[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 232 (Monday, December 4, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 62065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29441]
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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. 60, No. 232 / Monday, December 4, 1995 /
Notices
[[Page 62065]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Robinson/Scott Landscape Management Project, Willamette National
Forest, Lane and Linn Counties, OR
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) on a proposal to thin and/or regenerate forest stands,
construct roads, and use prescribed fire in the Upper McKenzie
Watershed. The landscape management project is needed to: (1) Provide
landscape-level health and vegetation diversity within the project area
to meet issues identified during watershed analysis and public scoping;
and (2) provide timber products as directed by the Willamette Forest
Plan, as amended. Project is proposed for fiscal years 1997-2002. The
Willamette National forest invites written comments on the scope of the
analysis. The agency will give full notice of the full environmental
analysis and decision making process for the proposal so interested and
affected people may participate and contribute to the final decision.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received
in writing by March 1, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Eugene Skrine, District
Silviculturist, McKenzie Ranger District, McKenzie Bridge, Oregon
97413.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Eugene Skrine, District Silviculturist, McKenzie Ranger District,
McKenzie Bridge, Oregon 97413, Phone (541) 822-3381.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USDA, Forest Service proposal includes:
treatment of approximately 900-1500 acres with various regeneration
harvest methods approximating the pattern and scale of relatively
frequent stand-replacement fires; treatment of approximately 500-2000
acres with commercial thinning treatments that approximate the pattern
of frequent low to moderate intensity fires; provide long term
sustainable habitat for big game and other wildlife species; develop a
long term vegetation management plan for high quality riparian habitat
to benefit bull trout; maintain major components of the landscape-level
ecosystem within the range of historic variability; reset some meadows
to historic conditions with use of fire; produce ``no net increase'' in
permanent roads.
Preliminary issues have been identified and include: historical
disturbance patterns; biological diversity at the stand and landscape
levels; recreation experience and scenic byway; threatened, endangered,
and sensitive plant and animal species; High Emphasis Elk Area
management. A range of alternatives will be developed including a no
action alternative.
This draft EIS will tier to the 1990 Final EIS for the Willamette
National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan as amended by the
Northwest Forest Plan (ROD) (1994). The Forest Service is the lead
agency.
Initial scoping will begin in November 1995. A public participation
plan is being developed with public meeting and public tour dates to be
announced. The public is invited to offer suggestions and comments in
writing.
The draft EIS is expected to be completed in September 1996. The
comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in
the Federal Register.
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 EIS must structure their participation in the environmental
review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts an 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 them and respond to them in the final EIS.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, 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 statement. Comments may also
address the adequacy of the draft EIS or the 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 to be completed in December 1996. In the
final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to comments and
responses received during the comment period that pertain to the
environmental consequences discussed in the draft EIS and applicable
laws, regulations, and policies considered in making the decision
regarding the Santiam Forest Health Project. Darrel L. Kenops, Forest
Supervisor, is the Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official,
he will decide whether to implement the project. The Responsible
Official will document the decision and reasons for the decision in the
Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to the Forest Service
Appeal Regulations (36 CFR Part 215).
Dated: November 21, 1995.
Darrel L. Kenops,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 95-29441 Filed 12-1-95; 8:45 am]
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