[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 251 (Monday, December 30, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68704-68705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-33192]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 251 / Monday, December 30, 1996 /
Notices
[[Page 68704]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Beaver Creek Salvage Timber Sale and Other Restoration Projects,
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Union County, Oregon
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) for a set of proposals to implement a salvage timber
sale and several other related restoration and rehabilitation projects
within the Beaver Creek Project Area. The EIS will tier to the 1990
Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) for the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest, which provides the overall management direction for
the area. The Forest Service proposed action will be consistent with
the Forest Plan.
The proposed projects are primarily located with the Beaver Creek
Municipal Watershed in the Beaver Creek, West Fork Beaver Creek, and
Beatty Creek drainages on the La Grande Ranger District, approximately
15 air miles south and west of La Grade, Oregon. The project area
consists of 16,000 acres. The following activities are proposed: (1)
Salvage of dead and down trees to reduce fuel loadings, harvest of
other trees to improve stand health and vigor; (2) development of
associated road systems; (3) construction of a reduced fuel corridor
system; (4) exchange of a low quality stand of allocated old growth for
another stand of high quality old growth; (5) completion of structure
protection measures; (6) implementation of bank and instream water
quality restoration practices in areas of known damage; and (7) re-
intoduction of fire in a portions of the project area to reduce fuel
loadings and enhance a ponderosa pine site.
The projects would be implemented from Fiscal Year 1998 into the
year 2000. The agency invites written comments and suggestions on the
scope of this project. In addition, the agency gives notice of this
analysis so that interested and affected people are aware of how they
may participate and contribute to the planning process and final
decision.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received
in writing by January 31, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Send written concerns and comments to Robert P. Rainville,
District Ranger, La Grande Ranger District, 3502 Highway 30, La Grande,
Oregon 97850.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Direct questions about the proposed action and EIS to Cindy Whitlock,
Project Coordinator, 3502 Highway 30, La Grande, Oregon 97850, phone
(541) 962-8501.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Forest Service proposal
is to maintain, protect and enhance water quality within the project
area through creation of a fuel reduction corridor network (18 miles of
fuel reduction corridors), reduction of fuel loadings through salvage
of the insect killed existing dead timber (5.0 million board feet
(MMBF) from 892 acres), proactive management of other high priority
stands to improve stand growth and vigor to meet long term desired
ecosystem and management goals (1.0 MMBF from 299 acres),
implementation of riparian restoration activities (5 miles of project
area streams), and improvement of the old growth network within the
area by replacing allocation of poor quality stands with ones of higher
quality. The proposed action will be consistent with the Forest Plan,
which provides goals, objectives, standards and guidelines of the
various activities and land allocations on the forest.
The Forest Plan allocates the project area into four management
areas (MAs): (MA1) Timber Production Emphasis, less than 1% (12 acres);
(MA3A) Wildlife/Timber, 86% (14,000 acres-Big game summer range); MA3)
wildlife/Timber, 2% (309 acres); (MA15) Old Growth Preservation, 9%
(1,400 acres). Private lands (320 acres) and also included within the
project area boundary (2% of the area). Although excluded from Forest
Service activities, project access and the condition of private lands
will be considered during alternative development and when analyzing
potential cumulative effects.
The Key issues identified to date include:
1. Wildlife Habitat--(short-term and long-term considerations, big
game and non-game habitat needs, road construction and densities, and
old growth effectiveness/availability).
2. Stand Health--(tree mortality, reduced tree stocking levels,
progression to the desired future condition)
3. Water Quality/Riparian Health, Fisheries--(water quality,
quantity, flow, temperature, and timing, and riparian vegetation
condition).
4. Economics
5. Roadless Area Character
A range of project alternatives will be considered, including a no-
action alternative. Based on the issues gathered through scoping, the
action alternatives will vary in (1) the amount and location of acres
considered for treatment, (2) the amount of road constructed for
access, (3) the silvicultural and post-harvest treatments prescribed,
(4) the number, type, and location of rehabilitation projects, and (5)
the amount of time needed to move the area toward its Desired Future
Condition.
Public participation will be especially important at several points
during the analysis, beginning with the scoping process (40 CFR
1501.7). The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and
assistance from Federal, State, local agencies, tribes and other
individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected by
the proposed project. This input will be used in preparation of the
draft EIS. Continued scoping and public participation efforts will be
used by the interdisciplinary team to identify new issues, determine
alternatives in response to the issues, and determine the level of
analysis needed to disclose potential biological, physical, economic,
and social impacts associated with this project. The scoping process
includes:
1. Identification of potential issues.
2. Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth.
3. Elimination of insignificant issues or those which have been
covered by a relevant previous environmental process.
[[Page 68705]]
4. Exploration of additional alternatives based on the issues
identified during the scoping process.
5. Identification of potential environmental effects of the
proposed action and alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative
effects and connected actions).
The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review by
August,1997. The EPA will publish a notice of availability of the draft
EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the draft EIS will
be 45 days from the date the EPA notice appears in the Federal
Register. At that time, copies of the draft EIS will be distributed to
interested and affected agencies, organizations, and members of the
public for their review and comment. It is important that those
interested in the management of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
participate at that time.
The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers
notice, at this early stage, of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
a draft EI must structure their participation in the environmental
review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts the agency
to the reviewer's position and contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear
Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental
objections that could be raised at the draft EIS stage but that are not
raised until after completion of the final EIS may be waived or
dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 f. 2d 1016, 1022
(9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc, v. Harris, 490 F. Supp.
1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court rulings, it is very
important that those interested in this proposed action participate by
the close of the 45-day comment period so that substantive comments and
objections are made available to the Forest Service at a time when it
can meaningfully consider and respond to them in the final EIS.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed actions, comments on the draft EIS should
be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to
specific pages or chapters of the draft EIS. Comments may also address
the adequacy of the draft EIS or merits of the alternatives formulated
and discussed in the statement. (Reviewers may wish to refer to the
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40
CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.)
The final EIS is scheduled for completion by January, 1998. In the
final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to substantive
comments received during the comment period for the draft EIS. Robert
M. Richmond, Forest Supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest,
is the responsible official. He will decide which, if any, of the
proposed project alternatives will be implemented. His decision and
reason for the decisions will be documented in the Record of Decision.
That decision will be subject to Forest Service appeal regulations (36
CFR Part 217).
Dated: December 19, 1996.
R.M. Richmond,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 96-33192 Filed 12-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
