Issue Permit for a Phone System in the Stehekin Valley (2005)

North Cascades National Park Service Complex » Issue Permit for a Phone System in the Stehekin Valley (2005) » Document List

In 2005, the National Park Service prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the impacts of issuing a Special Use Permit to install telecommunications infrastructure on public lands in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. This plan / EA was completed in response to a proposal from a private company, WeavTel, to develop a phone system in the Lower Stehekin Valley.

The Environmental Assessment for this proposal considered three alternatives: (A) No Action (Environmentally Preferred Alternative), (B) Issue a Permit for an Underground Line and Other Use of Federal Land (Preferred Alternative), and (C) Issue a Permit for an Above Ground Line and Other Use of Federal Land. The identified preferred alternative of this plan / EA (Alternative B) would have issued WeavTel a permit for the proposed phone service provided WeavTel could (a) acquire easements from private landowners whose property crosses the lower Stehekin Valley Road and Company Creek Road—or demonstrate that easements were not required and (b) secure all necessary permits and approvals from Chelan County.

In response to this Environmental Assessment and the identified preferred alternative, WeavTel revised their proposal which required preparation of a new, revised environmental assessment (please see archived project: Issue Permit for Installation of Public Telecommunications Equipment). Therefore, the enclosed EA was never finalized and no decision document (Finding of No Significant Impact) was issued for this plan / EA. Nonetheless, this Environmental Assessment to Issue a Permit for a Phone System in the Stehekin Valley is available for download in the "document list" section of this webpage.

Contact Information

Elly Boerke, Environmental Protection Specialist
360-854-7328