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and areas in proximity to this project area, and on other areas on the Forest. My decision to approve drill pads and temporary roads does not set a precedent for future drilling proposals on this lease area or on other coal lease areas. Any future proposals would have to be evaluated on their own merits based on the issues and effects related to the location, timing and intensity of each action. The decision to allow constmction of a femporary road in the Box Canyon portion of the West Elk IRA does not set a precedent Similaz~ temporary roads have been permitted and constructed in this coal lease area and in adjacent coal exploration license areas periodically over the past 30 years. Documentation of the history and existence of these roads is found in the project record. Each road constmction proposal was evaluated on its individual merits in the pas[. Future road construction proposals within the West Elk IRA will need a roadless area impact evaluation and a project roads analysis similar to that performed in this project EA. When the GMUG NF Forest Plan is revised, the West Elk IRA's stems and future management direction will be reconsidered in an environmental impact statement and the consequences of any changes to that status will be evaluated. The road that will be constructed in the Box Canyon portion of West Elk IRA as a result of my decision will be a temporary road that will be decommissioned by obliteration by 2010. The impact of my decision on [he area's roadless character is temporary. Since this area's roadless character has already been compromised by past construction of roads, my decision will not reduce this area's potential for future consideration as an IRA or as a wilderness. My decision does not set a precedent or represent a decision in principle about a future consideration therefore documentation in an EIS is not required. Shallow seismic surveys have been permitted on coal leases in the surrounding area in the past 5 years. These surveys have had minimal effect on the surface resources, and no residual effects have been noted. Therefore, there are no contributions to significant effects from this decision. 7. Consideration Of The Action in Relation To Other Actions With Individually Insi¢nificant But Cumulatively Significant Impacts. Coal activity, including mining and exploration drilling has occurred in the area for the past 100 years. Use of contemporaneous reclamation techniques for drill sites and access has successfully returned the land to a state where other land uses of the area can continue unimpeded where ground conditions are conducive to their constmction, and occupancy has been approved. This immediate reclamation of drill sites to approximate original contour and revegetating reduces cumulative impacts. Previously approved drilling activities in the area have shown that reclamation is successful and sustains the land in a productive and useable condition. Although the majority of the project area is classified as an Inventoried Roadless Area, it is not currently roadless. The situation with respect to approving activities in IRAs is described in Section 2.0 of the EA Supplement. There are over 11 miles of existing road in the IRA in this project area that currently support truck and drill rig access. My decision to permit a temporary road in this portion of the West Elk IRA does not reduce the cumulative amount of acres on the GMUG NFs with roadless character, therefore does not contribute to the cumulative loss of roadless acres on this National Forest. As described in the EA Supplement (Section 3B.6), the road approved for construction is in an area where a road has been constructed and then rehabilitated in the past. Based on my review of the EA Supplement and supporting project records, I have determined that my decision does not fall into the classes of actions that require Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), as described in Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 20.6. Class 3 in this section states that an EIS is required for proposals [hat would substantially alter the undeveloped character of an inventoried roadless area (IRA) of 5,000 acres or more. Examples include approving a plan of operations for a mine which would cause considerable surface disturbance over 700 acres in a 10,000 acre roadless area. My decision is also consistent with this FSH direction which requires an Environmental Impact Statement for proposals that would "substantially alter the undeveloped character of an inventoried roadless area of 5,000 acres or more". An EIS is not required for this project because this area is already roaded and developed. Between 1967 and 1996, the Forest Service permitted construction of 28 exploration drill holes and 11 nines of temporary road within the West Elk Inventoried Roadless Area within this 4,730-acre coal methane project area. Some segments of these 11 miles of road have been constructed, decommissioned, and then reconstmcted several times over the past thirty-year course of sequential coal exploration activities. Road and drill pad constmction in this portion of the IRA was approved through a sequence of decision documents consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act. Road development and coal leasing in this portion of the West Elk IRA is consistent with the current GMUG Forest LRMP direction. Page 17