AT&T Mobility, LLC proposes the construction of a new telecommunications facility in Stanley, Idaho. The facility will include a 195-foot monopole tower with a four-foot lightning rod bringing the total overall height to 199 feet. The proposed facility would be constructed within an approximate 50-foot by 75-foot lease area, accessible by a proposed approximate 12-foot wide access easement that would follow an existing access drive to the lease area. A proposed 8-foot wide utility easement, routed alongside the existing access drive, would also be utilized.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), as both an independent federal authority and a licensee of the FCC, must satisfy its own National Environmental Policy Act (NHPA) requirements as well as comply with FCC-promulgated NHPA procedures. Since the primary purpose for the construction of this tower is to establish adequate coverage of the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) in this area, the FirstNet Authority will assume the role of lead agency for NHPA and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance. 

With concurrence from the Idaho State Historical Society (IDSHPO), FirstNet Authority has determined that the proposed project will have an Adverse Effect (visual) on a Historic Property – Red Fish Lodge Complex. The public was initially notified of this proposed project on April 28, 2020 in The Idaho Statesman. The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Tower Construction Notification System (TCNS) was used to identify federally-recognized tribes that may have an interest in consulting on the proposed project. Tribes were consulted at the beginning of the Section 106 of NHPA process and then again when the adverse effect to this historic property was identified. State and local government and other potentially interested parties were also consulted. To date, no tribes or local government have expressed an interest in consulting on the proposed project. Consulting parties involved in the Section 106 of NHPA process include the FCC, U.S. Forest Service, IDSHPO, Idaho Department of Lands, Idaho Conservation League, and Sawtooth Interpretative and Historical Association.

The consulting parties have reviewed alternatives that would eliminate or reduce the effects of the proposed tower on the Red Fish Lake Lodge Complex, and no reasonable alternatives can be identified due to coverage requirements, constructability, use incompatibility of federal lands, and lack of other appropriate privately owned land. The consulting parties are currently considering potential measures to mitigate the potential adverse effects to the historic property. Some of the mitigation options that are being considered include: an architectural survey of the Town of Stanley, a cultural landscape survey of the area of potential effect and surrounding area, and conservation of the Doc Day Cabin historic property. If an appropriate mitigation is determined by the consulting parties, the consulting parties would plan to negotiate a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). If executed, the MOA would serve as both FirstNet Authority and FCC compliance with NHPA.

Please see AT&T’s consultant’s Alternatives Analysis for additional detailed project information.