[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 37 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9575-9576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4708]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
North Belts Travel Plan/Magpie-Confederate Vegetation Restoration
Project; Including Timber Harvest, Prescribed Fire, Watershed
Improvement, Road Reconstruction and Obliteration, Trail Relocation,
and Travel Management
Travel management will be addressed on both Forest Service and
Bureau of Land Management jurisdictions. Bureau of Land Management,
Butte District, Headwaters Resource Area, Helena National Forest,
Broadwater, Lewis & Clark, and Meagher Counties, Montana.
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA/Bureau of Land Management, USDI.
ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare Environmental Impact Statement and a
BLM Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment.
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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management USDI
are gathering information and preparing an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the North Belts Travel Plan/Magpie-Confederate
Vegetation Restoration Project located approximately 25 air miles east
of Helena, Montana.
The Forest Service proposes to treat forested areas with
approximately 1480 acres of commercial timber harvest and 3725 acres of
prescribed fire. An estimated three miles of new construction and three
miles of road reconstruction will be needed to access the treatment
areas. All new construction will be obliterated following harvest,
Prescribed fire is also proposed for 6452 acres of grasslands (315
acres of which belong to the BLM). The Bureau of Land Management and
Forest Service propose to develop long-term travel management plans for
the northern Big Belt Mountains and Spokane Hills. The proposal
includes corrective measures to facilitate watershed improvement and
reduce or eliminate various problems on existing roads and trails. The
proposed action would implement new travel management plans that
identify designated routes which would be available for motorized
vehicle use with a mix of seasonal and vehicle type restrictions.
The proposal is designed to help achieve the goals and objectives
of the 1986 Helena National Forest Plan, move selected areas towards
the desired conditions identified from the Forest Plan, and BLM
Headwaters Resource Management Plan of 1984. These needs are supported
by the findings of the Big Belts Integrated Resource Analysis. The
purpose is to maintain healthy, sustainable ecosystems that (1) reduce
fire risk, (2) provide wildlife habitat similar to the habitat that
existed when fire was a natural component of the ecosystem, (3) enhance
soil and water, (4) provide recreation opportunities, and (5) provide
reasonable long-term travel management.
No Forest Plan amendments are proposed. Further analysis of the
proposed action and alternatives to the proposal may result in a
decision(s) that include amendments to the Forest Plan. Amendments to
the BLM Headwaters Resource Management Plan are expected to be
identified and therefore plan amendment procedures will be followed
from the onset.
DATES: Comments should be received in writing on or before March 31,
1998.
ADDRESSES: The responsible official for the USDA Forest Service is
Thomas J. Clifford, Forest Supervisor, Helena National Forest,
Supervisor's Office, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT 59601. Phone: (406)
449-5201. The responsible official for the USDI Bureau of Land
Management is Merle Good, Headwaters Resource Area Manager, Butte
District Office, P.O. Box 3388, Butte, Montana 59702.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
George Weldon, District Ranger, Townsend Ranger District, or Quinn
Carver, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Townsend Ranger District, 415 S.
Front, Townsend, MT 59644. Phone: (406) 266-3425.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project would occur on Bureau of Land
Management lands of the Butte District and National Forest lands of the
Helena and Townsend Ranger Districts. The activities would take place
within portions of T.11, T.12 and 13N., R.2W., T.9-13N., R.1W., T.10-
13N., R.1E., T.9-12N., R.2E., and T.9-11N., R.3E., Montana Principle
Meridian.
Portions of the timber harvest and prescribed fire treatment units
are within the Hellgate Gulch and Cayuse Mountain roadless areas. No
road construction is proposed within either roadless area.
The decisions to be made, based on this environmental analysis,
are:
1. Whether or not to treat the vegetation at this time, and if so,
how would the treatments be accomplished.
2. What type of transportation systems will be necessary to
accommodate the long-term needs of the public while considering other
resource needs and objectives.
This EIS will tier to the Helena Forest Plan Final EIS of April
1986 and the BLM Headwaters Resource Management Plan of 1984, which
provide program goals, objectives, and standards and
[[Page 9576]]
guidelines for conducting management activities in these areas. All
activities associated with the proposal will be designed to maintain or
enhance the resource objectives identified in the BLM Headwaters
Resource Management Plan and Helena Forest Plan further refined in the
Big Belts Integrated Resource Analysis.
The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are seeking
information and comments from Federal, State, and local agencies
together with organizations or individuals who may be interested in or
affected by the proposed action. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land
Management invite written comments and suggestions on the issues for
the proposal and the area being analyzed. Information received will be
used in preparation of the Draft EIS.
Preparation of the EIS will include the following steps:
1. Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth.
2. Identification of additional reasonable alternatives.
3. Identification of potential environmental effects of the
alternatives.
Timber harvest includes even-aged management treatments such as
clearcutting with reserves, seed tree with reserves, and shelterwood
with reserves. Intermediate treatments such as commercial thinning will
also be considered. Prescribed burning will be used to treat
nonforested and forested vegetation. Alternatives to this proposal will
include the ``no action'' alternative, in which none of the proposed
treatments would be implemented. Other alternatives will examine
variations in the location, amount and method of vegetative management.
The preliminary issues identified are:
1. The effects on forest health and sustaining ecosystems.
2. The effects on recreation and visual resources.
3. The effects on wildlife.
4. The effects on the roadless and wilderness character of the
Roadless Areas.
5. The effects on fish, water quality, and riparian areas.
6. The potential for increase in noxious weed populations or
distribution.
The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will jointly
analyze and disclose in the DEIS and FEIS the environmental effects of
the proposed action pertaining to each agency and a reasonable range of
alternatives. The DEIS and FEIS will disclose the direct, indirect and
cumulative environmental effects of each alternative and its associated
site specific mitigation measures.
Public participation is especially important at several points of
the analysis. Interested parties may visit with the Forest Service/
Bureau of Land Management officials at any time during the analysis.
However, two periods of time are specifically identified for the
receipt of comments. The first comment period is during the scoping
process when the public is invited to give written comments to the
Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The second review period
is during the 90 day review of the DEIS when the public is invited to
comment on the DEIS
The DEIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and available for public review in March of 1999. At that
time, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of the DEIS in the
Federal Register.
The comment period on the DEIS will be 90 days from the date the
notice of availability is published in the Federal Register.
At this early stage in the scoping process, the Forest Service and
Bureau of Land Management believe it is important to give reviewers
notice of several court rulings related to public participation in the
environmental review process. First, reviews of DEIS 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). Secondly, environmental objections that could be raised at
the draft environmental impact statement stage, but that are not raised
until after completion of the FEIS 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. 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 90-
day comment period so that substantive comments and objections are made
available to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management at a time
when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the FEIS.
To assist the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in
identifying and considering issues and concerns on the proposed action,
comments on the DEIS 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 DEIS 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.)
After the comment period ends on the DEIS, the comments will be
analyzed and considered by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land
Management in preparing the FEIS. The FEIS is expected to be filed in
February of 2000.
Dated: February 18, 1998.
Thomas J. Clifford,
Forest Supervisor.
Dated: February 18, 1998.
Merle Good,
Headwaters Resource Area Manager, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 98-4708 Filed 2-24-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
