[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8577-8581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02618]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R7-R-2012-N206; FXRS12650700000-134-FF07R06000]
Final Environmental Impact Statement; Izembek National Wildlife
Refuge Proposed Land Exchange/Road Corridor, Cold Bay, AK
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for a
proposed land exchange/road corridor on the Izembek National Wildlife
Refuge (Refuge), Alaska. We prepared this final EIS pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and its implementing
regulations. The Service is furnishing this notice to advise the public
and other agencies of availability of the final EIS.
DATES: The review period will end March 8, 2013. We are not soliciting
comments on the final EIS during this review period.
ADDRESSES: You may submit questions or requests for more information by
any one of the following methods:
Email: izembek_eis@fws.gov; include ``Izembek National Wildlife
Refuge final EIS'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: Attn: Stephanie Brady, Project Team Leader, (907) 786-3965.
U.S. Mail: Stephanie Brady, Project Team Leader, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Rd., MS-231, Anchorage, AK 99503.
In-Person Pickup or Drop-off: You may pick up a copy of the EIS or
drop off questions during regular business hours at the address listed
above.
You will find the final EIS, as well as information about the
process and a summary of the final EIS, on the Izembek refuge web site:
http://izembek.fws.gov/eis.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Brady, (907) 306-7448, or at
the addresses above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
In 2009 the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Act),
Public Law 111-11; 123 Stat. 991, was enacted. Subject to complying
with the requirements of the Act, it authorized the Secretary of the
Interior to enter into a land exchange between the Service
[[Page 8578]]
and State of Alaska and between the Service and the King Cove
Corporation for the purpose of constructing a single-lane gravel road
between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska, through
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The land exchange would involve the
removal of approximately 200 acres within the Izembek National Wildlife
Refuge, including lands within the Izembek Wilderness, for the road
corridor, and approximately 1,600 acres of Federal land within the
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge on Sitkinak Island. In
exchange, the Service would receive approximately 43,093 acres of land
owned by the State of Alaska and approximately 13,300 acres of land
owned by the King Cove Corporation. The lands from the State of Alaska
would be designated wilderness, as would the approximately 2,565 acres
of lands from the King Cove Corporation. These lands are located around
Cold Bay and adjacent to the North Creek Unit of Alaska Peninsula
National Wildlife Refuge.
With this notice, we continue the EIS process for the Izembek
National Wildlife Refuge land exchange/road corridor proposal. We
started this process with notices of intent in the Federal Register (74
FR 39336; August 6, 2009; 75 FR 8396; February 24, 2010), indicating
the beginning of the scoping period and publishing the dates and
locations of the scoping meetings. We also published a notice of
availability, announcing the release of the Draft EIS and the opening
of the public comment period (77 FR 16059; March 19, 2012)
The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge (417,533 acres) and the North
Creek (8,452 acres) and Pavlof (1,447,264 acres) units of the Alaska
Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge are located at the westernmost tip
of the Alaska Peninsula. To the north of the Izembek Refuge is the
Bering Sea; to the south is the Pacific Ocean. The Alaska Peninsula is
dominated by the rugged Aleutian Range, part of the Aleutian arc chain
of volcanoes. Landforms include mountains, active volcanoes, U-shaped
valleys, glacial moraines, low tundra wetlands, lakes, sand dunes, and
lagoons. Elevations range from sea level to the 9,372-foot Shishaldin
Volcano. Shishaldin Volcano is a designated National Natural Landmark.
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge stretches from the Arctic
Ocean to the southeast panhandle of Alaska and protects breeding
habitat for seabirds, marine mammals, and other wildlife on more than
2,500 islands, spires, rocks, and coastal headlands.
Background
On December 6, 1960, Public Land Order 2216 established the
498,000-acre Izembek National Wildlife Range, which included Izembek
Lagoon and its entire watershed near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula,
as ``a refuge, breeding ground and management area for all forms of
wildlife.'' Eighty-four thousand, two hundred acres of this national
wildlife range, including Izembek Lagoon, are State lands under the
Submerged Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1312. The State of Alaska established
the Izembek State Game Refuge to continue protecting the rare resources
of Izembek Lagoon in 1972. In December 1980, the Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA; Pub. L. 96-487) was enacted.
Section 303(3) redesignated the existing Izembek National Wildlife
Range, containing the 417,533-acre watershed surrounding Izembek
Lagoon, as the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
As described in ANILCA, Izembek Refuge purposes include the
following:
(i) To conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their
natural diversity;
(ii) To fulfill the international treaty obligations of the United
States with respect to fish and wildlife and their habitats;
(iii) To provide, in a manner consistent with the purposes set
forth in subparagraphs (i) and (ii), the opportunity for continued
subsistence uses by local residents; and
(iv) To ensure, to the maximum extent practicable and in a manner
consistent with the purposes set forth in paragraph (i), water quality
and necessary water quantity within the refuge.
Section 702(6) of ANILCA also designated 300,000 acres (72 percent)
of the Izembek Refuge as a wilderness area under the Wilderness Act.
The Wilderness Act creates additional purposes for designated
wilderness areas within refuge boundaries. Specifically, these areas
are to be managed ``for the use and enjoyment of the American people in
such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment
as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas,
the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering
and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as
wilderness.'' The Wilderness Act prohibits the construction of
permanent roads through a wilderness area designated under the Act.
The Izembek Refuge is inhabited by a diverse and abundant community
of fish and wildlife. Izembek Lagoon and adjacent coastal waters and
wetlands form one of the most important migratory bird staging habitats
in the world. In recognition of this, and for its importance to
internationally migrating birds, it was designated as a Globally
Important Bird Area by the American Bird Conservancy in 2001. Hundreds
of thousands of geese, ducks, and shorebirds use the Izembek Refuge's
wetlands and the adjacent lagoons to rest and feed during their long
migrations between arctic breeding areas and their diverse wintering
areas, some as far away as South America and New Zealand. Each spring
and fall, Izembek Lagoon provides staging habitat for more than 90
percent of the world's population of Pacific brant and many sea ducks
and other waterbirds winter at the Izembek Refuge and adjacent marine
waters.
Together, the Izembek Refuge and Izembek State Game Refuge, which
encompasses the tidelands of Izembek Lagoon, were recognized for the
area's extraordinary ecological values when they became one of the
first sites in North America to be designated a Wetland of
International Importance under the Ramsar convention, one of only 19
such sites within the United States. Izembek Lagoon supports some of
the most extensive remaining eelgrass meadows in the world, providing a
rich environment for waterbirds and other wildlife. Izembek Lagoon and
adjacent habitats qualify as a site of Regional Importance (hosts at
least 20,000 birds annually) and likely International Importance (hosts
at least 100,000 birds annually) in the Western Hemispheric Shorebird
Reserve Network. The lagoon's barrier islands protect the eelgrass
habitat and wildlife species from the dramatic storms of the Bering
Sea.
The Izembek Refuge also supports species of concern such as the
threatened Steller's eider, threatened sea otter, threatened Steller
sea lion, tundra swan, black brant, gray-bellied brant, and emperor
goose. Wildlife habitat throughout the Izembek Wilderness currently
maintains a high level of connectivity providing undisturbed habitat
for brown bear, caribou, moose, salmon and countless migratory birds.
Additionally, caribou use Izembek Refuge as wintering grounds and brown
bear use the area around the isthmus for denning. Red fox, wolves and
wolverines are found on the refuge and harbor seals can be seen along
the coastline and in the lagoons. Coho, chum, sockeye, and pink salmon
return in great numbers to the many streams of Izembek Refuge to spawn
each year.
[[Page 8579]]
The refuge also has a rich human history, from ancient settlements
of Alaska Natives, through the 18th and 19th century Russian fur
traders, to a World War II outpost. The Izembek Wilderness covers most
of the refuge and includes pristine streams, extensive wetlands, steep
mountains, tundra, and sand dunes, and provides high scenic, wildlife,
and scientific values, as well as outstanding opportunities for
solitude and primitive and unconfined recreation. Currently, the narrow
isthmus separating the Bering Sea from the North Pacific is not
fragmented by road construction and provides connectivity of habitat
for many species inhabiting the southern Alaska Peninsula region. In
addition to lands within Izembek Refuge, the land exchange involves
parcels on Sitkinak Island within Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge and parcels owned by the King Cove Corporation and the State of
Alaska located on the Alaska Peninsula. Sitkinak Island is primarily
owned by the State of Alaska, with two parcels owned by the Service.
The King Cove Corporation is an Alaska Native Village Corporation
established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (43
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (ANCSA). Under the authority of ANCSA, Congress
granted King Cove Corporation land entitlements within and adjacent to
Izembek Refuge. The State of Alaska also owns lands, submerged lands,
shorelands, and tidelands within and adjacent to Izembek and Alaska
Peninsula Refuges, including the Izembek State Game Refuge.
Prior legislation and an EIS also focused on providing access
between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay. The King Cove Health
and Safety Act (Section 353) of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 105-227) provided
appropriations of $37.5 million for the Aleutians East Borough to
construct a marine-road link between the communities of King Cove and
Cold Bay ($20 million). This law also provided an appropriation for
improvements to the King Cove Airport ($15 million) and King Cove
Clinic ($2.5 million). The conference committee report on this law
stated the committees agreed to these funds as an alternative to an
easement for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
wilderness area to address critical health and safety needs.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, completed the
King Cove Access Project EIS and issued a Record of Decision addressing
the marine-road link in 2003. The road was constructed to Lenard
Harbor, where hovercraft support facilities were installed. A
hovercraft was purchased and began operating in 2007. Hovercraft
transit service was provided by the Aleutians East Borough until
November 2010. Throughout this time, King Cove residents continued to
advocate for a road as the safest and most reliable transportation
system.
The extraordinary wildlife and wilderness resources of Izembek
National Wildlife Refuge have been recognized for their national and
international significance. Congress designated the wilderness area for
its outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive and unconfined
type of recreation. It contains outstanding ecological, geological, or
other features of scientific, educational, scenic, and historical
value. It has retained its primeval character and influence, without
permanent improvements or human habitation, and is currently managed to
protect and preserve its natural conditions. Section 6402(b) of the
Act, requires the Service to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
parts 1500-1508). The Act directs that the EIS analyze the proposed
land exchange and the potential construction and operation of a road
between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska. The Act
requires that the Service identify a specific road corridor through the
refuge for consideration in consultation with the State, the City of
King Cove, and the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove. Following completion of
the EIS and Record of Decision, if a land exchange alternative is
selected, section 6402(d) of the Act requires the Secretary to
determine whether the land exchange (including the construction of a
road between the City of King Cove, Alaska, and the Cold Bay Airport)
is in the public interest.
EIS Alternatives We Considered
Subject to complying with the requirements of the Act, the
Secretary of the Interior is authorized to consider a land exchange
between the Service and State of Alaska and between the Service and the
King Cove Corporation for the purpose of constructing a single-lane
gravel road between the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska.
The Act also required that we prepare this final EIS. The Agdaagux
Tribe of King Cove, Aleutians East Borough, City of King Cove, Federal
Highway Administration/Western Federal Lands, King Cove Corporation,
Native Village of Belkofski, State of Alaska, and U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Alaska District, are formal cooperators in the preparation
of this final EIS. The Service is the lead agency.
The final EIS includes evaluation of two specific potential road
corridors through the Izembek Refuge and Wilderness that were
identified in consultation with the State of Alaska, the City of King
Cove, and the Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove. We developed and evaluated
the following alternatives, summarized in the table and described
briefly below. A full description of each alternative is in the final
EIS.
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Alternative 1--no action Alternative 2 Alternative 3 Alternative 4 Alternative 5
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No land exchange. Continue Land exchange and Land exchange and Hovercraft Lenard Harbor
current modes of southern road northern operation 6 days ferry with Cold
transportation, including air alignment through alignment through per week from Bay dock
and marine. Izembek Refuge Izembek Refuge Northeast improvements
and Wilderness. and Wilderness. Hovercraft
Terminal to Cross
Wind Cove.
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Alternative 1--No Action
Under Alternative 1, the Service would not enter into a land
exchange with King Cove Corporation and the State of Alaska for the
purpose of constructing a road between King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska.
Current modes of transportation between the cities of King Cove and
Cold Bay would continue to operate, including air, personal marine
vessels, and a ferry service approximately twice per month in the
summer season. The Aleutians East Borough has indicated they have
considered an aluminum landing craft/passenger ferry to provide a
marine-road link between the Northeast Hovercraft Terminal and the
Cross Wind Cove if there is no land exchange.
According to the Borough, the vessel contemplated would accommodate
[[Page 8580]]
approximately 30 passengers, occasional wheeled vehicles/ambulances and
limited cargo. The vessel would operate between the Northeast
Hovercraft Terminal and Cross Wind Cove, the same route analyzed in the
2003 EIS for the hovercraft.
Alternative 2--Land Exchange and Southern Road Alignment
Alternative 2 proposes a land exchange between the Federal
government, State of Alaska, and King Cove Corporation as described in
the Proposed Action. The estimated amount of Federal land exchanged in
this alternative for the road corridor would be 201 acres, including
131 acres in Izembek Wilderness, assuming a 100-foot corridor width.
Alternative 3--Land Exchange and Central Road Alignment
Alternative 3 proposes a land exchange between the Federal
government, State of Alaska, and King Cove Corporation, as described in
the Proposed Action. The estimated amount of Federal land exchanged in
this alternative for the road corridor would be 227 acres, including
152 acres in Izembek Wilderness, assuming a 100-foot corridor width.
Alternative 4--Hovercraft Operations from the Northeast Hovercraft
Terminal to Cross Wind Cove (6 days per week)
Alternative 4 is the Proposed Action in the 2003 EIS for the King
Cove Access Project completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Alaska District. The alternative considered in this EIS would not
require further construction activities; the alternative will consider
operations of the hovercraft, as described in the 2003 EIS, for service
six days per week between the Northeast Hovercraft Terminal and the
Cross Wind Cove. As the draft EIS was approaching completion, the
Aleutians East Borough sent the Service a letter stating they will not
resume hovercraft service in the foreseeable future.
Alternative 5--Lenard Harbor Ferry with Cold Bay Dock Improvements
Alternative 5 would use a ferry to travel 14 miles between a
terminal in Lenard Harbor and a substantially modified Cold Bay dock.
This alternative is similar to an alternative that was analyzed in the
2003 EIS, with the exception of project elements that have been
permitted or constructed to date, including the access road to the
site, a terminal building with associated utility infrastructure, and a
parking area. However, the Lenard Harbor terminal structure has been
damaged by a storm, and would have to be replaced. Upgrades to the
parking area and security fencing would also be necessary. Ferry
service would be provided six days per week.
Preferred Alternative
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR 1502.14)
require agencies to identify the agency's preferred alternative in a
final EIS. Consistent with this requirement, the Service's preferred
alternative is Alternative 1, the no action alternative. This
alternative was so identified because it is believed to best meet
refuge purposes and the Service mission. While the proposed land
exchange would provide many more acres of land as part of the Refuge
System; the habitat values of these lands do not compare with the
habitat values of the areas within the proposed road corridors and do
not compensate for the effects that locating a road within the Izembek
Wilderness would have on wildlife, habitat, and wilderness values of
the refuge.
During preparation of the draft EIS, the cooperators met over 100
times. Most of the cooperators have met repeatedly with senior Service
and Department of the Interior officials to express their
recommendations for a preferred alternative. The identification of
Alternative 1 as the preferred alternative in the EIS was made by the
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as lead agency and is not preferred by
all the cooperators on the project.
The Izembek Refuge and Alaska Peninsula Refuge would receive over
55,000 acres offered by the State and King Cove Corporation in exchange
for de-designating approximately 200 acres of Izembek Refuge Wilderness
and transferring it to the State of Alaska for road construction. While
the over 55,000 acres offered contain important wildlife habitat, they
do not provide the wildlife diversity of the internationally recognized
wetland habitat of the Izembek isthmus. Simply exchanging lands will
not compensate for myriad ripple effects on habitat and wildlife due to
uses on and beyond the road, nor would new lands provide habitat for
all the same species. State lands and private lands adjacent to the
refuge to be traded to the Service are under no foreseeable threat.
While adding them to the National Wildlife Refuge System should insure
long-term protection; this would not compensate for the adverse effects
of removing a corridor of land and constructing a road within the
narrow Izembek isthmus.
The road is proposed to connect the communities of King Cove and
Cold Bay to provide King Cove residents access to emergency medical and
other services via the all-weather airport at Cold Bay. To address this
concern, the 1997 King Cove Health and Safety Act authorized funding
for a marine link between the communities and improvements to King
Cove's air strip and medical clinic. Congress recognized that these
funds were to provide emergency health and safety needs in the
community as an alternative to a road through the Izembek Refuge and
Wilderness. In 1998 Congress appropriated $37.5 million for these
improvements to: (1) Upgrade the medical clinic, (2) improve the King
Cove airstrip, and (3) create a transportation link between King Cove
and Cold Bay via a single lane, unpaved road from King Cove to a $10
million hovercraft and terminal. Facilities were constructed and a
hovercraft operated between the communities from 2006 to 2010. During
that time, the hovercraft successfully completed every medical
evacuation required during the periods each year it was operating.
Hovercraft service provided by the Aleutians East Borough was
suspended in November 2010. In November 2011 the Aleutians East Borough
announced that hovercraft service would not resume. Since operations
began in 2007, the Aleutians East Borough stated that there were issues
with operability and reliable service from Lenard Harbor. Revenue
generated by operations did not meet initial projections. The Aleutian
East Borough reports the hovercraft lost $1 million annually when
operating three days a week and that they do not plan to operate it
again. The Aleutians East Borough determined that it could not sustain
these costs. With no further hovercraft service planned for the
community of King Cove, the hovercraft was modified and transferred to
Akutan in the Aleutian Islands in 2012 where it is supposed to provide
a transportation link between the City of Akutan and the Akutan Airport
on Akun Island.
In a February 24, 2012 letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
the Aleutians East Borough stated it is exploring an aluminum landing
craft/passenger ferry to provide a marine-road link between the
communities of King Cove and Cold Bay if a land exchange and road
corridor is not approved. This letter states that ``It is the fervent
hope'' of the Aleutians East Borough, the City of King Cove, the King
Cove Corporation and the Agdaagux and Belkofski Tribes that the
Secretary of the Interior will approve the land exchange. If the
Secretary does not approve the land
[[Page 8581]]
exchange, the Aleutians East Borough ``will develop an alternative
transportation link between King Cove and Cold Bay. Any alternative we
develop will include the utilization of the road to Northeast Corner
and associated facilities, now being constructed under the King Cove
Health and Safety Act . . .. A transportation link the Borough is
exploring (and we believe holds promise) is an aluminum landing craft/
passenger ferry.'' The Borough hopes that this type of a transportation
link could be more technically and financially viable than a
hovercraft.
Thus a landing craft or other ferry or the hovercraft is a
potential means of providing emergency access; the economic choices
relative to use of these vessels for providing access are the purview
of the Aleutians East Borough.
Public Involvement
We are releasing the final EIS for a 30-day public review period.
We are not soliciting public comments at this time. The Service has
afforded government agencies, tribes, and the public extensive
opportunity to participate in the preparation of this EIS.
We started the EIS for the Izembek Refuge land exchange/road
corridor in August 2009. At that time and throughout the planning
process, we requested public comments and considered and incorporated
them in numerous ways.
To gather additional input from the public, we held seven public
open house meetings--five in communities adjacent to or within the
boundaries of the Izembek Refuge; one in Washington, DC; and one in
Anchorage, Alaska.
We considered and evaluated these issues and public concerns, and
used them to develop various aspects of the draft EIS. We published the
draft EIS on March 19, 2012, for public review. The comment period
closed on May 18, 2012. During that time, we held four face-to-face
public meetings in Anchorage, Sand Point, Cold Bay, and King Cove,
Alaska and via a conference call with the communities of False Pass and
Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. All meetings were recorded and transcripts are
available on the Izembek Web site and in the final EIS.
Individuals and organizations provided a total of 71,960 comments
during the public comment period. The responses came in the form of
emails, faxes, letters, and public hearing transcripts. Approximately
76 people spoke at the six public meetings. The comments were reviewed,
coded, analyzed, and developed into statements of concern. Comments
were sorted into broad issue groups, including:
1. Regulatory compliance;
2. Purpose and need;
3. Proposed action, alternatives, and mitigation measures;
4. Affected environment and environmental consequences; and
5. General.
We considered and evaluated these issues and public concerns, and
used them to develop various aspects of the final EIS.
Changes to the Final EIS
We made the following changes in the final EIS from the draft EIS:
No action: As indicated in the draft EIS, we have revised the no
action alternative in the final EIS. The Aleutians East Borough ceased
to operate the hovercraft and has indicated that if the Secretary does
not approve the proposed road, they will pursue a landing craft as a
marine link between the Northeast corner to Cold Bay. Therefore, we
updated the no action to reflect the latest information provided by the
Aleutians East Borough.
Impact summaries: Some impacts were re-classified and are reflected
in the final EIS.
Socioeconomic data: The final EIS reflects the re-analysis of the
socioeconomic data with the 2010 census data. However, this re-analysis
did not yield any changes in the impact analysis.
Comments
We are not soliciting comments at this time. This release is
intended to allow the public a period of review. Appendix C of the
final EIS includes a summary report of public comments received during
the scoping period. Appendix G of the final EIS contains a summary of
public comments received on the draft EIS and the Service's responses
to substantive comments, and includes samples of public comments
received on the draft EIS.
Next Steps
Following conclusion of the 30-day public review period, a Record
of Decision (ROD) will be signed, in which we disclose the Service's
final decision and any conditions of approval. Availability of the ROD
will be announced through the Federal Register, a press release, the
refuge's web site, and communications with those on the EIS mailing
list.
Dated: January 25, 2013.
Geoffrey L. Haskett,
Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2013-02618 Filed 2-5-13; 8:45 am]
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