USA: Walla Walla District Invites Public Input on Two EAs

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, invites public comments on two separate Environmental Assessments (EAs) and accompanying draft Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSIs) prepared for land management actions to be taken on federal lands located along the Snake River at Central Ferry and Penawawa, Wash. Comments are due by Oct. 10.

Central Ferry was formerly operated as a park (by both Washington State Department of Parks and Recreation, and private concessionaire lessees) from 1974 to 2010, but the land was returned to the Corps by the lessee at that time and the Park closed in 2011. For the past two years, the Corps has not been able to secure a new park lessee nor fund park operations.

The Penawawa site was originally scheduled for park development in the 1960s, but those plans were dropped due to unanticipated high levels of siltation at the location. While the site is still designated as recreation land under the Little Goose Master Plan land-use classification, it has been operated as a wildlife habitat management unit for more than 20 years.

The Corps has identified options for each location and is proposing a path forward that will provide for optimum land management and benefits.

Public comments should be submitted separately for each EA. The District will review and consider public comments separately for each EA and draft FONSI. If no comments are received during this time that are determined to be of a substantive nature, the District will sign the FONSIs as its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for the Central Ferry and Penawawa land management determinations. This will conclude the agency’s review requirements under NEPA.

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Press Release, October 1, 2013