Innovative Approaches to Wildlife/Highway Interactions The “Seven Dwarfs”

 Often overlooked highway project planning elements  May be outside ROW, so may be missed in NEPA  Elements require analysis, clearance, documentation, permits  Don’t delay consideration

The “Seven Dwarfs” 1.Borrow and Waste Sites/Material Balance 2.Contractor’s Staging Areas 3.Water for Construction 4.Access for Construction or Geotechnical Investigation

The “Seven Dwarfs” 5.Utility Placement or Replacement 6.Mitigation Projects 7.Impact of Outside Agencies and Direction

1. Borrow and Waste Sites  Material balance to handle large volumes of moved earth  Requires temporary or permanent storage location  NEPA analysis needs to include impacts to sites

2. Contractor’s Staging Areas- Issues  Large equipment needed for construction  May be large numbers of vehicles  Supplies may include trailers, culverts, gravel, construction materials  Need large areas of flat ground

2. Contractor’s Staging Areas- Things to Remember  Carefully choose and analyze staging area  Avoid placing adjacent to important wildlife areas  Have appropriate clearances  Include restoration plan

3. Water for Construction- Issues  Construction requires huge volumes of water  Up to 6 million gallons/day  Surface water can be readily depleted  Aquatic resources impacted

3. Water for Construction- Things to Remember  Carefully analyze withdrawal sites  Define and enforce maximum daily and seasonal withdrawal limits  Consider seasons of use and any seasonal impact on fish and wildlife  Place limited operating season on withdrawal site if necessary

4. Access for Construction or Geotechnical Investigation  May need to access future highway location with a temporary road  May be far different from future alignment  May be outside ROW  Detours may affect many acres if speed is retained

4. Access for Construction or Geotechnical Investigation  Don’t leave access roads out of NEPA investigation  Early consideration avoids construction delays  Determine mitigation for access roads when no longer needed (gates, removal)  Install barriers when open to restrict public access  Remember seasonal timing restrictions for sensitive wildlife areas

5. Utilities-Issues  Frequently co-located with highway  New placement may require different routings for each utility  Often located outside ROW  Clearances often needed for pole placement  Several companies may be involved

5. Utilities-- Things to Remember  Realignment offers chance to reassess  Consider underground utility placement  Determine responsibility and level of maintenance for any closed roads  Don’t forget to include all utilities in decisions

6. Mitigation Projects- Issues  Mitigation also requires NEPA analysis and clearances  May be far outside ROW  Usually interagency, long-term agreements  May not be completely funded from highway project  Monitoring is strongly recommended

6. Mitigation-Things to Remember  Determine who is responsible for planning, funding and implementation  Document in MOU (this helps in case of changes in personnel too)  Develop monitoring plan prior to issuance of Letter of Consent

7. Impact of Outside Agencies Issues  Failure to plan for and obtain necessary permits causes project delays  Consider all regulations, permits needed, FWS consultation requirements  State DOT and FHWA interpret NEPA differently, particularly on timing  Rapid pace can allow details to ‘fall through the cracks’

7. Impact of Outside Agencies Things to Remember  It is Forest Service’s responsibility to ensure all applicable laws, regulation and policy are followed  Involve necessary specialists by informing them of projects early and often  Do not issue Letter of Consent without ensuring MOU enforcement of applicable environmental laws is followed