By Jessica Edwards
State Fish and Game wildlife biologists say additional
helicopter traffic to the Meade Glacier proposed by Temsco Helicopters could significantly
impact mountain goat populations, and a Forest Service decision should include monitoring
goats.
A decision on Temsco’s proposal for 2,800 additional
landings on the Meade is expected before summer. The company currently lands there about
1,900 times each summer.
“We
don’t know what effect helicopters have on goats at present or in the long term,”
said area biologist Ryan Scott, who said Temsco had a good record working with the state
on wildlife concerns.
“With any kind of alternative (the Forest Service)
choose(s), we’d hope some sort of monitoring program is implemented.”
Fish and Game concerns include sensitive goat-kidding periods
from May 1 to June 15 and the distance helicopters fly above goats, Scott said.
Fish and Game suggests a minimum distance of 1.5 kilometers, but
Forest Service regulations allow 1,500 feet.
A public meeting Feb. 20 on an environmental assessment for
Temsco’s proposal for additional Meade Glacier landings drew six residents.
District Ranger Pete Griffin told the group he planned to sift
through public comments and weigh alternatives offered in the document before issuing a
decision.
“We’ll take a look at all the comments and see what
issues are still out there, then consider what alternative best meets needs,” said
Griffin. “There aren’t equations and formulas” for decision-making.
His decision will trigger a 45-day appeal period.
Comments at the meeting ranged from concerns about impacts to
wildlife, particularly goats, to noise and visual impacts of increased flights, and
concerns about unresolved disputes between Temsco and the Haines Borough over a municipal
tour permit and sales tax payments.
Former assembly member Deborah Vogt, who worked on the borough’s
special use designation map for heliskiing, said the Forest Service shouldn’t issue a
permit unless local laws were met. “If Temsco takes the position it doesn’t need
a permit, it (could) be contagious and that concerns me a lot.”
Vogt said she thought the borough would issue a tour permit
because “Temsco’s been flying over there for years and years.”
Preparers of the environmental document said they did not
address permitting issues because Temsco and the Haines Borough were negotiating a
resolution.
Borough manager Tom Bolen said he believed residents were most
concerned about noise and visual impacts, which could best be addressed if the company
avoided flying up the mouth of the Katzehin River.
“The safe bet would be to pick one of the other two routes.
The (mainstem Katzehin River) route could be reserved for (bad) weather.”
Bolen said the borough was working with Temsco to resolve the
issue of permits and taxation before the tour season starts.
Temsco tour manager Paul Reichert said the route up the mouth of
the Katzehin was his company’s last choice, used only in bad weather.
Nancy Berland of Lynn Canal Conservation said her group’s
concerns about mountain goats were not addressed in the environmental assessment. “LCC
objected to the EA because it seems inadequate and the range of alternatives are
disappointing.”
Fish and Game concerns about impacts to goats were not
adequately addressed, Berland said. “We’d like to see them do an EIS,” a
more stringent and thorough environmental review. “That would be the best outcome, to
scrap this document and make an honest effort to address the comments.”
Permitting additional landings is premature without consistent
data on impacts to goats, she said.
Jeff Boyce of Meridian Environmental said Fish and Game comments
were sent in response to his company’s queries, and came after completion of the
scoping process for the document in May 2008.
He said his company addressed some of Fish and Game’s
comments in alternatives, but said the agency’s requested flight distance from goats
of 1.5 kilometers conflicted with Forest Service standards of 1,500 feet.
Boyce was asked whether the document could address Fish and Game’s
concerns using its own standards. “It’s kind of a gray area,” he said.
“That’s where the decision-maker has some leeway.”
Boyce said Temsco could appeal the Forest Service decision if
the company felt it was erroneous. “The decision-maker has to do some balancing.”
The Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee opposes
the increase in flights sought by Temsco, saying fewer new landings should be permitted
initially.