Memorandum

Subject: Section 4(f) summary memo

VA ST FB KNGMNWLKR GT

Date: 11/19/2020

From: Christopher Hansen

Environmental Protection Specialist

FHWA Eastern Federal Lands

To: File

The subject project will improve vehicular access to Kingman and Walker Gates at Fort Belvoir. 

This memo summarizes 4(f) resources within the project area and uses of 4(f) resources.

There are no 4(f) resources that will be used by the Walker Gate entrance improvement. There is 

one 4(f) resource impacted by Kingman Gate entrance improvement; FHWA expects the use is

de minimis, but this is contingent up on agreement by Fort Belvoir.

Resource impacted and used:

The Fort Belvoir Forest and Wildlife Corridor (FWC) surrounds part of the intersection (see 

attached map taken from the 2018 Fort Belvoir Natural Resources Management Plan). According 

to the 2018 Fort Belvoir Natural Resources Management Plan, the FWC is a designated Special 

Natural Area for conservation. The FWC was established in 1993 as the result of several NEPA 

mitigation commitments to offset the ecological impacts of habitat fragmentation caused by 

major construction on the post. FWC was established to protect significant wildlife habitat, and 

to maintain a continuous area of natural forest habitat connecting larger natural areas to the north 

and south of Fort Belvoir, facilitating wildlife movement through the installation. The FWC 

serves to connect the Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge (JMAWR) and the Accotink Bay 

Wildlife Refuge (ABWR). Although the FWC is not officially designated a wildlife refuge, 

FHWA has determined its primary function as a wildlife corridor affords it protection under 

Section 4(f) as a refuge-like property.

The Official with Jurisdiction (OWJ) for this resource is Fort Belvoir. The de minimis finding is 

contingent on the OWJ’s concurrence that the Kingman Gate entrance improvements will not 

adversely affect the activities, features, and attributes that qualify the Fort Belvoir Forest and 

Wildlife Corridor for protection under Section 4(f). This memo will be updated after OWJ 

coordination is complete.
Resources not adversely impacted or used:

There will be no impacts to the East Coast Greenway Trail as part of this project. FHWA 

previously thought the trail could be impacted because online mapping from the Virginia 

Department of Conservation and Recreation shows the trail going through the project area on 

Fairfax County Parkway. However, the East Coast Greenway Website shows the trail not going 

through the Fairfax County Parkway but rather going through Route 1. On 10/23/2020, I emailed 

Ms. Sarah Stanford with the East Coast Greenway. On 10/23/2020, she confirmed that our 

project location will not impact the Greenway, which indeed goes through Route 1 and not the 

Fairfax County Parkway.

The Fort Belvoir Military Railroad Historic District is in proximity to the Kingman Gate 

improvement at Kingman Road. The Railroad was constructed in 1918 to bring supplies and 

troops to Camp A. A. Humphreys as the United States entered World War I. The railroad 

corridor was previously evaluated in 2016 (as VDHR no. 029-5724) and determined potentially 

eligible for the National Register under Criterion A. This undertaking, however, will not affect 

contributing resources to the Historic District. There is no 4(f) use.

(End)
Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, INCREMENT P, NRCan, Esri

Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri Korea, Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia,

NGCC, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community

0

®

0.25 0.5 1

Miles

1 inch = 0.75 miles

DESIGNATED SPECIAL NATURAL

AREAS ON FORT BELVOIR Figure 9.1

Source: Fort Belvoir GIS,

Google road maps, 

Legend

Wildlife Crossings

Fort Belvoir Trails

Fort Belvoir Forest and Wildlife Corridor (FWC)

Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge (ABWR)

Accotink Creek Conservation Corridor

Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge (JMAWR)

T-17 Refuge

Unclassified // FOUO