegal collection is occurring the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District is proposing to implement a program that would allow the public a legal manner to collect small quantities of decorative rock. Purpose and Need for Action The purpose and need for this project is to designate one or more community sites open to public rock collection under a permit system on the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District. Permits would be issued for personal use only, and commercial entities would be prohibited from obtaining those permits. The need for a public rock collection program is evidenced by the average number of phone inquiries (12 per year) that staff receive related to collecting rock on forest lands. Additionally, the need for a formal rock collection program is shown by the amount of illegal rock collection that is currently occurring on the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District. Every summer, field going employees observe the public illegally collecting decorative rocks across the forest.
Proposed Action To address the purpose and need, the Forest Service proposes to establish a permitted rock collection program on the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District. This program would allow the public (non-commercial entities only) to obtain a permit to collect decorative rocks from a designated community site(s). The permit would be sold at fair market value for the type of rock collected, and could be obtained at either the Eagle or Holy Cross Ranger District offices during normal business hours. The permit would be good for two week duration the year it was purchased. Collection would generally be allowed between May 1 and November 15 each year, although access to each site may not be available at all times during the open collection period because of snow levels and road conditions. Two sites were determined to be suitable for public rock collection: No Name: located approximately 11 miles southeast of Minturn along National Forest System Road (NFSR) 705 in section 18, Township 7 South, Range 80 West. The NFSR 705 is an improved dirt road which would allow access to vehicles without high clearance or 4-wheel drive. The proposed rock collection site is less than one acre and has approximately 8,000 cubic yards of quartzite rock. The forested vegetation at this site consists mostly of Engelmann spruce, sub-alpine fir and lodgepole pine tree species. The elevation is approximately 10,520 feet. Frost Creek: located approximately 8 miles south of Eagle off of NFSR 441 in section 16, Township 6 South, Range 84 West. The NFSR 441 is an improved dirt road which would allow access to vehicles without high clearance or 4-wheel drive. The proposed rock collection site is less than one acre and has approximately 13,000 cubic yards of reddish brown sandstone rock. The forested vegetation at this site consists mostly of Engelmann spruce, sub-alpine fir, aspen, lodgepole pine, and minor amounts of Douglas-fir tree species. The elevation is approximately 9,640 feet.
Management Direction The proposed action aligns with goals, objectives, and strategies from the 2002 White River National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) specifically; This action responds to the goals and objectives outlined in the 2002 revised White River National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan), and helps move the project area towards desired conditions described in that plan: over the life of the plan, provide for mineral materials when the national forest is the only available source for these materials. (pages 1-12) The Forest Plan gives specific direction on how the Forest Service manages different land areas. These land management areas define where different management activities may be carried out and where different kinds of public uses occur. Each area is defined by a primary management theme, a management area description, and a set of elements that guide the activities taking place in it. All lands administered by WRNF are managed according to these prescriptions. This proposal conforms to forest wide geology, mineral, and energy resources standards. The proposal conforms to management area standards and guidelines for Management Areas 5.13, 5.41, and 8.32. For more information, a copy of the Forest Plan is available upon request at district offices or at: www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver/projects/forest_plan/index.shtml. The project will be designed to conform to the Forest Plan and all other laws, regulations and policies. Forest plans and guidelines will be applied as appropriate to meet Forest Plan goals and desired conditions.
Nature of Decision to be Made For this project, the responsible official is the Eagle-Holy Cross District Ranger. Given the purpose and need, the responsible official will review the proposed action and other alternatives in order to make the following decisions: Should the Forest Service allow the public (non-commercial) to collect decorative rock from designated sites at fair market value? If so, which of the proposed sites should be available for public use? What design criteria if any are necessary? Public Involvement The project was first listed in the Schedule of Proposed Actions in March 2011 and updates are provided quarterly. Further information about this project can be found on our website at www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=35346 Alternatives to the Proposed Action No Action The EA may document consideration of a no-action alternative through the effects analysis by contrasting the impacts of the proposed action and any alternative(s) with the current condition and expected future condition if the proposed action were not implemented (36 CFR 220.7(b)(2(ii). Under the No Action Alternative, there would be no change to present condition Other Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Detailed Study Initially six sites were proposed for a detailed analysis, but four sites were dismissed due to insufficient quantities of rock material and public safety concerns. Effects and Issues to Consider The environmental assessment will address the effects of the proposed action to: Botany, and noxious weeds, Fisheries and biology resources. The assessment will be issue-driven and contain detail commensurate to the degree to which a resource may be affected. Issues are unresolved conflicts that arise as a result of the proposed action. The Forest Service has identified the following issues to be considered and analyzed: Issue #1: Botany and Noxious Weeds The proposed action would result in disturbance of the soil by removal and transportation of rocks. This would result in the crushing of plants, changes in erosion which may expose or bury plants, changes in hydrology which may result in too much or too little water and the increase in solar radiation to the soils surface which may result in heating of the soil surface and affect plants and symbiotic fungi that they rely on. This disturbance may also result in the increase in available habitat for disturbance related species such as genus Botrychium.
Past, current and reasonably foreseeable activities that have led to distribution of plant habitat in the project area are: motorized and non-motorized recreation. Trail/road building and maintenance, cattle grazing, hazard tree mitigation, timber harvest and treatment of invasive species with the determination of: May impact individuals but is not likely to cause a trend towards Federal listing or result in loss of viability in the planning area for region 2 sensitive species and no effect for TEP species for the proposed action. For proposed action: With no known occurrences and no potential habitat for TEP species in the project area the determination would be No Effect Issue #2: Fisheries and Wildlife Biology Resources Under the proposed action Public Rock Collection Sites would be authorized. No aquatic habitat is associated with the proposed project so there are no anticipated effects to aquatic habitat. Since no effect of proposed activities to aquatic TEP, Forest sensitive or Aquatic MIS species are expected as a result of the authorization of public rock collection sites, no additional accumulative effects would be expected. The proposed Frost Creek site has a small creek immediately adjacent to it with mature multi-story forest, shaded understory, coarse woody debris, and moist soils this site provides potential pygmy shrew habitat. While permitted rock collecting would not be allowed in the creek, this site has potential for additional soil compaction and disturbance along and within the creek. Parking vehicles, repeated foot and wheel-barrow trips, extraction along roads and incidental disturbance of coarse wood debris on the edge of the creek/forested area has the potential to compact pygmy shrew habitat, individuals and demes (local interbreeding populations). The habitat of this species fragment very easily, even from foot traffic. While some terrestrial wildlife species can cope with some level of habitat fragmentation, pygmy shrew cannot. Pygmy shrew s extremely small size and fragile bone structure, voracious appetite, very short life span, isolated populations, and it s breeding, foraging and disposal behaviors limit its ability to cope with habitat fragmentation and increase its vulnerability. Fragmented pygmy shrew habitat has the potential to isolate individuals of local breeding populations from one another. Soil compaction occurring during August, when the species breeds, could crush individuals, including newborn offspring. These effects could negatively affect recruitment, population size, and genetic viability. A design feature exists to prohibit vehicles and people from compacting more soil by placing boulders along roadside and to keep them on already compacted soil. Thus minor effects to pygmy shrew habitat and individuals would be expected. Other issues raised in response to this notice of proposed action will be considered and addressed in the environmental analysis. Issues may be addressed through modification of the proposed action, development of an alternative, or mitigation measures.
Comment Process The proposed project is an activity implementing a land management plan and subject to the objection process described in 36 CFR 218 Subparts A and B. The Forest Service is combining scoping with the legal notice and opportunity to comment, as described in 218.24. The public is encouraged to provide specific written comments on this proposal, including supporting reasons for the responsible official to consider. Specific written comments are within the scope of and have a direct relationship to the proposed action. Written comments will be accepted for 30 calendar days following the publication of a legal notice in the Vail Daily. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the comment period. The regulations prohibit extending the length of the comment period. Written comments must be submitted via mail, fax, electronically, or in person (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays) to: Glenn Davis c/o David Neely, District Ranger, 120 Midland Ave., Suite 14, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 FAX: (970) 945-9029. Electronic comments including attachments can be submitted to https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/public/commentinput?project=35346. It is the responsibility of persons providing comments to submit them by the close of the comment period. Only those who submit timely and specific written comments will have eligibility to file an objection under 218.8. For objection eligibility, each individual or representative from each entity submitting timely and specific written comments must either sign the comment or verify identity upon request. Individuals and organizations wishing to be eligible to object must meet the information requirements in 218.25(a)(3). Names and contact information submitted with comments will become part of the public record and may be released under the Freedom of Information Act. If the agency determines there are no significant impacts, that finding along with the EA and a draft decision notice will be published for a 45-day objection period. If no specific written comments are received during the designated opportunity for comment, the project will not be subject to objection. If the EA concludes there is potential for significant impacts, then an environmental impact statement will need to be prepared. Additional information regarding this action can be obtained from: Glenn Davis, 120 Midland Ave., Suite 140 in Glenwood Springs, (970) 945-3236 or gddavis@fs.fed.us. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.