Juniper Forest Vault Toilet Scoping Letter

[Grumpy]

Dear Interested Party:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Spokane District, is preparing an
Environmental Assessment (EA) for a proposal to install vault toilets
within the Juniper Forest Management Area on National System of Public
Lands in Franklin County, WA.

A scoping notice is available on the internet at:
www.blm.gov/or/districts/spokane/plans, or upon request from the Spokane
District Office at (509) 536-1200.

BLM is seeking comments on the proposal until June 30, 2009.

Comments may be sent by email to OR_Spokane_Mail@blm.gov ATTN: Juniper
Dunes Toilets, or by postal mail to Spokane District, 1103 North Fancher
Road, Spokane Valley, Washington 99212-1275.

Be advised that your entire comment – including personal identifying
information (address, phone number, or email address) may be made publicly
available.





---------------------------------------------------------------
Cheyne Rossbach
Public Affairs
Contact Representative
BLM Spokane District Office
1103 N Fancher Rd
Spokane Valley, WA 99212
(509) 536-1200

[Grumpy]

5/29/2009
Scoping Notice: Juniper Dunes Vault Toilets 1
SCOPING/INFORMATION PACKAGE
Juniper Dunes Vault Toilets
Border Field Office
This information package summarizes a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposal to install permanent vault toilet(s) in the Juniper Forest Management Area in Franklin County, WA. This proposal is in accordance with the Spokane Resource Management Plan Record of Decision (1987) and Spokane Resource Management Plan Ammendment (1992). Federal actions must be analyzed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other relevant Federal and State laws and regulations to determine potential environmental consequences.
The purpose of this report is to inform interested and affected parties of the proposal and to solicit comments to assist with the NEPA review of the proposal. Analysis of the proposal is ongoing, and will be documented in an Environmental Assessment (EA) with an estimated completion date of June 15, 2009. Comments received in response to this solicitation will be used to identify potential environmental issues related to the proposed action and to identify alternatives to the proposed action that meet the purpose of and need for the project.
Purpose and Need for Action
The objective of this action is to address the increasing „white paper‟ and uncontrolled human waste problem at off highway vehicle (OHV) staging areas in the Juniper Dunes. Currently there are no restrooms or sanitary facilities, yet thousands of visitor-use-days occur in the area. Internal BLM reports have documented the problem as serious and increasing. In addition to the public health hazard, unsanitary staging areas reduce the quality of the recreational experience.
Existing Condition
The Juniper Forest Management Area is composed of three distinct land designations. Approximately 7,100 acres of the area were designated as the Juniper Dunes Wilderness in 1984. An OHV area adjacent to the Wilderness area consists of approximately 4,400 acres designated “Openâ€

[Grumpy]

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[Grumpy]

I will be sending comment directly, and will sign for the club. Comment will be in favor, the sooner the better! I will also be letting them know in a seperate e-mail that we are going to start pushing the access issue harder.

[Grumpy]

We will go on record as being in favor of the installation of vault toilets at Juniper Dunes, and would be willing to donate time as is feasable to this project.

Regards,

Dave Walters
Land Use Coordinator
Tri Cities Peak Putters

www.peakputters.com

[Grumpy]

Dear Interested Party,

Recently, BLM notified you about a proposal to install vault toilets at Juniper Dunes Recreation Area in Franklin County, WA. However, we have determined that we cannot install these facilities at this time.

After consulting with the installer, BLM found that the sandy road and ground in the vicinity of the first proposed location would not support the equipment needed for installation. BLM has also determined that installation of a toilet at the second proposed location would not be consistent with the management direction for the Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

Although this officially ends project planning for the proposed action, BLM will continue to evaluate the Juniper Dunes area to determine if there are other more suitable locations where facilities could be installed in the future.

Thank you for your interest in management of your public lands. (signed) BLM

[TJDave]

So, the moneys will be spent on access instead????

[Grumpy]

:shock: So, the moneys will be spent on access instead????

[Grumpy]

Juniper Dunes vault toilets on hold
By the Herald staff
SPOKANE -- Off-highway vehicle enthusiasts and other visitors won't find comfort stations at Juniper Dunes anytime soon.

The federal Bureau of Land Management, which manages the 19,000-acre Juniper Dunes in Franklin County, said it won't be installing two permanent vault toilets because of environmental issues.

The soil in one proposed location is too sandy to support installation, said Scott Pavey, spokesman for the BLM's Spokane District.

And he said the other proposed spot for a toilet is in habitat favored by ferruginous hawks, a threatened species in Washington.

The raptors are at their lowest counts since field surveying began 30 years ago, according to BLM biologists who do annual population surveys.

The agency has contingency plans to install picnic tables, shelters, grills and trash cans at Juniper Dunes, of which more than 7,000 acres is part of the Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area and is closed to vehicle traffic.

About 8,600 acres comprise an Area of Critical Environmental Concern -- including the hawk habitat -- where traffic is limited to designated roads and trails. More than 3,900 acres is designated for off-highway vehicle use.

But the BLM doesn't plan to move ahead with those improvements until public road access to the dunes is resolved, officials have said.

Off-highway enthusiasts comprise the highest number of users of the dunes, and most of them enter the area by taking Peterson Road four miles north from Pasco. The road is privately owned and maintained, and in the past one or more of the landowners along the route has closed it to public access.

Use of the dunes "pretty much goes up every year," Pavey said. "It's close to a populated area, and the number of areas where off-highway vehicles are allowed is getting smaller."

There were about 20,000 visitors in fiscal 2008, which ran from Oct. 1, 2007 to the end of September 2008, said Steve Smith, recreation planner for the Spokane district.

"It'll be more this year," Smith said.

[Grumpy]

Build Juniper Dunes toilet: 20,000 visitors can't wait
By the Herald editorial staff

Just when it looked like Juniper Dunes was finally getting services needed to match its rising popularity, the plans were scrapped.

The proposal wasn't elaborate -- not enough to break the federal bank any further than it already is broken.

A couple of vault toilets, picnic tables, grills, trash cans and shelters -- standard campground and park stuff that you'd expect at a popular off-road vehicle park.

The toilets were to be installed first, with the rest of the amenities contingent on the decades-old access issue being resolved.

While we won't hold our breath waiting for a permanent public access road, toilets seemed like a good first step to address the area's needs.

With 20,000 visitors to Juniper Dunes last fiscal year, some of them were bound to need a bathroom. We're certain of it.

With 19,000 acres to choose from, the federal Bureau of Land Management narrowed down the potential site for toilets to two locations on 8,600 acres.

But both sites are apparently flawed beyond compromise, so the toilet plan has been scrapped.

What?

In the 8,600 acres designed for road and trail traffic, or even the smaller 3,000 acres designated for ORVs, there's not one suitable spot for an outhouse?

The soil at alternate site No. 1 was too sandy to support the vault toilet. Site No. 2 was in habitat preferred by a threatened species of bird, the ferruginous hawk.

So sand -- a shocking find in Eastern Washington -- and hawks killed the plan for toilets.

And people will be left to do what they have done for decades -- squat behind a piece of sagebrush and kick some sand over what is left behind.

It seems like the hawks would be better off if human wastes were confined to a pit instead of scattered throughout the dunes.

So would the people.

ORV-friendly areas are harder and harder to come by and most of these folks want to respect the rules and the land when given a chance to keep their right to ride intact.

But the federal government won't even give them the chance. What a shame and what a mess.

We've repeatedly called on the federal government to fix the situation at Juniper Dunes. It's a magnet for all kinds of nature lovers as well as off-roaders.

Horseback riders, hikers, bird watchers and the like all have a stake in the vast wilderness area.

But despite lots of lip service, the federal government has been unwilling and unable to find a way to provide a service to the people using these public lands and protect the ground and its inhabitants at the same time.

The fact that the BLM couldn't find a place for two toilets on 19,000 acres is just the latest example in the debacle.

*************************************************************
Tri City Herald 9/29/2009

[iaccocca]

Wow! Somebody at the Herald is on our side. Great Op-Ed.