SUMMARY: Pursuant to §102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR Part 1500), the Department of the Interior, National Park Service prepared this Record of Decision on the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Comprehensive Management and Use Plan (FEIS/GMP) for the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.

This Record of Decision is a concise statement of what decisions were made, what alternatives were considered, the basis for the decision, and the mitigating measures developed to avoid or minimize environmental impacts.

DECISION: The National Park Service will implement the proposal as described in the final environmental impact statement issued in August 1996. The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the general management plan was issued in January 1995. The proposal is described below as the selected plan.

SELECTED PLAN: The final plan adopts the management alternative proposed in the draft plan issued in January 1995. It calls for marking the historic route, identifies an auto route, and envisions a continuous multi-use recreational retracement trail. The NPS will take an active role in administrative oversight of the trail by helping protect a trail right-of-way and historic, cultural, and natural resources associated with the trail. The NPS will certify eligible sites and segments and provide leadership of state, regional, and local governments, private landowners, organizations, corporations, and individuals to create a continuous and unified trail. Partnerships with nonprofit groups supporting the Anza Trail will help implement the plan. Interpretive programs and a system of wayside exhibits will enhance visitor opportunities along the route. A planned promotional and tourism program will increase visitor awareness of American Indian and Spanish colonial cultures and history related to the Anza expeditions to Alta (Upper) California. 

As a result of comments received on the DEIS, the FEIS includes a "no action" alternative, proposes a new marker to identify recreational trail segments which link with the historic trail, more fully describes other federal agency plans which may affect the trail, addresses impacts to land ownership, and adds a cumulative impacts section. These changes did not alter the selected management plan itself. 

OTHER ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: Three alternatives to the selected plan were considered and evaluated in the draft plan and environmental impact statement: "Single Theme" (Alternative A), "Multi-theme" (Alternative B), and "Broad Outreach" (Alternative C). Alternative A would limit trail recognition and resource protection to federal lands and state parks and focus interpretation on only the 1775-76 Anza trek. Trail uses would be limited to those of the original expedition. Management would emphasize volunteers, and the National Park Service would play a minor administrative role. Alternative B is similar to the selected plan, but would not include the promotional aspects. Alternative C is similar to the selected plan, but would broaden the interpretive themes to the overlay of history along the trail route from prehistory to the present and would include points of interest associated with the trail corridor. 

At the request of the EPA, the FEIS considers a fifth alternative, "No Action" (Alternative AA). This alternative represents what would happen if there were no designated national trail. 

BASIS FOR DECISION: Congress added the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail to the National Trail System in August 1990. The National Trails System Act, as amended, requires preparation of a comprehensive plan which addresses objectives and practices to be observed in management of the trail, and includes a protection plan, and general development plans. Each alternative in the Anza Trail FEIS/CMP considers high potential sites and segments, (those sites and segments identified with the trail that have historic significance, scenic quality, and relative freedom from intrusion), resource protection, visitor experience, management and partnerships, and facility development.

Of the alternatives, the selected plan offers the best opportunity to protect trail resources, educate the public to the history and significance of the Anza expeditions, and provide high quality recreation. The proposed trail-long resource study will identify sites and segments in need of protection. Interpretive focus on the Anza expeditions, its descendants, and the American Indian cultures they encountered will educate the visitor on the contact period between the European and American Indian cultures and on the story of the Spanish colonial period in Arizona and California. The plan invites American Indian tribes and groups to work with the NPS to tell their own stories, both of the culture as it was before and during the contact period and as it is now. Through marking a continuous recreation trail achieved by linking existing or proposed local trails, the selected plan proposes an environmentally sensitive means of providing high quality recreational experiences. 

Among the action alternatives, there is no significant difference in effects on the environment between the selected plan and alternative B. Both would be considered to be the environmentally preferred alternatives.

MEASURES TO MINIMIZE HARM: The FEIS is programmatic and addresses the management of the Anza Trail. It considers impacts to cultural resources related to the history and significance of the trail, historic resources, historic and cultural landscape and ethnography; impacts to natural resources related to threatened and endangered species; and socioeconomic impacts in terms of landownership and use and visitor use. More detailed environmental analysis for specific trail projects is expected to follow in tiered environmental documents as appropriate. No significant adverse environmental impacts are anticipated for the selected management plan. It includes practicable means at a programmatic level to avoid or minimize environmental harm.

The National Park Service will continue to consult with State Historic Preservation Officers, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other affected federal, state, and local agencies as trail marking and development occurs.

Although little construction is anticipated because the recreational trail will be achieved by linking existing trails, should construction occur as a result of the selected plan, projects will receive more detailed plans and designs with site specific environmental analysis and compliance which will be tiered on the selected plan.

PUBLIC REVIEW: The DEIS/CMP was developed after extensive scoping and with participation of over 200 volunteers and numerous federal, state, and local agencies along the 1200-mile route. No controversial concerns were raised during the public review period for the DEIS/CMP. The final plan includes responses to 58 letters and other comments on the draft management plan and environmental impact statement received during the public review period.

During the 30-day no action period, we received the following corrections of fact which should be noted by those using the final plan:

1. On pages 74, "Salinan-Chumash Nation" should be "Salinan Nation."

2. On page 9, first paragraph, second column, "and 1771" should be struck and the sentence should read, "The resulting Portolá expedition of 1769 produced...."

3. On page 75, "Northrop" should replace "Northrup."

4. On page 235, Pourade's The History of San Diego, The Explorers, was published in 1960.

5. On page C-18, second paragraph from the bottom, first column, the words "mission outposts" should be changed to "villages" so that the sentence reads, "Most of these trips were associated with the villages of San Pedro y San Pablo and La Purisima Concepcion on the Colorado River."

6. On page C-16, the paragraph on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, should be changed, as corrected by park staff, to note that a 3.1 mile stretch of Coyote Canyon is now closed to motor vehicles between the lower end of Middle Willows and the upper end of Upper Willows. Hikers, equestrian, and mountain bikers are required to remain on the designated trail which bypasses the sensitive riparian resources in the area. Motor vehicles may still travel in the canyon from Borrego Springs to the lower end of Middle Willows and from the northwestern park boundary to the upper end of Upper Willows, but there is no through-route for motor vehicles in the canyon. In addition, the closure period to protect the bighorn sheep watering areas is now in effect from June 1 through September 30. At other times of the year, camping continues to be permitted in Coyote Canyon in traditional camping sites, but is prohibited within the three main oases (Lower, Middle, and Upper Willows).

In addition, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) expressed the desire to work with the NPS to mark the Anza Trail at selected locations (not at every turn, exit, and entrance) and to provide kiosk space in their system of roadside rest stops.

IMPLEMENTATION: The above factors and considerations warrant selecting the alternative identified as the proposal in the DEIS/CMP and FEIS/CMP documents as the Comprehensive Management and Use Plan for the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, Arizona and California. A 30-day no action period ended on September 9, 1996. The Environmental Protection Agency published a Notice of Availability of the final comprehensive management and use plan and environmental impact statement in the Federal Register on August 9, 1996. The decision will become effective immediately, and actions to implement the selected plan may commence at any time. 

APPROVED:
 

____________________________                                        _____________ 
Stanley T. Albright                                                                        date
Field Director, Pacific West Area