[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 93 (Monday, May 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11321]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 16, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Savant Sage Resource Area; Idaho Panhandle National Forests,
Kootenai County, Idaho.
ACTION: Notice of availability of the final environmental impact
statement for activities in the Savant Sage Resource Area.
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DATES: The appeal period on this Final Environmental Impact Statement
ends June 29, 1994.
APPEAL RIGHTS: Send appeals to Appeal Reviewing Officer, Regional
Forester David F. Jolly, USDA Forest Service, Northern Region, Federal
Building, 200 East Broadway, P.O. Box 7669, Missoula, MT 59807. Appeals
must meet the requirements of 36 CFR 215.4.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions about the decision and environmental impact statement should
be directed to Patrick Sheridan, Planning Staff Officer, Fernan Ranger
District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 2502 East Sherman Avenue,
Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814. Phone: (208) 664-2318.
SUMMARY: The notice is hereby given that the Forest Service has
prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documenting
activities in the Savant Sage Resource Area. The area is located
approximately 5 miles east of Athol, Idaho, and is approximately 7,500
acres in size.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action was based on a
landscape-level approach to ecosystem management, and included timber
harvest and reforestation in the Savant Sage Resource Area, through
implementation of a single timber sale. The scope of the proposed
action is limited to timber harvesting, reforestation, and related road
construction and reconstruction activities. During development of the
proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action, emphasis was
placed on addressing the water resource needs and visual concerns of
local residents.
Five alternatives were developed, including a No-Action
Alternative. Alternative 4 is the alternative selected by the
Responsible Official. Alternative 4 provides resource management
practices that move toward the desired future conditions for the area,
described in the Forest Plan, and includes several features favored by
the public: no new roads, large streamside management zones where no
cutting will occur, no helicopter yarding, and protection of
unfragmented habitat. Alternative 4 demonstrates a balance between
protecting visual, recreation, fragmentation, biodiversity, watershed,
and wildlife resources, and initiating treatment of disease conditions.
It will allow for the effective re-establishment of native tree species
(white pine, ponderosa pine, and western larch), and will reduce the
risk of severe fires on the acres that are treated. Alternative 4 will
provide timber volume to the timber industry and funds to the local
counties for schools and roads.
Management activities would be administered by the Fernan Ranger
District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in Kootenai County,
Idaho. This EIS will tier to the Forest Plan (September 1987) which
provides the overall guidance (Goals, Objectives, Standards and
Guidelines, and Management Area direction) in achieving the desired
future condition for this area.
Dated: May 1, 1994.
Donald J. Bright,
District Ranger, Fernan Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National
Forests.
[FR Doc. 94-11321 Filed 5-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
