Foothills Parkway Section 8B Final Environmental Report, Volume 3, Appendix D
In 1994, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was tasked by the National Park Service (NPS) to prepare an Environmental Report (ER) for Section 8B of the Foothills Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). Section 8B represents 27.7 km (14.2 miles) of a total of 115 km (72 miles) of the planned Foothills Parkway and would connect the Cosby community on the east to the incorporated town of Pittman Center to the west. The major deliverables for the project are listed. From August 1995 through October 1996, NPS, GSMNP, and ORNL staff interacted with Federal Highway Administration staff to develop a conceptual design plan for Section 8B with the intent of protecting critical resources identified during the ER process to the extent possible. In addition, ORNL arranged for bioengineering experts to discuss techniques that might be employed on Section 8B with NPS, GSMNP, and ORNL staff during September 1996. For the purposes of this ER, there are two basic alternatives under consideration: (1) a build alternative and (2) a no-build alternative. Within the build alternative are a number of options including constructing Section 8B with no interchanges, constructing Section 8B with an interchange at SR416 or U.S. 321, constructing Section 8B with a spur road on Webb Mountain, and considering operation of Section 8B both before and after the operation of Section 8C. The no-build alternative is considered the no-action alternative and is not to construct Section 8B. This volume of the ER inventories the fishes and benthic macroinvertebrates inhabiting the aquatic ecosystems potentially affected by the proposed construction of Section 8B. Stream biological surveys were completed at 31 stream sites during the Fall of 1994. The sampling strategy for both invertebrates and fish was to survey the different taxa from all available habitats. For benthic invertebrates, a standardized qualitative manual collection technique was employed for all 31 stations. For fish, all streams of sufficient water were sampled using various methods of electroshocking. Two listed species were identified during the surveys: the Allegheny snaketail dragonfly (formerly a C2 federal candidate species found at six of the stream survey sites) and the tangerine darter (a Tennessee state special concern species found at two of the stream survey sites).
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Denver Service Center; The Great Smoky Mountains National Park; The National Park Service (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-96OR22464
- OSTI ID:
- 10162
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/M-5910/V3; TRN: AH200125%%355
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Jul 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Foothills Parkway Section 8B Final Environmental Report, Volume 2, Appendices A-C
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