Decision Memo

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Decision Memo

National Ecological Observatory Network Long Term Research Project

USDA, Forest Service

National Forests in Alabama Talladega National Forest – Oakmulgee District

Bibb and Hale County, Alabama

Summary I have decided to issue a Special Use Permit to the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Inc. to conduct long term research (data collection) in the Mayfield Creek area of the Talladega National Forest (TNF), Oakmulgee District. This research includes the construction of a guyed tower, instrument hut, access paths, and installation of electrical and communication conduit. Specific design criteria to implement this decision are included below in the description of the proposed activities. Purpose and Need NEON is a continental-scale observatory network, funded by the National Science Foundation, with the goal of enabling understanding and forecasting of the impacts of climate change, land use change and invasive species on continental ecology by providing infrastructure to support research in these areas.

NEON submitted an application for a special use permit to use an approximately 4.9 acre site in the TNF as one of its data collection sites. The purpose of this document is to respond to NEON’s permit application.

NEON is developing a system including a distributed sensor network, coordinated airborne observations and an integrated communications, command and control system to collect ecological data across the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. NEON has partitioned the U.S. into 20 eco-climatic domains, each of which represents different regions of vegetation, landforms, climate and ecosystem performance. In those domains, NEON will collect site-based data on climate and atmosphere, soils, streams and ponds, and a variety of organisms.

NEON has proposed use of a site on the Talladega National Forest, Oakmulgee District for collection of site-based data. The proposed site is located in NEON’s Domain 8-Ozarks Complex and will be a fully instrumented core site in minimally managed “wildland” area that will operate for a period of 30 years.

NEON has requested authorization to construct and maintain an ecological observatory tower and associated improvements including access paths and electrical and communication conduits. The improvements, detailed below will be the responsibility of NEON when the permit expires. Equipment and infrastructure may be retained by the U.S. Forest Service at the end of the permit, if both parties agree. Otherwise, NEON has responsibility for the removal of all equipment and infrastructure at the expiration of the permit.

While NEON has prepared a nationwide environmental assessment for the study sites, this document provides analysis of site-specific conditions at the TNF site.

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Decision to Be Made I am making this decision to advance the goal of understanding and forecasting of the impacts of climate change, land use change, and invasive species on continental-scale ecology by allowing this infrastructure to support research to be placed on National Forest System lands.

Establishing this core site will require the installation of a tower, instrument hut, an infrastructure of access paths, and 5 miles of buried electrical conduit. The project involves the collection of data for a period of 30 years following the installation of the scientific equipment. The entire project area size is less than 5 acres.

The tower will be located at 32.950461, -87.393269 and the instrument hut at 32.950469, -87.393119, adjacent to Forest Service Rd. 723. Another set of biological, physical, and chemical measurements will be collected approximately 788 ft. from the tower along a perpendicular path. The path will provide access to biological sampling plots referred to as the Soil Array. The Soil Array will provide data about atmospheric and climatic conditions, soils, and a variety of organisms. The instrument hut will contain instruments, including gas analyzers and communications hardware used to transmit real time data to the NEON central repository.

Specifically, the permit will allow for the following actions:

Install a 40 ft. x 40 ft. staging/parking area adjacent to Forest Service Road (FSR) 723. The center point coordinates of the staging area are located at 32.950503, -87.392519. The area will be cleared and constructed using suitable surfacing material. This will become the long term parking area for operations staff to reduce disturbance at the site.

Install approximately 5 miles of buried electrical and communication conduit along CR50/FSR 731 and FSR 723. This will be from the existing power source located at 32.950833, -87.449533, to auxiliary portal located at 32.950439, -87.392592, beside the staging/parking area. The auxiliary portal will be stabilized with concrete footers or by deep (4 to 6 feet) burial of the mounting structure. From the portal to the soil arrays, the electrical lines will be trenched at an approximate length of 800 ft. and at a depth of 3ft. underneath the pathways to reduce site ground disturbance and to avoid complications from future prescribed burns and/or wildland fires.

Install a 116 ft. tall guyed tower with a base pin foundation. The pin foundation will be 4.25 ft. in depth, and a maximum width of 6.5 ft., with the exposed portion measuring 1.5 ft. x 1.5. ft. The tower will be supported by four dead man guy anchors. Three of the four guy anchor foundations will be placed at a depth of 10 ft. and will measure 3 ft. wide by 6 ft. long, and 4 ft. tall. A small portion will be visible above grade where the guy wires connect to the anchor. The southeast guy anchor will have a different foundation to ensure the wires allow enough height clearance above the road. The foundation will be placed at a depth of 8 ft., and will measure 3 ft. wide by 7 ft. long and 3.5 ft. tall. The anchor above ground will be connected to a 7 ft. tall pipe. The pipe will allow for the wires to achieve the proper elevation. The pipe will have a foundation of 5 ft. by 5 ft., at a depth of 3 ft. below grade.

Install a prefabricated instrument hut measuring 8 ft. by 20 ft., with a foundation that will be comprised of (8) 2 ft. by 2 ft. concrete piers for the hut. The piers will be 2 ft. deep, with a maximum underground footing width of 3.5 ft.

Construct 788 ft. of 2.5 ft. wide access pathways perpendicular to the existing dirt/gravel road off of FSR 723. The pathways will be constructed using class 6 base course as a ground material placed on top of a geotextile fabric. Construct 42 ft. of boardwalk at a width of 3 ft., to

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connect the tower and the instrument hut. The legs of the boardwalk will be installed to a maximum depth of 5ft. below grade.

Install 5 soil array plots extending from the 788 ft. path northwest of the tower. Plots will measure ~82 sq. ft., located ~33 ft. from the path. There will be a soil array post adjacent to the path to delineate the location of the plots. The posts will measure 54 in. tall with two sign posts mounts extended to a depth of 4ft. below grade. Each plot will have several in ground and above ground sensors installed and each hole will be approximately 2.5 inches in diameter. Holes will either be vertical or at a 45 degree angle, depending on the particular measurement to be collected. Depth of the holes will be site specific, with a maximum depth of 7 ft. The soil array holes will be made using a portable Geoprobe machine. The individual boreholes for sensors will be placed to avoid any special status species, if necessary. The sensors will capture several soil, plant and air measurements including temperature, moisture content and CO2 levels.

Conduct terrestrial plot sampling within the TNF property boundaries. Sampling activities will cause low levels of disturbance and will include leaf clipping, soil sampling, gravid mosquito trapping, beetle pitfall trapping and tick drag sampling. NEON will conduct visual and auditory bird surveys as a component of the terrestrial activities and will record any species activity. NEON will also implement protocols to trap small mammals for the purpose of orbital bloodletting for disease ecology sampling. All sampling will be in accordance with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols. This will not require any permanent infrastructure and will be performed by field crew trained in NEON data collection methodologies and procedures. NEON will select 40 plot locations to be provided and approved by USFS to avoid any interference.

Excavate a Soil Horizon pit measuring 5 ft. x 6 ft. and up to a maximum depth of 7 ft. The pit will be covered with plywood and surrounded by a construction fence. This pit will be open for approximately one week to collect soil samples and label the horizons. The pit will be backfilled upon completion of the science work.

Install a Double Fence Intercomparison Reference (DFIR) standard precipitation collection system to the southwest of the Tower site (Figure 1). This assembly contains a weighing-type precipitation collector, one metal altar shield and two double wooden octagonal fences following U.S. Climate Reference Network specifications. The fences will measure 8 ft. high and are placed in a 20-foot diameter circle. Deployment of wind shields and fences improves the ability to measure both liquid and solid precipitation without contamination from horizontal winds. Electricity will be provided from the transmission line located along CR 50. The power line will be installed underground along the existing forest road. This site will be reached using the forest road that leads to the existing wildlife agricultural plot. Up to 20 trees will be removed at this site to provide the necessary visibility for the precipitation gauges. Tree removal will be coordinated with Forest Service personnel.

Conduct Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) flyover surveys. AOP is designed to measure the effects of land use change, and changes in vegetation state and ecosystem functioning. Variables measured include the presence and effects of invasive species determined through the use of airborne remote sensing technologies. Airborne spectroscopy and waveform LiDAR will quantify plant species type and function, and vegetation structure and heterogeneity at the scale of individual shrubs and larger plants. Panchromatic photography (30 cm resolution) will retrieve fine-scale information on land use, roads, impervious surfaces, and built structures. The AOP is aircraft-mounted and will not result in any ground impacts to the TNF. Flyovers

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will occur once a year. Flight paths have not been established, but will be coordinated with staff at TNF and local air traffic control prior to any flights.

This project will facilitate data collection on a regional to continental scale when combined with data from the other domains. These data will ultimately be used to address critical questions about the effects of land use and climate change on ecological systems and to evaluate the impacts of those changes on the environment and human culture. Data collected will also assist TNF staff in developing management plans and in planning and implementing on-going restoration efforts by providing annually updated biological, land use, and climate data.

The proposed Core Site for Domain 8 will be located within the Oakmulgee District of the TNF in western Bibb County and eastern Hale County, Alabama (Figure 1). The Core Site will be organized into two functioning sites: (1) Tower Site and (2) Double Fence Intercomparison Reference (DFIR) site. The locations for each functional unit are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Domain Core Site Functioning Unit Locations

Site Number Equipment/Experiment Location

1 FIU (tower and soil array)

FSU (data sampling plots)

T23N, R7E, Section 20

2 DFIR

FSU

T23N R6E, Section 25

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Figure 1. Site Overview Map and Locations of Functioning Units

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Rationale for the Decision This project will support management direction given in the Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) for the National Forests in Alabama (2004). Forest Plan Goal 1 provides direction to manage and actively restore native ecosystems to provide healthy forest communities, with special interest toward those communities not abundant on private lands. The Oakmulgee District provides habitat for Alabama’s largest population of Red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCW), and through active longleaf pine restoration activities is improving this forest community. Data collected through this project will aid the Oakmulgee District in making management decision relative to RCW population recovery and longleaf pine ecosystem restoration.

Additionally, Forest Plan Goal 4 provides direction to manage watersheds to provide resilient and stable conditions to support the quality and quantity of water necessary to protect ecological functions and support intended beneficial water uses. Changes to surrounding land use or land management decisions which result in nutrient loading can dramatically affect the watershed health within the TNF boundaries. The establishment of NEON infrastructure will ultimately enhance our understanding of forest ecosystems and watersheds thereby allowing us to make more informed management decisions in the future.

An Environmental Assessment affords the opportunity to analyze a proposed action in conjunction with other ongoing and planned actions. By excluding the NEON Project from further analysis I am concluding the installation of the NEON scientific monitoring equipment and data collection by onsite staff will not, by additive value, result in any cumulative effects that can’t be mitigated below a level of significance when viewed along with ongoing activities. I feel that this is an appropriate determination based on the site specific analysis completed for the Core Tower (and two functional sites) by NEON, HDR Engineering, and TNF staff in addition to the documentation in the National Science Foundation Final National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Environmental Assessment dated November 16, 2009. The Environmental Assessment evaluated the potential effects for implementing the NEON project in 20 domains across the United States at a national level. The National Science Foundation concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact was appropriate for the project.

Appropriateness for Categorical Exclusion Proposed actions may be excluded from further analysis and documentation if the proposed action is within one of the categories in the Department of Agriculture (USDA) NEPA policies and procedures in Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations part 1b, (7 CFR parts 1b) or the proposed action is within a category listed in section 220.6 (d) and (e). This action is appropriate for categorical exclusion of documentation in an EA or EIS because it fits category 32.2-3 of Forest Service Handbook 1909.15-2010-1, dated September 30, 2010.

Category (3) – Approval, modification, or continuation of minor special uses of NFS lands that require less than five contiguous acres of land.

The total area disturbed for installation of NEON monitoring equipment at the two functioning sites is less than 1 acre per site.

Access will be by CR 50 and Forest Service system roads. No new road construction will be required to access the sites.

Power provided to the sites will be run underground along existing county or forest roads.

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No more than 20 trees will be removed at the DFIR site and the trees will be removed under Forest Service Supervision.

Further, the categorical exclusion is appropriate in this situation because there are no extraordinary circumstances potentially having effects that may significantly affect the environment as defined in FSH 1909.15, 30.3.2.

Federally listed threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat, species proposed for Federal listing or proposed critical habitat. a biological survey was conducted to evaluate the effects of the planned activities on federally Proposed, Endangered, Threatened, and Candidate species as well as the Regional Forester’s Sensitive species. As documented in the survey report, only the RCW and the Bachman’s sparrow were found to have habitat near the proposed NEON infrastructure. No cavity trees were observed in the immediate project area and no trees will be removed at Site 1. Trees identified for removal at Site 2 are determined to not be suitable for RCW nesting habitat. The conclusion of the assessment was that the project will “not likely to adversely affect” the federally listed endangered RCW. Additionally, the assessment determined that the proposed NEON infrastructure “may impact individuals, but not likely to lead towards federal listing” for any of the species including the Bachman’s sparrow which occupies habitat similar to the RCW.

The biological survey report and effect determinations were submitted to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for their review. On October 18, 2013, the Oakmulgee District received an official letter from FWS stating their concurrence of the determinations.

Floodplain, wetland or municipal watershed. Wetland soils (partially hydric) are present along Mayfield Creek and along the bottom of the slope for small portions of CR 50. These soils and the floodplain along Mayfield Creek will not be impacted during the construction of Sites 1 and 2 which are upland sites. The power trench for Site 1 will be located out of these lowland areas; therefore, Sites 1 and 3 will not affect floodplains or wetlands. Neither of these sites will affect any municipal watersheds.

Congressionally designated areas such as wilderness, wilderness study areas or national recreation areas. No part of the project area is within or near one of these designations.

Inventoried roadless or research natural area. No part of the project area is within one of these designations.

American Indians and Alaska Native religious or cultural sites. No part of the project area is within or near one of these designations. Heritage resource inventories have been conducted in consultation with the Alabama State Historic Preservation Office. A Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of a Candidate Aquatic Site for the National Ecological Observatory Network, Oakmulgee District, Talladega National Forest, Bibb County Alabama and Cultural Resource Assessment Survey of Proposed National Ecological Observatory Network Domain 8 Facility in Oakmulgee Ranger District of the Talladega National Forest, Bibb County, Alabama, National Forests in Alabama Heritage Resources Management Report 2012-04-002 were completed. On February 5, 2010, the Alabama Historical Commission concurred with the National Science Foundation determination that no structures on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places will be affected. On September 9, 2011, the Alabama Historical Commission concurred with the National Science Foundation Determination of eligibility at one property 1Bb527; this site will be avoided during construction.

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