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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment PAGE 3-151 3.5 RECREATION As was done in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS), this section describes the existing conditions (affected environment) and considers issues related to recreation along all Action Alternatives presented in the DEIS and SDEIS, including those raised during scoping. This Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) section consolidates and builds on the information presented in the January 2013 DEIS as well as the January 2015 SDEIS and includes references to those documents throughout the text where appropriate. This FEIS identifies the New Northern Route (NNR) Alternative - Overhead Design Option as the Environmentally Preferred Alternative and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has selected the NNR Alternative - Overhead Design Option as the Agency Preferred Alternative. 3.5.1 Data Sources This section describes existing recreation resources in the Project study area. For recreational resources, the Project study area includes the developed and dispersed recreational activities and lands used or dedicated for recreational activities within one mile of each of the Action Alternative’s centerlines. Developed recreational activities usually occur at developed recreation sites or areas where physical improvements such as structures, equipment, trails or other infrastructure have been installed or constructed to support specific activities such as sporting events, camping, off-highway vehicle (OHV) riding, and mountain biking. Developed recreation sites require facility development and maintenance. Dispersed recreational activities are not geographically specific to one location and may include activities that do not require intensive facility development. Examples of these may include activities such as hunting, fishing, snowshoeing, wildlife viewing, photography, hiking, horse-back riding, and biking. Data sources came from various readily available secondary sources and field reviews conducted on May 9 and 12, 2011 and in June of 2013. Data layers were obtained from federal and state agencies; input from agency staff; county and federal land use and recreation planning documents; communications with various agency staff; BLM Public Lands Information System; geographic information system (GIS) databases; county Chamber of Commerce websites; and other online data. Existing recreational resources in the Project study area were verified in the field. Scoping comments included concerns regarding potential impacts on recreation in the Milwaukee Road (railroad) Corridor, also known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail/Iron Horse State Park; Grant County Public Utility District (PUD) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license measures regarding the management for recreation values; visual resources related to tourism and disruption of recreational activities along the old Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul and Pacific (C, M, SP, & P) Railroad Corridor; duck and geese hunting and fishing along the railroad corridor; and Beverly Sand Dune recreational opportunities. These comments and issues were considered during data collection analysis of the Project study area. 3.5.2 Current Conditions and Trends, Regional Overview 3.5.2.1 Federally Administered Recreation Areas Columbia National Wildlife Refuge A portion of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is located in the Project study area in one contiguous parcel along Lower Crab Creek and the northern slope of the Saddle Mountains (see Appendix A – Jurisdiction, Recreation, and Special Management Area Map). The NWR is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS; see Section 3.6 – Special Management Areas). Recreational