Military

The Department of the Army announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to assess the potential impact of transformation of the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) (172nd SIB) to a Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) at U.S. Army Alaska (USARAK).

Fort Wainwright is located within interior Alaska, near the city of Fairbanks and encompasses 1,590,017 acres. Fort Richardson is located in south-central Alaska within the Municipality of Anchorage and encompasses approximately 61,000 acres.

The DEIS will analyze environmental and socioeconomic impacts to the 172nd SIB, their associated ranges, facilities, infrastructure, and impacts to the surrounding communities have been analyzed based on the following courses of action:

1) No action alternative, under which no transformation activities would occur and the existing 172nd SIB mission would continue;

2) Transformation of the 172nd SIB with new infrastructure alternative, under which the 172nd SIB would transform into an SBCT, except for the 1-501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), and five SBCT-required facilities would be constructed; and

3) Transformation of the 172nd SIB with new infrastructure and Airborne Task Force alternative, under which the 172nd SIB would transform into an SBCT, except for the 1-501st PIR, and five SBCT-required facilities would be constructed. The 1-501st PIR would be assigned to USARAK and would expand to an Airborne Task Force.

The review period for the DEIS will end 60 days after publication of the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Public meetings will be held in Alaska during the comment period. Comments on the DEIS will be used in preparing the USARAK's Final EIS.

Members of the public who wish to obtain a copy of the document, to ask questions, or provide written comments, may contact Mr. Kevin Gardner, Directorate of Public Works, 730 Quartermaster Road, Attn: APVR-RPW-EV (Gardner), Fort Richardson, AK 99505-6500; telephone: (907) 384-3003, fax: (907) 384-3047, and email kevin.gardner@richardson.army.mil; or Mr. Calvin Bagley, Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1490; telephone: (970) 491-3324, fax: (970) 491-2713, and email cbagley@cemml.colostate.edu.

Media with specific questions about this document should contact Ms. Karen Baker at Army Public Affairs, (703) 697-7592.

A copy of the DEIS is also available for review at the following website: www.cemml.colostate.edu/alaskaeis