1. No Action Alternative (Continuation of Present Management)
Under the No Action Alternative, the Samoa Dunes Recreation Area
Visitor Services Plan would not be implemented and BLM management
activities would be limited to those identified in the Arcata RMP
Amendment.
2. Limited Development Alternative
Under this alternative, new developments would be limited to those
necessary to sustain or maintain existing recreation experience
opportunities, but not to enhance these opportunities or to provide
for more resource protection, monitoring or enhancement measures
than those already existing.
Affected Environment - The Recreation Management Situation
The Samoa Dunes Recreation Area contains a wide range of natural
resource based recreation opportunities. The BLM describes
recreation opportunities using the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum
(ROS) (BLM Manual Part 8320) which applies a set of criteria to a
land area's physical, social and managerial settings to describe
the existing conditions which in combination define a land area's
capability and suitability for providing a particular range of
recreational experience opportunities. The Samoa Dunes Recreation
Area contains three of the six ROS settings. The total existing
public land acreage within Samoa Dunes represented by each of the
ROS Classes and the corresponding Visitor Management Zones
described in Part III are as follows:
General recreation activities include OHV use, surfing, fishing,
sightseeing, picnicking, wildlife viewing, horseback riding,
nature study and beach combing. Total recreation use is estimated
to be 150,000 visitor days per year. Two primary roads provide
vehicle access where facility improvements can be utilized. These
improvements include a staging area for OHV enthusiasts, a scenic
overlook, and two picnic areas with restrooms, tables, cooking
grills and trash receptacles.
The Physical Environment
The area encompasses approximately 300 acres of a coastal sand dune
system located immediately north of the Humboldt Bay entrance.
Nearly 200 acres of accreted land has developed at the southwest
portion of the area due to the installation of the North Jetty. A
Coast Guard light beacon and fog horn are located in this area to
facilitate navigation and reduce the hazard of entering Humboldt
Bay. The Coast Guard has also developed a radio tower and other
communi cation facilities in the southern portion of the area.
Several historic ammunition bunkers used during World War II are
located north of theOHV staging area.
Biological Environment
There are several major habitat types at Samoa Dunes, each with
characteristic flora and fauna. These include the beach strand
(Elymus mollis, Cakile maritima), sparsely vegetated
dunes (Artemisia pynchnocephala, Solidago spathulata), vegetated
dunes(Ammophila arenaria, Lupinus arboreus) and dune hollows(Salix
hookeriana, Myrica californica, Juncus sp., Carer sp.)
Of special significance are two endangered plant species, the
Humboldt Bay wallflower (Erysimum menziesii ssp. eurekense) and
beach layia (Layia carnosa) which grow in semi-stabilized native
dune habitat. The range for both species has decreased
dramatically in recent years. The largest populations of Humboldt
Bay wallflower on Earth occurs at Samoa Dunes within the Endangered
Plant Protection Area. The wallflower behaves as a perennial for
up to six years until it blooms, fruits and dies. It does not grow
in bare sand, but rather in semi-stabilized dunes where other dune
plants exist which provide minimum nutrients and shelter. The
beach layia, however, is an annual that does well pioneering bare
sand.
The Western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) is a
federally listed threatened species that has occasionally been
sighted in the vicinity of Samoa Dunes but has not been observed in
the area for several years. It nests just above the waveslope in
wide expances of nearly flat, bare, open sand. It has not been
found to nest in dune areas. No preferred nesting habitat occurs
in the plan area and no birds have been found to be nesting in the
area after two years of surveys.
Because Samoa Dunes comprises a wide variety of microhabitats, it
is home to many different forms of wildlife. Several papers
prepared for the Humboldt County 1992 Beach and Dunes Management
Plan and other recent study reports provide lists of the birds,
amphibians, reptiles, mammals and insects that are likely to be
found in the microhabitats which occur at Samoa Dunes (see
References)
Cultural Resources
All the land along the Samoa Peninsula was inhabited by the Native
American Wiyot tribe, part of the Algic stock who spoke Algonquian
language. Wiyot settlements were located in close proximity to
rivers, streams, the bay and the sloughs. They occupied at least
172 prehistoric and historic village sites in the Humboldt Bay area
(Loud, 1918). As many as 35 Wiyot villages, including summer
camps, existed on the Samoa Peninsula. It is hypothesized that
Samoa Dunes may have been used for seasonal gathering of shellfish,
as indicated by shell fragments scattered throughout the area.
During the mid-1800's, a flurry of Euro-American immigration
occurred in the Humboldt Bay region. The number of Wiyot deaths
accelerated due to disease, warfare, change in diet and loss of
certain cultural systems. The hostilities culminated in the
Gunther or Indian Island massacre, where up to 250 Wiyot may have
been slain. To protect the remaining Indians, the Army enclosed
them in a holding corral located at Samoa Dunes, and eventually
moved them to the Smith River Reservation in 1862.
An intensive survey of cultural resources was conducted in 1982
over the entire area. The only site of significance was determined
to be the Humboldt Harbor Lighthouse (CA-HUM-662H). This structure
was built in 1856, making it one of the first 16 lighthouses built
on the West Coast and the first to be erected in Humboldt County.
Because the site was illegally excavated numerous times, it now
lacks physical integrity and has been determined not eligible for
inclusion into the National Register of Historic Places. The
foundation of the lighthouse still exists and lends itself to
valuable interpretive opportunities.
Environmental Consequences
Proposed Action
Impacts on Recreation Use
Off-highway vehicle use levels are anticipated to increase from
approximately 15% of the total use at Samoa Dunes to nearly 50'2i if
all the management actions listed in this plan are implemented.
This increased use will have substantial impacts on other non-OHV
visitors (not included are surfers and fishermen). Many of them
will likely choose other locations along the peninsula to recreate.
This will be encouraged by coordinating with several agencies to
develop a peninsula-wide map and brochure, and roadside parking
areas, kiosks and hiking trails to the north of Samoa Dunes along
New Navy Base Road.
Those non-OHV users that choose to recreate at Samoa Dunes will be
encouraged (through signing, maps, and brochure) to recreate in
selected areas either closed to OHV use or far enough away from the
OHV's to minimize negative impacts caused by noise and safety
concerns. The proposed hiking trail located in the Wetland
Protection Area, which is closed to vehicleuse, will help to
separate pedestrians from OHV activity. Designating and signing
pedestrian corridors to the waveslope within the OHV riding area,
reducing the speed limit near pedestrians and developing a parking
area at the end of Bunker Road are additional mitigation measures
designed to reduce the potential for accidents.
Providing more frequent law enforcement patrols will help to
minimize illegal activities that oftentimes cause resource damage,
conflicts between different recreation user group types and
vandalism to facilities. An increased on-the-ground BLM presence
will provide more contact with the visitor public, and questions
about rules, regulations and other information can be more readily
diss eminated . Enf ore ement of OHV rules , regulations and the
vehicle closure north of the City of Eureka property will
emphasized to minimize any off-site impacts.
There will be positive impacts to OHV enthusiasts, surfers,
fishermen and others resulting from the construction of new
facilities. Their recreation experience will be enhanced
substantially once these amenities are installed. It is
anticipated that funding levels from the "Green Sticker" OHV grant
program will increase subs tant ial ly as a result of providing
significantly more OHV riding opportunities.
Impacts on Biological Resources
The anticipated increase in OHV use within the open riding area
will affect the plants, animals, and their habitats. Most of the
vegetation which will be impacted is exotic, invasive plants
consisting primarily of lupine and European beach grass.
Continuous riding over these plants will destroy them, creating an
improvement in the overall dune ecosystem. Building new OHV riding
trails using mechanical equipment will also occur in this same type
of habitat, so positive impacts are anticipated by this action.
Development of the tot lot play area, a 4X4 safety course, ATV
training site and warm up loop trail system will occur in highly
disturbed areas, so no new impacts are anticipated. Moving the
post and cable barrier located between the Endangered Plant
Protection Area and Bunker Road will not impact the endangered
plants or their habitat, but will destroy numerous populations of
ice plant, lupine and coyote brush.
Maintaining the existing surfer facilities, developing a
restroom/changing room and improving the existing parking area at
the end of Bunker Road will not impact vegetation because these
actions are located in existing disturbed and barren areas.
According to the Biological Evaluation for the RMP Plan Amendment,
all the rare, threatened or endangered plants found at Samoa Dunes
are protected by post and cable barriers except for about two acres
within the open riding area where beach layia can be found.
Results from monitoring indicate that OHV use "may affect but is
unlikely to adversely affect beach layia." This report also states
that "This two acres of unprotected land offers a good site to test
the effects of OHV use on an unprotected population."
Many of the management actions listed under Issue 5 - Resource
Protection/Monitoring/Enhancement will have a positive impact on
vegetative resources. These include monitoring endangered plants,
developing a recovery plan, removing exotic plants, fencing,
transplanting, developing interpretive material, maintaining
barriers, increasing law enforcement patrols, monitoring vegetative
changes within the OHV riding areas, maintaining and installing new
signs and establishing visitor use capacities.
Implementation of this plan is expected to have no affect on the
Western snowy plover because habitat generally used by this species
does not occur in this area. The plan provides for monitoring to
detect any plovers that may move into the area. Other bird species
appear to have become adapted to the varied recreational pursuits
that have occurred here for many years.
Alternatives
No Action Alternative (Continuation of Present Management)
Under this alternative, only the management actions that are listed
in the RMP Amendment would be implemented. These actions are
described in this plan as well and include:
Apply for "Green Sticker" funds
Monitor botanical and cultural resources
Conduct dune restoration and exotic plant removal
Coordinate with other agencies on peninsula-wide management
Install signs where appropriate
Issue Federal Register Notice for OHV designations
Prepare a Samoa Dunes Visitor Services Plan
Off-highway vehicle use levels would continue to increase
approximately 5% each year for the next five years and then level
off from implementing the actions listed above. This increased
use, however, is more of a result from closing the remaining
portion of the Samoa Peninsula to OHV use than actual management at
Samoa Dunes. The negative impacts on non-OHV visitors would
increase slightly, but not enough to displace them to other
recreation areas along the Samoa Peninsula. They would continue to
use Samoa Dunes for their various recreational pursuits, which
would pose a greater safety problem thanexists now. New signs
would be installed to help reduce the hazards resulting from
hikers, sightseers and beachcombers travelling in the open riding
area. Once the beach access points for pedestrians along New Navy
Road are developed, it is anticipated that 50% of these visitors
would be drawn away from Samoa Dunes, alleviating recreation use
conflicts and safety problems.
Facilities would continue to be maintained but eventually
deteriorate to a condition where replacement would be necessary.
This may be difficult to accomplish assuming that funding levels
would remain static or possibly reduce.
Monitoring botanical and cultural resources and removing exotic
plants (lupine, beach grass and ice plant) will have a minor
positive impact on restoring the dune ecosystem to a more natural
condition.
Limited Development Alternative
Under this alternative, new developments would be limited to those
necessary to maintain existing recreation experience opportunities,
but not to enhance these opportunities or to provide for more
resource protection, monitoring or enhancement measures than those
already existing. These management actions include: 1.6, 1.7, 1.8,
1.12, 1.13, 2.1, 2.3-2.9, 2.11, 2.12, 3.1, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.3,
5.6-5.12, 5.15-5.19, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1-8.6.
Off-highway vehicle use levels would increase slightly more than
the Limited Development Alternative but less than the Proposed
Action because there would be no new developments, such as the sand
drag, increased riding trails, a tot lot play area and the creation
of large dunes to attract large numbers of OHV enthusiasts to the
area. The increased use, however, would still displace non-OHV
visitors to other recreation areas along the peninsula or
elsewhere, but not to the degree as described in the Proposed
Action. Those non-OHV users who choose to recreate at Samoa Dunes
would still be encouraged (through signing, maps and brochure) to
recreate in areas far enough away from the OHV's to minimize
negative impacts caused by noise and potential collisions with
pedestrians. This may be more difficult, in one respect, as a
result of not constructing the hiking trail within the Wetland Area
but easier to attain, in another respect, because of the level of
OHV use anticipated. Other mitigation measures designed to reduce
the potential for accidents as well as conflicts between recreation
uses such as designating pedestrian corridors to the waveslope ,
reducing the speed limit in certain areas and prohibiting highway
vehicles past the staging area would still be implemented under
this alternative.
By not cons true t ing new facilities , the recreation experi enc e
opportunities for OHV enthusiasts, surfers, fishermen, hikers and
picnickers would all be diminished.
The overall impact on vegetation and animals would be greater than
the Limited Development Alternative but less than the Proposed
Action. Relative to the Proposed Action, a smaller amount of
exotic, invasive plants would be destroyed or removed because there
would be less vehicles being ridden over this material. There
would be no negative impact on endangered plants or the Western
Snowy Plover. The positive impact on these species would be
slightly less than that which will occur under the Proposed Action.
Cumulative Impacts
Cumulative impact is the impact on the environment which results
from the incremental impact of the Proposed Action when added to
other past, present and reasonably foreseeable future actions.
By implementing this plan over the next 10 years, the Samoa Dunes
Recreation Area will change toward a more man-made environment
within Visitor Management Zone III -- the area designated "open" to
OHV use and where nearly all the proposed facility developments
will be located. The overall impact on OHV enthusiasts will be
highly beneficial, to surfers and fishermen it will be moderately
beneficial and to visitors who prefer other recreational pursuits,
the cumulative impact will be slightly negative because many of
them will choose to recreate elsewhere. Providing a variety of
high quality OHV opportunities at Samoa Dunes will help attract
riders to this specific area, reducing the potential of off-site
impacts such as trespassing or vegetative disturbance on private
property north along the Samoa Peninsula. The cumulative impact on
the biological resources and dune ecosystem will be positive. The
Endangered Plant Protection Area and Wetlands Protection Area will
remain closed to vehicle use and management actions are identified
in this plan to create new endangered plant habitat and intensify
monitoring efforts of both plant and animal species.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
U.S. Forest Service. Six Rivers National Forest
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Coast Guard
CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation
CA Dept. of Fish and Game
CA Coastal Conservancy
CA Coastal Commission
Humboldt County Planning Dept.
City of Eureka Planning Dept.
The Nature Conservancy
Center for Natural Lands Management
Friends of Samoa Dunes
Surfrider's Foundation
Northcoast Recreation Coalition
Humboldt Buggy and ATV Club
Far West Motorcycle Club
Lost Coast 4X4 Club
FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT (FONSI)
The Bureau of Land Management, Arcata Resource Area, has analyzed
the Proposed Action and Alternatives for the Draft Samoa Dunes
Visitor Services Plan. On the basis of the information contained
in the plan and Environmental Assessment, it is my determination
that the Proposed Action analyzed does not constitute a major
federal action significantly affectingthe quality of the human
environment . Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement is not
necessary and will not be prepared.