TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The San Francisco District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an application for a renewal of an existing Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1344). The purpose of this public notice is to solicit comments from the public regarding the work described below:
APPLICANT: Leonel Arguello, Redwood National and State Parks, 1111 Second Street, Crescent City, CA 95531
AGENT: Rosalind Litzky, Redwood National and State Parks, 3431 Fort Avenue, Eureka, CA 95501
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The proposed project is within the greater Mill Creek watershed on approximately 34,080 acres in the Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and a portion of Redwood National Park. It is located off Hamilton Road along Highway 101 (primarily to the east), approximately 4.5 miles south of Crescent City in Del Norte County, California, at center latitude 41.723856° and longitude -124.139531°. See enclosure 1.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park (DNCRSP) and Redwood National Park (RNP) are two of four parks that make up Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP), which is jointly administered by California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) and the National Park Service (NPS) to protect resources and serve visitors. The original DNCRSP, founded in 1927, more than doubled in size in 2002 with the addition of the 25,000-acre Mill Creek property known as the Mill Creek Addition (MCA). Portions of the project area were extensively logged from 1908 to 1939 and from 1954 to 2000 when the land was owned by private commercial timber companies, resulting in over 27,000 acres of intensively harvested forest and approximately 290 miles of log haul roads and 29 miles of secondary roads within the program area. The scale of harvesting increased significantly in the 1920s and 1930s, when Hobbs-Wall harvested most of the timber on the West Branch from the Mill Creek Campground northward. The project area for the Greater Mill Creek Ecosystem Restoration Program contains suitable coho salmon stream reaches (approximately 31.5 stream miles) and associated riparian habitat within the Mill Creek watershed within the program area. The project area also includes all potentially suitable coho stream and riparian habitat within the Rock Creek watershed. Management goals that are relevant to the proposed action include protecting and preserving the natural resources of the parks and restoring lands, ecosystems, and processes that have been altered by modern human activities. Natural resource management and protection strategies that guide forest restoration include supporting the perpetuation of ecosystem processes and components, including the redwood forest ecosystem as the prime RNSP resource, and restoring and maintaining RNSP ecosystems.
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is to restore the ecosystem.
Overall: The overall project purpose is to provide an efficient permitting mechanism for improving aquatic and upland habitat conditions through forest and stream restoration activities in Mill Creek, East Fork Mill Creek, West Branch Mill Creek, Rock Creek, and their tributaries within the Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and Redwood National Park.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant requests reissuance of RGP 30 to authorize restoration efforts in the Greater Mill Creek Ecosystem Restoration Program area through a combination of forest and aquatic restoration as well as road removal activities. See enclosure 2. The ecosystem restoration activities will be phased geographically over a thirty-year time frame. Phase 1 restoration activities will be described at the project detail level while remaining phases will be described programmatically. The activities will be identical to those in Phase 1, but in different locations. Project level detail for future phases will be planned in coordination with the NMFS. Restoration activities are grouped into three major categories: forest restoration – thinning, snag creation, crown manipulation and vegetation management; road extension, reoccupation and removal, (watershed restoration); and aquatic restoration – placing large wood in streams and riparian planting. See enclosure 2.
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: The NPS and CDPR have established standard project requirements (SPRs) and project specific requirements (PSRs) which include avoidance and minimization measures that would be implemented during project implementation to avoid or minimize potential environmental impacts.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The proposed project is comprised wholly of restoration activities that would result in a net benefit to the ecosystem. Therefore, the proposed project does not require compensatory mitigation.
CULTURAL RESOURCES: The Corps is evaluating the undertaking for effects to historic properties as required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This public notice serves to inform the public of the proposed undertaking and invites comments including those from local, State, and Federal government Agencies with respect to historic resources. Our final determination relative to historic resource impacts may be subject to additional coordination with the State Historic Preservation Officer, federally recognized tribes and other interested parties.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has performed an initial review of the application, ss the Federal lead agency for this project, the NPS will be responsible for determining the presence or absence of Federally listed species and designated critical habitat and the need to conduct consultation. To complete the administrative record and the decision on whether to issue a Department of the Army Permit for the project, USACE will obtain all necessary supporting documentation from the NPS concerning the consultation process. Any required consultation must be concluded prior to the issuance of a Department of the Army Permit for the project.
ESA-listed species and/or critical habitat potentially present in the action area include coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU); Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast ESU; marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), coastal marten (Martes caurina humboldtensis).
Pursuant to Section 7 ESA, any required consultation with the Service(s) will be conducted in accordance with 50 CFR part 402. Consultations with federal agencies with regulatory authority are or will soon be underway for potential impacts to federally listed fish species that may be present.
This notice serves as request to the Services for any additional information on whether any listed or proposed to be listed endangered or threatened species or critical habitat may be present in the area which would be affected by the proposed activity.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: Pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996, the Corps reviewed the project area, examined information provided by the applicant, and consulted available species information. As the lead Federal agency for this project, the NPS will be responsible for determining the presence or absence of EFH and the need to conduct consultation. To complete the administrative record and the decision on whether to issue a Department of the Army Permit for the project, USACE will obtain all necessary supporting documentation from the NPS concerning the consultation process. Any required consultation must be concluded prior to the issuance of a Department of the Army Permit for the project.
NAVIGATION: The proposed structure or activity is not located in the vicinity of a federal navigation channel.
SECTION 408: The applicant does not require permission under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 408) because the activity, in whole or in part, will not alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works project.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification may be required from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB). The applicant has recently submitted an application to the NCRWQCB to obtain water quality certification for the project. No Department of the Army Permit will be issued until the applicant obtains the required certification or a waiver of certification. A waiver can be explicit, or it may be presumed if the NCRWQCB fails or refuses to act on a complete application for water quality certification within 60 days of receipt, unless the District Engineer determines a shorter or longer period is a reasonable time for the NCRWQCB to act.
Water quality issues should be directed to the Executive Officer, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, North Coast Region, 5550 Skylane Boulevard, Suite A, Santa Rosa, California 95403, by the close of the comment period.
NOTE: This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the applicant. This information has not been verified or evaluated to ensure compliance with laws and regulation governing the regulatory program. The geographic extent of aquatic resources within the proposed project area that either are, or are presumed to be, within the Corps jurisdiction been verified by Corps personnel.
EVALUATION: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered including cumulative impacts thereof; among these are conservation, economics, esthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historical properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food, and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership, and in general, the needs and welfare of the people. Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, EPA, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act or the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.
COMMENTS: The Corps is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other Interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this determination, comments are used to assess impacts to endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.
The San Francisco District will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until October 23, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Stephen Ryan at Stephen.Q.Ryan@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District, Attention: Stephen Ryan, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District, Eureka Field Office, 601 Startare Dr. Box-13, Eureka, CA 95501. Please refer to the permit application number in your comments.
Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider the application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing. Requests for a public hearing will be granted, unless the District Engineer determines that the issues raised are insubstantial or there is otherwise no valid interest to be served by a hearing.