Common use of AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT Clause in Contracts

AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT. ‌ The affected environment is the area and its resources (i.e., biological, physical, human) potentially impacted by the Proposed Action and Alternatives. The purpose of describing the affected environment is to define the context in which the impacts would occur. To make an informed decision about which alternative to select, it is necessary to first understand which resources would be affected and to what extent. The affected environment section of this document attempts to provide the basis for this understanding. Relative to Applicant’s proposal for a Section 10 Permit, the affected environment includes those settings where any covered activities would occur. This includes the Enrolled Lands spanning 212,443 acres of land across Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, King, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ and Wahkiakum counties. The Section 10 Permit would cover all Enrolled Lands and covered activities. In defining potentially affected resources, the USFWS considered the potential impacts associated with the Proposed Action, namely potential issuance of a section 10 Permit to Applicant for incidental take of marbled murrelets and implementation of the proposed SHA. Consistent with NEPA, the USFWS also considered a No Action Alternative, where Applicant would continue to conduct forest management activities under the Forest Practices Rules without incidental take coverage, and two other action alternatives. Elements of the natural and human environment included in this analysis are those with the potential for significant differences between the alternatives, or for which an analysis was required to demonstrate that the difference would not be substantial. Elements of the natural and human environment not specifically addressed are those that would not be affected by the Proposed Action (e.g., recreation) and those for which there would be no significant difference between alternatives (e.g., transportation, energy consumption, air quality, noise, and scenic resources/aesthetics). The Enrolled Lands are commercial timberlands. Applicant’s Enrolled Lands also provide access to a variety of recreational sites and activities. The majority of Rayonier’s property is gated to prevent vandalism, theft, dumping and to reduce the risk of fire. Most of the property has some type of permit system in place for hunting and other recreational uses. Other areas are open for walk-in use without a permit. Rayonier offers several types of permits: Recreational Lease Units cover one identified piece of gated property and allow exclusive recreational use of an area for an entire year; Premium Permits allow access into gated areas between August and December; Premium and Exclusive Permits allow limited numbers of hunters into gated areas between August and December; General Access Permits allow access in gated areas using a dot system on roads to designate access type with Green dot roads allowing motorized vehicle access and Red dot roads not allowing motorized vehicle access, with non-hunting General Access running from January through June, and hunting General Access running from August through December. Walk-in only areas are designated by signs and may be in areas accessed by Green or Red dot roads. There is not expected to be any significant variation between alternatives with respect to recreation because the proposed SHA does not impact recreational values and Rayonier does not anticipate changing its recreation policies in any meaningful way based on the proposed SHA. Transportation elements, such as vehicular traffic and energy consumption, would not differ significantly between alternatives over the analysis period. Although the type of forest management activity may differ per decade, the difference in the level of activity is not significant and is difficult to anticipate between different alternatives. There would be no differences between the alternatives in effects on scenic resources or aesthetics. The Enrolled Lands have historically been managed as a commercial timberlands and will continue to be managed as such under any alternative. As a result, it will continue to present a mosaic of forest age classes on the landscape, and scenic viewpoints will come and go with harvest cycles. In summary, the following descriptions of resources are limited to those affected by the alternatives under consideration, described in Section 2.0. The alternatives under consideration include the No Action, Proposed Action, and Alternative 3. Our detailed analysis is confined to the biological environment (vegetation; wildlife), physical environment (geology and soils; aquatic resources; land use; climate change), and human environment (economics and environmental justice; cultural resources).

AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT. ‌ The affected environment is the area and its resources (i.e., biological, physical, human) potentially impacted by the Proposed Action and Alternatives. The purpose of describing the affected environment is to define the context in which the impacts would occur. To make an informed decision about which alternative to select, it is necessary to first understand which resources would be affected and to what extent. The affected environment section of this document attempts to provide provides the basis for this understanding. Relative to the Applicant’s proposal for a Section 10 Permit, the affected environment includes those settings where any covered activities would occur. This includes the Enrolled Lands spanning 212,443 637,021 acres of land across ClallamWhatcom, Grays HarborSkagit, Jefferson, KitsapSnohomish, King, Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, MasonCowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ and Wahkiakum Grays Harbor counties. The Section 10 Permit would cover all Enrolled Lands and covered activities. In defining potentially affected resources, the USFWS considered the potential impacts associated with the Proposed Action, namely potential issuance of a section 10 Permit to the Applicant for incidental take of marbled murrelets and implementation of the proposed SHA. Consistent with NEPA, the USFWS also considered a No Action Alternative, where the Applicant would continue to conduct forest management activities under the Forest Practices Rules without incidental take coverage, and two one other action alternativesalternative. Elements of the natural and human environment included in this analysis are those with the potential for significant differences between the alternatives, or for which an analysis was required to demonstrate that the difference would not be substantial. Elements of the natural and human environment not specifically addressed are those that would not be affected by the Proposed Action (e.g., recreation) and those for which there would be no significant difference between alternatives (e.g., transportation, energy consumption, air quality, noise, and scenic resources/aesthetics). The Enrolled Lands are commercial timberlands. The Applicant’s Enrolled Lands also provide access to a variety of recreational sites and activities. These include hunting, fishing, kayaking, camping, hiking, cycling, and ▇▇▇▇▇ picking. Access is given to “Open Lands,” as well as other parts of Enrolled Lands pursuant to applicable leases and/or permits. “Open Lands” are free recreational use areas that typically do not include vehicular access and have shared access roads, are closely intermingled with public land or are enrolled in government-sponsored access programs such as Wildlife Management Areas. Applicable permits for recreation on the the Applicant’s Enrolled Lands are split between motorized and non-motorized permits. The majority permit areas include year-round vehicle access to large blocks of Rayonierthe Applicant’s property is gated ownership for recreation use including gathering firewood, wild berries, and mushrooms. The leased areas of Applicant’s Enrolled Lands include annual exclusive recreational access to a specific property. Certain policies are in place to prevent vandalism, fire, theft, and dumping when recreational access is granted. These include a requirement for permittees to sign and agree to reduce the risk of firecomply with laws, terms, rules, and regulations. Most of the property has some type of permit system in place for hunting and other recreational uses. Other areas are open for walk-in use without a permit. Rayonier offers several types of permits: Recreational Lease Units cover one identified piece of gated property and allow exclusive recreational use of an area for an entire year; Premium Permits allow Gates also exist at all access into gated areas between August and December; Premium and Exclusive Permits allow limited numbers of hunters into gated areas between August and December; General Access Permits allow access in gated areas using a dot system on roads to designate access type with Green dot roads allowing motorized vehicle access and Red dot roads not allowing motorized vehicle accesspoints, including permitted areas, with non-hunting General Access running from January through June, and hunting General Access running from August through December. Walk-in only areas are designated by signs and may be in areas accessed by Green or Red dot roadsforest patrol. There is not expected to be any significant variation between alternatives with respect to recreation because the proposed SHA does not impact recreational values and Rayonier the Applicant does not anticipate changing its recreation policies in any meaningful way based on the proposed SHA. Transportation elements, such as vehicular traffic and energy consumption, would not differ significantly between alternatives over the analysis period. Although the type of forest management activity may differ per decade, the difference in the level of activity is not significant and is difficult to anticipate between different alternatives. There would be no differences between the alternatives in effects on scenic resources or aesthetics. The Enrolled Lands have historically been managed as a commercial timberlands and will continue to be managed as such under any alternative. As a result, it they will continue to present a mosaic of forest age classes on the landscape, and scenic viewpoints will come and go with harvest cycles. In summary, the following descriptions of resources are limited to those affected by the alternatives under consideration, described in Section 2.0. The alternatives under consideration include the No Action, Proposed Action, Action and Alternative 3. Our detailed analysis is confined to includes the biological environment (vegetation; wildlife), physical environment (geology and soils; aquatic resources; land use; climate change), and human environment (economics and environmental justice; cultural resources).