| OCR Text |
Show 28,000 acres of Goshen Bay to dry up would have significant irreversible and irretrievable effects, particularly at the local level„ In addition to wildlife habitat and production losses the Unit would cause some resource commitments that would improve or enhance wildlife productivity. The development of the 1,200 acres near Starvation Reservoir, the 2,800 acres above Strawberry Reservoir or an equivalent, the 14,500 acres in the vicinity of Goshen Bay, and the 6,640 acres on Indian land along the Duchesne River as Wildlife Management Units would allow increased productivity of both game and nongame species. Additional habitat would also be created around reservoir shorelines and upon irrigated lands. Recreation Planned recreation development ( refer to Section D) would require an extensive commitment of resources which as currently estimated would cost about $ 21 million to construct and maintain. This commitment would largely be financed by funding from Section 8 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act. However, there would be significant additional requirements from all concerned resource agencies, including the State of Utah. The recreational development commitments would be considered irreversible because they would be required to ensure controlled utilization of the environment and minimization of esthetic and ecological degradation. Under the proposed plan, the loss of 149,700 man- days of stream fishing annually would constitute an irretrievable loss of a recreational opportunity that is already in relatively short supply. On the other hand, the annual gain of 430,000 man- days of reservoir fishing would be a gain to the recreation potential. The 17,000 man- days of fishing lost on Utah Lake would be irretrievable and irreversible. However, mitigation measures that would be designed to enhance productivity would regain some of the expected losses. Annual hunting recreation would experience both losses and gains. Mule deer hunting would be down 900 man- days; pheasant hunting would increase 19,100 man- days; sage grouse hunting would decrease 350 man- days; and waterfowl hunting would be reduced 18,750 man- days. The sage grouse hunting loss would be irretrievable. However, the other losses could be recovered with application of intensive management measures. The Bonneville Unit would also affect other types of outdoor recreation in both a beneficial and harmful manner. There is not enough data available at present to quantify these commitments. Recreational developments could stimulate commitment of private resources which would be irretrievable. 485 |
