Ecologically Critical Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Other Unique Natural Areas
Crater Lake National Park is an important natural area and has unique and fragile areas including Llao Rock, Pumice Desert, Desert Creek, Sphagnum Bog Research Natural Areas, Boundary Springs, Sand Creek Pinnacles, and Thousand Springs. The proposed action would not threaten the qualities and resources that make these areas or Crater Lake National Park special. There is proposed critical habitat for the bull trout. Proposed habitat for the bull trout is outside of the project area (Bowerman pers. comm. 2003). There are no existing or potential Wild and Scenic Rivers within the park. Therefore, Wild and Scenic Rivers was dismissed as an impact topic in this environmental assessment.
Floodplains, Water Quality, and Wetlands
Executive Order 11988 (Floodplain Management) requires an examination of impacts to floodplains and potential risk involved in placing facilities within floodplains. NPS Management Policies, Director’s Order – 2: Planning Guidelines, and Director’s Order – 12: Conservation Planning, Environmental Impact Analysis, and Decision-making provide guidelines for proposals in floodplains. The 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended by the Clean Water Act of 1977, is a national policy to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters; to enhance the quality of water resources; and to prevent, control, and abate water pollution. NPS Management Policies provide direction for the preservation, use, and quality of water in national parks. Executive Order 11990 (Protection of Wetlands) requires an examination of impacts to wetlands.
The construction limits are outside of floodplains and not near water bodies. Floodplains and water quality would not be affected by the proposed action. There are no jurisdictional or National Park Service-defined wetlands within the project area. Therefore, floodplains, water quality, and wetlands was dismissed as an impact topic in this environmental assessment.
Cultural Landscapes
As described by the National Park Service Cultural Resource Management Guideline (Director’s Order – 28), a cultural landscape is: “…a reflection of human adaptation and use of natural resources and is often expressed in the way land is organized and divided, patterns of settlement, land use, systems of circulation, and the types of structures that are built. The character of a cultural landscape is defined both by physical materials, such as roads, buildings, walls, and vegetation, and by use reflecting cultural values and traditions.” There are no cultural landscape features identified in the immediate area of the road corridor that could be affected by current project actions; therefore, cultural landscapes were dismissed as an impact topic in this environmental assessment.
Ethnographic Resources
The National Park Service defines ethnographic resources as any “site, structure, object, landscape, or natural resource feature assigned traditional legendary, religious, subsistence, or other significance in the cultural system of a group traditionally associated with it” (Director’s Order – 28: Cultural Resource Management Guideline, p.181). Because no ethnographic resources are known to exist in or in proximity to the project area (S.M. pers. comm. 2002), ethnographic resources were dismissed as an impact topic in this environmental assessment.
Indian Trust Resources
Secretarial Order 3175 requires that any anticipated impacts to Indian trust resources from a proposed project or action by Department of Interior agencies be explicitly addressed in environmental documents. The federal Indian trust responsibility is a legally enforceable fiduciary obligation on the part of the United States to protect tribal lands, assets, resources, and treaty rights, and it represents a duty to carry out the mandates of federal law with respect to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.
There are no Indian trust resources in Crater Lake National Park. The lands comprising Crater Lake National Park are not held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of Indians due to their status as Indians. Therefore, Wild and Indian trust resources was dismissed as an impact topic in this environmental assessment.
