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The National Park Service (NPS) has issued a 126 page Environmental Assessment in response to the Pilgrim family’s request for a permit to drive up the old road that leads to their property at the Mother Lode Mine. |
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The EA sets forth three scenarios: |
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Alternative A – No Action Alternative |
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Alternative B – Applicants’ Proposal |
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Alternative C –Access on Frozen Ground and Mostly Frozen Water (NPS Preferred) |
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NPS issues McCarthy |
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The Pilgrims have been trying to regain access to their home ever since the NPS posted the McCarthy- Green Butte Road closed last April 11. On June 20, the family made a verbal request to then regional director Rob Arnberger for a permit to drive up the road on their bulldozer, that being the only vehicle they had which would make the 14 mile trip. |
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After extensive exchanges between the Pilgrims and various representatives of the NPS, on January 23, 2004 the NPS released an environmental assessment (EA) which set two alternatives against the family’s proposal. |
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The application was for access by the Pilgrim family and friends, guests and invitees to their home at the end of an existing road. The specific application consisted of two parts, first for an immediate nine round trips using a tracked vehicle hauling a trailer or sled laden with building materials and other supplies for their personal use. It was the view of the Pilgrims that these trips would be sufficient to afford them the opportunity to secure their needs before the onset of winter conditions in November 2003. |
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At the request of the NPS, the Pilgrims submitted NPS form SF 299 and answered such additional questions as the NPS generated over the space of the ensuing six months. |
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The main area of concern expressed in the EA seems to be Dolly Varden trout which have recently been found in the creek. After the Pilgrims initiated the permitting process, the NPS sent a helicopter up McCarthy Creek with fishery biologists and rangers using electric stun guns to determine if there were any fish present. The stun guns cause any fish present to turn belly up so they can be counted, then hopefully revive. They apparently turned up a number of small trout and one adult fish. |
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To prevent damage to any spawning fish that may be present, the EA recommends that ice bridges be built over each river crossing. Use of any organic material in the ice bridges is prohibited. |
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The EA also includes 19 more stipulations in the recommended alternative. Local equipment operators have indicated that the stipulations make the act of traversing the road very dangerous if not impossible. |
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Comments were due by February 23. |
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Meanwhile the Pilgrims are waiting to hear from the 9th Circuit Court where they have filed a motion for reconsideration to their emergency access request. |
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