Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement Relevant to an Application for a Section 404 Permit, Federal Land Exchange and Ski Area Development; Adam's Rib Recreation Area Development Eagle County, Colorado

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement Relevant to an

Application for a Section 404 Permit, Federal Land Exchange and Ski

Area Development; Adam's Rib Recreation Area Development Eagle County,

Colorado

LEAD AGENCY: Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

Sacramento District. Responsible Official: Larry Vinzant.

COOPERATING AGENCIES: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest

Service, White River National Forest, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601.

Responsible Official: Veto J. LaSalle, Forest Supervisor.

U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Junction

Field Office, 529 25\1/2\ Road, Suite B-113, Grand Junction, CO 81505.

Responsible Official: Keith Rose.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region VIII, One Denver Place, Suite

13, Denver, CO 80202. Responsible Official: William Yellowtail.

Colorado Department of Natural Resources, 1313 Sherman Street, Room

718, Denver, CO 80203. Responsible Official: Jim Lockhead.

County of Eagle, 551 Broadway, Eagle, CO 81631. Responsible Official:

County Commissioners.

ACTION: Supplemental Notice Of Intent. Prior Notice of Intent, Federal

Register June 17, 1993, Volume 58, No. 115, pages 33436-33437.

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SUMMARY: The Corps of Engineers published in the Federal Register, on

June 17, 1993, its intent to prepare a supplemental draft Environmental

Impact Statement (sdEIS) relevant to an application for a Section 404

permit to place fill material into wetlands adjacent to East Brush

Creek, Eagle County, Colorado, for the construction of commercial/

residential development attendant to a four-season resort. This sdEIS

is a prelude for preparing a Final EIS prior to a permit decision on

the proposed development. The applicant, Kummer Development Corporation

dba Adam's Rib Recreation Area, has applied for a permit to fill

approximately 25 acres of montane wetlands pursuant to the development

which would include 250,000 square feet of commercial space, 4,281

residential units, and 1,440 lodging rooms, employee housing, golfing

and skiing for 9,000 skiers-at-one-time on Adam Mountain and Mount Eve.

The USDA-Forest Service, as a Cooperating Agency, through this

Notice, intends to directly participate with the Corps of Engineers to

include analyses for impacts to wetlands and waters of the U.S. for the

ski mountain and a potential Federal land exchange with the applicant

for NEPA compliance. Any additional analyses shall tier into this

sdEIS. Also, the sdEIS will disclose environmental effects to public

lands regarding development of the ski area portion of the Adam's Rib

Recreation Area. Kummer Development Corporation dba Adam's Rib

Recreation Area was issued a special use permit by the Forest

Supervisor, White River National Forest, December 15, 1983 to occupy

approximately 2,920 acres of National Forest System lands. The special

use permit authorities construction of the ski area portion of the

Adam's Rib Recreation Area upon acceptance of a detailed development

plan. The impacts of the detailed development plan will be disclosed in

the sdEIS. The existing special use permit is still in effect and will

not be available in the sdEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action

and sdEIS should be directed to either, Larry Vinzant at U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Section-Room 1444, 1325 J Street,

Sacramento, California 95814-2972, telephone (916) 557-5263 or Kit

Buell, Project Coordinator, U.S. Forest Service, White River National

Forest, P.O. Box 948, Glenwood Springs, Colorado 81601, telephone (303)

945-2521.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant proposes to fill approximately

25 acres of montane wetlands dominated by various species of willow,

sledge and rush. Nearly all wetland fill would be located on private

land in Vassar Meadow; additional development would occur in Joe Goode

Meadow, Woodrun, No Name drainage, adjacent to Brush Creek (i.e., golf

course and residences) and on the ski mountain. The U.S. Forest Service

issued a special use permit for the ski mountain in 1983. On March 3,

1987, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a Notice of Intent in

the Federal Register to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS). A draft titled ``Adam's Rib Recreation Area, Eagle, Colorado''

was published in October 1989. A Notice of Availability for this

document was published in the Federal Register on November 3, 1989. The

applicant's preferred alternative resulted in a request for a permit to

fill approximately 70 acres of wetlands in the project area. This

acreage of wetland fill was later reduced to approximately 46 acres.

This permit was denied in February 1993.

The applicant has since modified the proposal to fill approximately

25 acres of wetland. To avoid wetlands, the applicant's preferred

alternative has resulted in a relocation of the base area to the west.

A lateral moraine known as Adam's Rib would be excavated, with the

excavated material placed in the adjacent No Name drainage and portions

of Vassar meadow. The reduced Adam's Rib and the No Name drainage would

be the location of the base area. Part of the applicant's preferred

alternative includes a land exchange with the Forest Service. This

sdEIS will supplement and supplant information currently available in

the draft EIS.

Alternatives (Section 404 Permit and Federal Land Exchange)

Alternatives that will be considered for detailed evaluation will

include:

(1) Base area development on Adam's Rib and No Name drainage with a

land exchange with the Forest Service (applicant's preferred

alternative).

(2) Same as alternative 1, but no land exchange.

(3) Base area development in Vassar Meadow.

(4) Reasonable variations to the applicant's preferred alternative

that would reduce adverse impacts, for example, to wetlands.

(5) No Action.

Alternatives (Ski Mountain Development)

(1) Ski Area Master Development Plan as proposed to the Forest

Service, December, 1993.

(2) Reasonable variations to the applicant's proposal that would

reduce adverse impacts to natural resources on National Forest System

lands.

Scoping (Section 404 permitting)

The Corps issued a scoping notice in conjunction with the Notice of

Intent to prepare the draft EIS in 1987. Additionally, the Corps

accepted comments on the draft EIS, conducted a Public Hearing in

February, 1990 in Gypsum, Colorado, and has coordinated closely with

resource agencies and the interested public. The Corps believes that

additional scoping concerning wetlands is unnecessary at this time.

However, any additional substantive information and new issues arising

from comments to the sdEIS shall be thoroughly addressed in the Final

EIS.

The Army Corps of Engineers' decisions to be made will include

WHETHER OR NOT a Section 404 permit will be issued to the applicant.

Scoping (Land Exchange and Ski Mountain Development)

The Forest Service, in cooperation with the Corps, will conduct

scoping in conjunction with, and subsequent to, this Notice of Intent.

The Forest Service previously scoped for ski area development issues as

a part of the ``Adam's Rib Recreation Area Final Environmental Impact

Statement'' in 1982. It is believed that additional scoping is needed

to gather information regarding a potential Federal land exchange

associated with the permittee's current base development proposal, and

the specific development proposal (detailed development plan) on the

ski mountains. The existing special use permit is still in effect and

will not be revisited in the sdEIS.

Public participation will be fully incorporated into preparation of

the supplemental draft EIS through public notices in local papers and

brief information packets to known interested people, groups, local

government, and resource agencies. Public meetings will be held in the

Eagle and Denver, Colorado areas throughout the public involvement

process. The exact dates and locations of these meetings will be

published two weeks in advance in local newspapers.

Forest Service decisions to be made will include HOW the ski

mountains will be developed within applicable laws and guidelines, and

WHETHER OR NOT a Federal Land Exchange will occur.

Preliminary Issues

(1) Impacts to wetlands,

(2) Impacts to water quality,

(3) Impacts to fish and wildlife resources,

(4) Socio-economic effects,

(5) Cumulative impacts of developing a new ski area,

(6) Impacts on outdoor recreation,

(7) Visual impacts,

(8) Exchange of Federal lands,

(9) Installation of power transmission lines.

DATES FOR FILING THE sdEIS AND FINAL EIS: The sdEIS is scheduled to be

published in June 1995, with the Final EIS estimated in December, 1995.

The comment period on the supplemental draft environmental impact

statement will be 60-days from the date the Environmental Protection

Agency publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important

to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public

participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of

draft environmental impact statements must structure their

participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is

meaningful and alerts the agency to the reviewer's position and

contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S.

519,553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at

the draft environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised

until after completion of the final environmental impact statement may

be waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d

1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490

F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these rulings, it is

very important that those interested in this proposed action

participate by the close of the comment period so that substantive

comments and objectives are made available to the Forest Service and

Army Corps at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond

to them in the final environmental impact statement.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft

environmental impact statement should be specific as possible. It is

also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the

draft statement.

Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft environmental

impact statement or the merits of the alternatives formulated and

discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer to the Council

on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the procedural

provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in

addressing these points.

Other Environmental Review and Consultation

Required review and consultation which will be conducted during

this National Environmental Policy Act process include sections 401 and

404 of the Clean Water Act, Fish and Wildlife Coordinating Act,

National Historic Preservation Act, Endangered Species Act, Federal

Land Exchange Facilitation Act, and Executive Orders 11988 (Flood Plain

Management) and 11990 (Wetlands)

Veto J. LaSalle,

Forest Supervisor, White River National Forest.

[FR Doc. 94-26849 Filed 10-28-94; 8:45 am]

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