Environmental Assessment for the Joint Advanced Weapons Scoring System Installation in the Oklahoma Range, Donnelly West Training Area, Alaska

Introduction. The US Air Force is proposing to upgrade the electronic scoring system currently used for their Oklahoma Impact Area OIA. The OIA is located in the US Army Garrison Alaska s USAG-AK Donnelly Training Area DTA near Delta Junction, Alaska. The JAWSS upgrade would enhance the electronic warfare capability of the range and would replace the current system which presently is comprised of a one-camera, pan-tilt arrangement with a fixed, multiplecamera approach, allowing more targets to be covered simultaneously. Proposed Action. The proposed action would result in the construction of four new range communication facilities near Delta Creek. Each of the facilities would require the hand clearing of a 1,200-square-foot helicopter landing pad, construction of a 10- by 10-foot instrument shed with a metal frame and concrete foundation, and the installation of three solar panels on pedestals set in concrete. Each installation would also include a communication tower three would be 30-foot-tall and one 64-foot-tall. The facilities would be powered by a combination of wind power, solar and propane. A small wind generator with 9-foot diameter blades would be mounted on top of the instrument shed. In addition, three 1,000-gallon propane tanks on skids would be placed at the site to fuel the propane generators that assist in powering the equipment. The JAWSS facilities would be fly-in sites for both initial construction and follow-up maintenance. Installation of the four facilities would result in the filling of a total of approximately 0.4 acres of scrubshrub wetlands. In addition to the JAWSS instrument facilities, a new 200-foot-high communications tower would be built to provide data links for the new systems. The tower would be sited at the existing Donnelly Ridge communications facility, 26 miles southeast of Delta Creek in the DTA.