[Federal Register: March 1, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 39)] [Notices] [Page 10009-10011] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr99-92] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) intend to develop an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Forest Service will also cooperate in the development of the EIS. The EIS will consider Federal and State actions associated with an ODFW proposal to restore the recreational fishery at Diamond Lake, Oregon. ODFW has proposed to treat the lake with rotenone, a fish toxicant, to kill all fish present, and to restock the lake with rainbow trout. The associated actions are: (1) The Service granting Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act Program funding to ODFW for implementing a Diamond Lake recreational fishery restoration program; (2) the Forest Service issuing ODFW a special use permit for access through, and use of, National Forest lands to Diamond Lake for implementing a recreation fishery restoration program; (3) ODFW implementing a Diamond Lake recreational fishery restoration program. The EIS will also consider any actions by other Federal or State agencies that are necessary or appropriate to implement a trout fishery restoration program. This notice is being furnished pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Regulations (40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22) to obtain suggestions and information from other agencies and the public on the scope of issues and alternatives to be considered in preparation of the EIS. DATES: As an opportunity for interested persons to comment on the issues and alternatives of the EIS, public scoping meetings are scheduled as follows: March 8, Jackson County Public Works Office, 200 Antelope Road, Medford, Oregon, 3:30-7:00 p.m.; March 9, ODFW Regional Office, 4192 N. Umpqua Highway, Roseburg, Oregon, 3:30-7:00 p.m. ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the scope of the EIS should be addressed to Mr. Jerry F. Novotny, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 N.E. 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232, 503/231-6128. Comments should be received on or before March 31, 1999, at the above address. Written comments may also be sent by facsimile to 503/231-6996. Comments received will be available for public inspection by appointment during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at the above office; please call for an appointment. All comments received will become part of the administrative record and may be released. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Jerry F. Novotny at the above address and telephone number. Specific information regarding National Forest lands may be obtained from Liz Stevenson-Shaw, Supervisor's Office, Umpqua National Forest, P.O. Box 1008, Roseburg, Oregon 97470, 541/957-3391. Information concerning ODFW fishery management programs may be obtained from Charlie Corrarino, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2501 S.W. First, Portland, Oregon 97207, 503/872-5252. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Diamond Lake is located in the Umpqua River basin in Douglas County, Oregon. It is within the Umpqua National Forest and just north of the boundaries of Crater Lake National Park. Diamond Lake is a natural lake situated at an elevation of 5,182 feet in the Cascade mountains. The Lake has a surface area of approximately 2, 930 acres and is relatively shallow, with a maximum depth of just over 50 feet. Diamond Lake drains into Lake Creek, which empties into Lemolo Reservoir, an impoundment on the North Umpqua River. Two other impoundments are located downstream from Lemolo Reservoir on the North Umpqua River. The flow of water from Lemolo Reservoir and the other impoundments is regulated by Pacificorp, a public utilities corporation. The lake is a popular recreation destination; as such, it is important to the economy of southern Oregon. In recent years, the lake's trout fishery has deteriorated due to competition from tui chub (Gila bicolor), an illegally introduced species of minnow. Prior to the introduction of the tui chub, Diamond Lake was recognized as a premier recreational trout fishery. Growth of the tui chub population has caused a severe decline in the survival of fingerling rainbow trout and the subsequent growth of the surviving trout. The same chain of events and outcomes occurred in the 1940's and 1950's, resulting in treatment of the lake with rotenone in 1954. Treatment was followed by about 40 years of a very successful trout fishery. Two bald eagle and 6-12 osprey pairs nest in the vicinity of Diamond Lake and rely heavily on rainbow trout as a food source for both adults and young. The reduced survival and abundance of rainbow trout may have a negative effect on the breeding success of bald eagles and ospreys since tui chub are much smaller, may be less available, and may [[Page 10010]] require more catch effort per energy gained than rainbow trout. Rapidly increasing tui chub populations may be affecting other wildlife populations in and around the lake by severely reducing the invertebrate food base of the lake. This reduced food base affects the entire food chain of the lake, ultimately affecting amphibian and reptile populations as well as insectivorous birds. In 1990, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted a management plan for Diamond Lake which set objectives for its trout fishery: an average of 100,000 angler trips annually, with a harvest of 2.7 fish per angler trip, and fish averaging 12 inches in length. The annual yield of trout should be about 90 pounds per acre. That objective was based on observed performance of the fishery for more than two decades. As tui chubs have become increasingly abundant, the trout fishery has substantially declined in terms of catch, effort, and return on fish stocked (survival). While the return on fingerlings stocked was about 70% in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, it has now declined to less than 10%. The decline is due to reduced survival (= increased mortality) of stocked fingerlings; fewer fish surviving means fewer fish to be caught. In 1990, ODFW spent several months examining available data and consulting with the Forest Service, other agencies and parties, including extensive public outreach regarding the management of the recreational fishery of Diamond Lake. Several options, including doing nothing to change the situation, were evaluated during that public process, including the following: A. No Action--The recreational fishery will continue at its current very low level, and angler use will decline in response to diminished catch rates and smaller fish. Experience at Diamond Lake and at many other lakes and reservoirs suggests that tui chubs will eventually drive trout survival to near zero. Dissatisfaction with fishing may lead some anglers to introduce new species to ``help'' fishing. B. Manipulate Stocking Strategies--Several strategies have been examined for use in the near-term while a lasting resolution is sought. These are management actions intended to mitigate the decline of fingerling trout survival, but which do nothing for the underlying problem. Strategies include stocking larger fingerling rainbow which may be more competitive with chubs than the currently stocked fingerlings, and substitution of catchable-sized rainbow trout for a substantial portion of the fingerlings. Both pose logistical problems in the hatchery system and will come at a cost to trout production for other fisheries; none is capable of solving the current management problem or restoring the quality of fishery desired at Diamond Lake. C. Reduce Tui Chub Abundance--Tui chub abundance could be reduced through extensive netting or partial treatment of shorelines with rotenone. The exploitation rate needed to alleviate competition with trout is unknown but is certainly very high. There is no hard evidence that partial control of tui chubs is a feasible fishery restoration strategy; in fact, partial treatments at Diamond Lake in the 1950s killed millions of chubs without relieving the effects of competition with chubs. D. Manage for Different Fishery Objectives--Instead of attempting to restore a fishery which meets current management objectives, a predaceous fish could be introduced into the lake to feed on chubs. It would be expected to grow to a large size, and provide a fishery on larger fish than at present. This strategy could be used to meet new objectives with much lower catch rates but larger average fish size, fundamentally different than the current high volume, moderate catch rate fishery. Initial survival of fingerlings could still be a problem due to early competition with chubs. This approach would require a new species (such as brown trout) or new stock of rainbow trout (such as the Williamson River stock) capable of feeding extensively on tui chubs. Introduction of new species or stocks will be controversial. There is no basis for assuming that any stocked trout will control chubs (i.e., cause a substantial reduction in abundance due to predation). E. Manage for Current Fishery Objectives--The eradication of the naturally producing population of tui chubs would result in conditions which would allow a return to the fishery described in the ODFW management plan. The Diamond Lake fishery has substantially met those objectives since the early 1960s, and the fishery has been very popular with anglers. In 1996 the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission reaffirmed those objectives and directed ODFW staff to begin planning for restoration of the rainbow trout recreational fishery. On February 2, 1998, the Forest Service published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement addressing the impacts associated with the temporary drawdown of Diamond Lake to allow ODFW to treat the lake with rotenone. The Forest Service began internal scoping of this proposal in November, 1997. The public was given notice of the proposal in January, 1998 through the Forest's Schedule of Proposed Actions. An informational letter with a copy of the ODFW proposal was mailed to the interested public in January as part of the agency's external scoping effort. Following the mailing, an Open House was held in Roseburg and in Medford, Oregon, as a continuation of the scoping effort. As a result of the scoping performed to date, a number of issues have been identified. These include: (1) Rotenone treatment (if chosen alternative) would have an adverse effect on other components (non-target species) of the lake biota. (2) Reducing lake volume (for rotenone treatment) would flush/flood Lake Creek, the downstream tributary. (3) Effects of high water releases, in the process of lowering Diamond Lake, and added nutrients from rotting fish carcasses, could adversely affect the downstream reservoir. (4) Re-introduction of non-indigenous hatchery rainbow trout could lead to a repetition of past history (good fishing--tui chub introduction and overpopulation--expensive renovation with a fish toxicant). (5) This action may not be consistent with the Aquatic Conservation Strategy of the Northwest Forest Plan. (6) Not restoring the recreational fishery would be an economic hardship to local businesses and would deprive anglers of a traditional sport fishing opportunity. (7) This action may not comply with appropriate use/diversion of the waters of the lake as implied by ORS 538.140, which states that waters of the lake will not be ``diverted, interrupted, or appropriated for any purpose whatsoever, except for domestic use.'' (8) Introduction of species other than the Oak Springs hatchery strain of rainbow trout currently used may pose ecological risks for fish populations downstream of Diamond Lake. Following the first round of scoping, the Service and the Forest Service agreed that the environmental review of the proposed action should be broadened. The scope of the EIS, was then expanded to include all anticipated effects of the proposed project, not just the effects of the proposed drawdown of the reservoir. The Service, as the funding agency in this proposed action, agreed to take the lead role, with the Forest Service and ODFW as cooperating agencies. The original Notice of Intent issued by the Forest Service was withdrawn on May 22, 1998. The expanded EIS will cover the ODFW current proposal to restore the [[Page 10011]] trout fishery using Federal Aid funding through the USFWS. Possible alternatives include: (A) Treat the lake with rotenone, a fish toxicant, to remove all fish from the lake and re-stock the lake with hatchery rainbow trout. The lake has been managed for a fishery on hatchery rainbow trout for several decades, following treatment with rotenone in 1954 to eradicate tui chubs. (B) Take no action to eliminate the tui chub, but begin a program to stock the lake with species of trout that can compete successfully with tui chub. This strategy would fundamentally change the character of the fishery which has been very popular. (C) Take no action to improve the trout fishery. Diamond Lake was successfully treated for the same problem in 1954, and there is considerable historical data that documents the biological effects of alternatives A and C. Some recent information is available that indicates limited success with approach B. The agencies are seeking public comments on issues and/or alternatives not identified through previous scoping efforts. Dated: February 23, 1999. Thomas Dwyer, Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon. [FR Doc. 99-4922 Filed 2-26-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-55-P