Environmental Assessment

INTRODUCTION – AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT CHAPTER 3
& ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES
CHAPTER 3 - EXISTING CONDITION & ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSEQUENCES_____________________
This section provides the scientific and analytical basis for alternative comparison. This section describes
the beneficial or adverse impacts to the environment that would occur if the various alternatives were
implemented. Probable effects are discussed in terms of environmental changes from the current
condition and include qualitative as well as quantitative assessments of direct, indirect, and cumulative
effects.
Effects (or impacts) are defined as follows:
Direct effects: Those that occur at the same time and in the same general location as the activity causing
the effects.
Indirect effects: Those that occur at a different time or different location than the activity to which the
effects are related.
Cumulative effects: – Those that result from the incremental impact of the action when added to other
past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions. Unless otherwise noted, the boundary for the
area for cumulative effects for all resources is generally the planning area boundary. Depending on the
resource area, there may be multiple analysis area boundaries of differing sizes and include areas within
and outside of the planning area boundaries.
The information contained in this section regarding the effects of the proposed actions under each
alternative is summarized from the following specialist reports: Wildlife (including Threatened,
Endangered, and Sensitive species), Range, Recreation, Silviculture, Fire and Fuels, Heritage Resources,
Soils, Botany including noxious weeds, and Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV). Additional and more detailed
information regarding the existing condition and supporting documentation can be found in those reports
or the project file at the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District office. All quantities, including but not limited
to acreages, distances, and volumes, are approximate.
This chapter summarizes the physical, biological, social, and economic environments of the project area
and the anticipated effects of implementing each alternative on that environment.
“Existing Condition” refers to the existing biological, physical and social conditions of an area that are
subject to change directly, indirectly, or cumulatively as a result of a proposed human action. Information
on the existing condition is found in each resource section under “Existing Condition.”
The following discussion of effects follows CEQ guidance for scope (40 CFR 1508.25(c)) by categorizing
them as direct, indirect, and cumulative. The focus is on cause and consequences. Effects exist in a chain
of consequences and thus may be labeled “indirect” (occurring later in time or farther in distance, 40 CFR
1508.8(b)), rather than cumulative. For this analysis, in general, direct and indirect effects have been
discussed in the context that most readers are accustomed to: those consequences which are caused by the
action and either occur at the same time and place, or are later in time or farther removed in distance but
are still reasonably foreseeable (40 CFR 1508.8). Cumulative effects are discussed where there is an
Effect to the environment which results from the incremental effect of the action when added to other
past, present, or reasonably foreseeable future actions (40 CFR 1508.7).
There are basically two methodologies the individual resource subjects use in discussing cumulative
actions and consequences. The first method would be to describe each individual past, present and
reasonably foreseeable action – including mitigation (cataloging). The second would be to “lump”
individual actions if the information regarding those actions would not be useful to illuminate or predict
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