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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment PAGE 3-163 3.6 SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREAS 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 special management areas (SMAs) 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 has selected the NNR Alternative – Overhead Design Option as the Agency Preferred Alternative. 3.6.1 Data Sources Data sources for SMAs come from a number of state and federal sources. Geographic Information System shapefiles of current designations were obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), federal and state agencies. SMAs typically include designations and allocations such as designated wilderness, Special Recreation Management Areas (SRMAs), Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), and other areas such as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) intended to enhance or protect specific qualities over time and to foster recreation opportunities, ecosystem protection, or historic preservation. Special designations are made by Congress or by agencies administratively during the resource planning process. Appendix A - Jurisdiction, Recreation, and SMAs shows the location of SMAs within the two- mile wide Project study area. 3.6.2 Current Conditions and Trends, Regional Overview 3.6.2.1 McCoy Canyon ACEC McCoy Canyon ACEC consists of 100 acres of BLM land located on the north slope of Umtanum Ridge along the Columbia River. Located two miles west of the Hanford Reach National Monument (HRNM), the ACEC was designated for federal candidate plant species values in the Spokane District Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Record of Decision (ROD) and the 1992 RMP Amendment (BLM 1992) and ROD (Spokane District 1985/1987 RMP [BLM 1987] and 1992 RMP Amendment/ROD; see BLM 2011); Columbia milkvetch (Astragalus columbianus), Hoover’s desert-parsley (Lomatium tuberosum), and Piper’s daisy (Erigeron piperianus). 3.6.2.2 Sentinel Slope ACEC Sentinel Slope ACEC is located east of the Project area on the north slopes of the Saddle Mountains Management Area (MA). According to the 2011 Analysis of the Management Situation (BLM 2011), the 200 acre Sentinel Slope ACEC was designated in the 1985 Spokane District RMP and 1987 ROD for the important biological values of a federal Candidate plant (Hoover’s desert parsley). 3.6.2.3 Sentinel Butte Dunes Sentinel Butte Dunes was identified in the Analysis of the Management Situation for the Eastern Washington and San Juan Resource Management Plan (BLM 2011) as an area that has potential for designation as an ACEC. The Sentinel Butte Dunes area is located on the west end of the Saddle Mountains and east of the Columbia River. Currently, the Spokane District RMP Revision lists proposed alternatives for the Saddle Mountains area for an Extensive Recreation Management Area (ERMA), with proposed management actions varying by alternative. The proposed alternatives for Rattlesnake Hills include it being listed as neither a SRMA nor an ERMA, but as an "other" category, with proposed management actions varying by alternative. These alternatives may change in response to public comment