Cave Rock Management Direction, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU), Douglas County, NV

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Cave Rock Management Direction, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

(LTBMU), Douglas County, NV

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice, intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) to establish new management direction for the Cave Rock

landform and its environs, a nonsignificant amendment to the Lake Tahoe

Basin Management Unit's (LTBMU's) Land and Resource Management Plan

(Forest Plan). Cave Rock is an important archaeological and

ethnographic site that was first determined eligible to the National

Register of Historic Places in August, 1996, as a ``traditional

cultural property'' (TCP) stemming from the long association of the

Washoe people with the site. In October, 1998, the Keeper of the

National Register formally determined that Cave Rock was not only

eligible as a TCP, but also as a historic transportation district and

an archaeological site. Some modern uses of the rock may be adversely

affecting the setting, feel, and association of the historic districts.

The Cave Rock management direction will establish

[[Page 3679]]

appropriate uses of the national forest in the Cave Rock vicinity.

DATES: Agencies and the public are invited to participate at any stage

of the process; however, the Forest Supervisor requests that

individuals concerned with the scope of the analysis comment by March

1, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the Draft EIS should be sent to

the responsible official, Forest Supervisor, attention: Cave Rock,

LTBMU, 870 Emerald Bay Road, Suite 1, South Lake Tahoe, California,

96150. Illustration of the Cave Rock area is available online at http:/

/www.FS.FED.US/R5/TAHOE/GRAPHICS/PRES__ACTIONS/COMMITMENTS/CAVE__ROCK

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct questions concerning the

proposed action to Lisa O'Daly, Community Planner, at (530) 573-2669 or

at the above address.

Decision To Be Made: The decision to be made for this EIS is

whether to amend the Lake Tahoe Basin Land and Resource Management Plan

to restrict human activity on the National Forest at Cave Rock in order

to protect the national Register-eligible heritage resources. If so, to

what degree should the property be protected and to what level should

use be restricted?

Purpose and Need: The proposal's purpose is protect the Cave rock

heritage resource and regulate uses there in a manner that, consistent

with mandates and restrictions of law and regulation, preserves the

physical and spiritual characteristics that make the property eligible

to the National Register of Historic Places. As a property eligible to

the National Register, the Forest Service has a responsibility to

assess the appropriateness of activities occurring at Cave Rock. Action

is needed at this time because some ongoing activities in the area may

be adversely affecting the integrity of the National Register-eligible

properties. In addition, any long-term continuation of existing use

restrictions require a National Environmental Policy Act decision to

implement. This EIS will document the Forest Supervisor's planning

process for taking into account the effects of ongoing activities on

the historic properties/sacred site.

Proposed Action: The proposed action includes the following

elements: Amend the management direction found in the Lake Tahoe Basin

Management Unit Land and Resource Management Plans' (LTBMU Forest

Plan's) Roundhill Management Area. This amendment would be considered

``nonsignificant'' pursuant to the National Forest Management Act

implementating regulations. Add as management area-specific standard

and guidelines the following text and clarify the management area map--

Public Access, including rock climbing, is allowed on the

National Forest at Cave Rock and will be managed to minimize

conflicts and impacts to the TCP and other cultural and natural

resources in the vicinity as follows:

--Manage National Forest lands at Cove Rock using the

``Maintenance'' management prescription (Prescription #9). This

prescription applies only minimal management practices to lands that

provide the scenic backdrop to Lake Tahoe. There will be almost no

management practices designed to induce additional outputs or

services.

--Recreation activities, outside the highway easement, will be

nonmotorized.

--Allow installation of improvements, such as parking, sanitation,

or access facilities, only for resource protection purposes, not for

user comfort and convenience. (No such facilities are needed or

proposed for development on the National Forest in the Cave Rock

area as this time.)

Manage rock climbing in a manner that reduces the level of its

effect to the Cave Rock TCP from that identified when the TCP was

initially determined eligible to the National Register (1996). Some

of the activities proposed below are required to achieve a baseline

that will enable the new management direction to be effective.

--All modern graffiti, historic graffiti that does not contribute to

historic districts, and rock work within the cave will be removed at

the direction of the Forest Service archaeologist, in cooperation

with designated representatives of the Washoe Tribe, where doing so

does not physically damage Cave Rock.

Prohibit installation of new climbing routes requiring

placement of additional fixed anchors left in the rock. Prohibit

climbing using artificial light.

Eliminate existing routes when they are no longer used

and where they may cause a rock to fall on the road. Accept the

assistance offered by local climbers at the 1998 collaboration

meetings in removing certain routes.

(a) The initial program of route removal includes: (1) all

routes to the left (north) of ``Bone Crusher,'' including the route

which traverses over the top of southbound Highway 50's tunnel and

``Acapulco,'' (2) ``Trash Dog,'' (3) ``Ton of Bricks,'' and (4) any

other bolts to the right of ``Asylum'' in the friable rock above

Highway 50. The rappel anchors at the top of the first pitch of

Trash Dog should be retained, as they are used to complete the route

``Pipeline.'' Rappel anchors needed to remove the above-described

fixed anchors will also be retained.

(b) Work with the climbing community to camoflage existing

brightly-colored slings and shiny carabiners to blend with the

natural colors of the rock. Encourage climbers to replace this

equipment as routes are used and during voluntary efforts towards

this purpose. If brightly colored slings remain after six months

following the official adoption of this new management direction, it

will be an indicator that the routes are not being used and the

routes will be removed.

Bolts and other fixed anchors may only be removed and

replaced as part of route maintenance activities. In the interest of

climber safety, the Forest Service will work with the climbing

community and Washoe Tribe representatives regarding development of

route maintenance guidelines. When climbers notice that a bolt or

other fixed anchor has become unsafe, they must submit a written

plan to the Forest Service requesting permission to replace the

fixed anchor. The request must include a plan for replacement,

detailing: the route and location of equipment to be replaced, the

type of equipment to be replaced and proposed replacement equipment

(e.g., replace existing shiny bolt with a powder-coated bolt), and

an explanation of the method of replacement. The Forest Service then

assesses whether the proposal uses the appropriate technology to

camoflage equipment, and will either accept the proposal as

described or make recommendations to the requestor before granting

permission to replace it. The agency will not second guess

technology related to climber safety.

Commercial activities will not be authorized within the

Cave Rock TCP.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EIS is being prepared to establish

management direction to address effects from recreational and other

activities on a traditional cultural property (TCP) known as Cave Rock.

Cave Rock was determined eligible to the National Register of Historic

Places for its association with the history, beliefs, practices, and

traditions of the Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada. The Forest

Service came to this determination in 1996, and the Nevada State

Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and Advisory Council on Historic

preservation concurred on the determination. It was formally determined

eligible in October 1998 by the Keeper of the National Register, who at

that time also determined Cave Rock eligible as a historic

transportation district and archaeological site.

A series of short-term closure orders prohibiting damage and

defacement of Cave Rock, specifically including in the definition the

installation of any new fixed climbing hardware, have been issued since

May of 1997 by the Forest Supervisor of the LTBMU to address potential

adverse effects to the historic property.

Cave Rock is not only a property eligible to the National Register,

but it is also a sacred site to the Washoe Tribe of California and

Nevada. Many members of the Washoe Tribe object to human presence at

Cave Rock and believe that only special people, Washoe spiritual

elders, should be there. It is an area traditionally avoided

[[Page 3680]]

by other tribal members. In addition, Cave Rock has become recognized

as a unique rock climbing resource, as its southwest exposure, ready

access, and magnificent views are valued highly within the climbing

community. It offers the only high level sport climbing site in the

Lake Tahoe region and its environs, accessible year-round, and it is

internationally renown for its overhanging routes of the greatest

difficulty.

The LTBMU needs to develop new management direction for that part

of the National Forest within the Cave Rock area to protect the TCP and

other historic districts and regulate uses there in a manner that,

consistent with law and regulation, preserves the physical and

spiritual characteristics that make the property eligible to the

National Register of Historic Places. The plan would also provide for

public access consistent with Federal responsibilities to the Washoe

Tribe. As a property eligible to the National Register of Historic

Places, the Forest Service has a responsibility to assess the

appropriateness of activities occurring at Cave Rock. Section 106 of

the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires agencies to

``take into account'' the effects of their actions on historic

properties, and to allow the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

to comment on those actions.

The ``no action'' alternative would allow continuation of current

management direction following the expiration of the current closure

order in December 1998. The types of activities conducted on Cave Rock

in recent years would continue without Forest Service interference or

regulation. Expiration of the current closure order would enable

climbers to install new bolts to create new routes.

Any additional alternatives to be considered, either in detail or

eliminated from detailed study, would be created in response to

significant issues raised during the public scoping process. The Forest

Service conducted six months of collaboration meetings with

stakeholders between January and May, 1998. Through these meetings, the

following concerns were identified:

Cave Rock is a Washoe sacred site--a church--that should be

designated a National Monument and not allowed to be defaced and

devalued by rock climbing. Climbers at Cave Rock are an objectionable

example of the Washoe Tribe being excluded from the Tahoe Basin and

their heritage. Climbers should climb elsewhere. Graffiti and concrete

in the cave should be removed. Even further, that all use of Cave Rock

should be prohibited in honor of the Washoe tradition of avoidance of

the area except by those special Washoe spiritual leaders who are

``born to Cave Rock.'' Any closure should affect all user groups and

not single out just one; that all activities desecrate Cave Rock;

climbing is equal with these other activities. And finally, that Cave

Rock should be returned to the Washoe Tribe to enable their

reconnection to the lands that they lost.

Conversely, additional concerns were raised that Cave Rock is

public land that should be available to all, to enjoy and learn about

other cultures, in a way that accommodates the needs of different

groups; a place where users respect the values of others. if a site is

designated on the National Register, the Forest Service should ensure

that the public can visit. Further, some people expressed that the

highway/highway tunnel have impacted Cave Rock so dramatically that it

is incorrect to assume that the historic property retains integrity.

Scoping letters have been sent to all those who expressed an

interest in the Cave Rock planning process since 1996. The mailing list

includes over 140 individuals and agencies. The scoping letter will

also be posed in the LTBMU Web Page. Government-to-government

consultation is continuing with the Washoe Tribe. A drop-in public

workshop, to be announced in the Tahoe Daily Tribune and in the scoping

letter, will be held on February 25, 1999, at the Kahle Community

Center (236 Kingsbury Grade in Stateline, Nevada) between the hours of

3:00 pm and 7:30 pm. Written comments and suggestions postmarked by

March 1, 1999, as well as any oral comments received, will be addressed

in the draft EIS.

Implementation of the management proposal would not require any

permits or licenses from any other agency. Consultation with the Nevada

State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the Advisory Council on

Historic Preservation (ACHP) in accordance with the National Historic

Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) is required.

Preliminary consultation has already occurred with the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service.

The decision will be made by Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

Forest Supervisor, as the Forest Service is the lead agency under NEPA.

There is no other joint lead agency nor cooperating agencies under

NEPA.

The draft EIS is anticipated to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency and made available to the public for comment in June,

1999. The final EIS and its Record of Decision is expected in October,

1999. The decision will be appealable under Forest Service regulations

found at 36 CFR 217.

The comment period for the draft EIS will be at least 45 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 EIS's must structure their participation in the environmental

review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts an 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 EIS stage but that are not

raised until after completion of the final EIS may be waived or

dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 1022

(9th Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F.

Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court 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 objections are made available to the Forest Service at a

time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the

final EIS.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS should

be as 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 EIS 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.

Dated: January 13, 1999.

Juan Palma,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 99-1583 Filed 1-22-99; 8:45 am]

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