DOE/EIS-0332; McNary-John Day Transmission Line Project Draft ...

BPA McNary-John Day Transmission Project
Draft EIS
February 2002
Cultural Resources/
Visual Resources
If cultural resources, either archaeological or historical materials, are discovered during
construction, further surface-disturbing activities in that area would cease and appropriate
Bonneville personnel would be notified immediately by their construction contractor to
assure proper handling of the discovery by a qualified archaeologist. In absence of a
programmatic agreement, any discovered cultural resources could be subject to
mitigation through data recovery.
Environmental Consequences – No Action Alternative
Under the No Action Alternative, cultural resources in the project area would not be
disturbed by the proposed transmission line construction. The existing transmission line
corridor would remain at its present width, with no additional disturbance to known or
previously undocumented cultural resources. Continued impacts associated with
operation and maintenance of the two existing lines would remain.
Visual Resources
Affected Environment
The approach taken in evaluating potential visual impacts of the proposed project follows
the visual impact assessment methods developed by the U.S. Forest Service and the
Bureau of Land Management. The affected environment and visual impacts of the
proposed project was evaluated by assessing the visual quality of the project corridor,
viewer sensitivity, and the visibility of the towers and transmission line as seen from
sensitive viewpoints.
Visual Quality
In this evaluation, visual quality is described as the visual patterns created by the
combination of rural landscapes and developed features in the project vicinity. Visual
quality in the study area was assessed using the following descriptions.
� Rural landscapes. These landscapes exhibit reasonably attractive natural and
developed features/patterns, although they are not visually distinctive or unusual
within the region. The landscape provides positive visual experiences such as the
presence of natural open space interspersed with existing agricultural areas (farms,
fields, etc.).
� Scenic/distinctive landscapes. These exhibit distinctive and memorable visual
features (such as landforms, rock outcrops, streams/rivers, scenic vistas) and patterns
(vegetation, open space) that usually occur in an undisturbed rural setting but may
also be found in an urban setting.
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