[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 97 (Friday, May 20, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-12395]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 20, 1994]
VOL. 59, NO. 97
Friday, May 20, 1994
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Fish Bate Timber Sale; Clearwater National Forest, Clearwater
County, ID
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of timber
harvest, reforestation and prescribed burning in the vicinity of the
Sneak Creek, Sheep Creek, Fish Creek, Owl Creek, Martin Creek and Bates
Creek drainages. The area is located south and east of the Canyon Work
Center, North Fork Ranger District, Clearwater National Forest,
Clearwater County, Idaho. None of the proposed project's activities are
within a roadless area. The proposal's actions are being considered
together because they represent either connected or cumulative actions
as defined by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25).
The purposes of the project are to implement the Clearwater Forest
Plan; provide conditions that insure positive timber growth; sustain
the diversity and productivity of all ecosystems within the analysis
area including the aquatic ecosystems, sensitive plant communities and
old growth forest ecosystems; reduce the risk of large fires within the
Fish Bate analysis area; develop a permanent transportation plan for
the area that uses ecologically-sensitive road design methods for new
roads, utilizes timber yarding systems that minimize the need for
additional new roads and analyzes each existing road for the
appropriate type of use, need for maintenance and possibility of
obliteration.
This project-level EIS will tier to the Clearwater National Forest
Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) and Final EIS
(September, 1987), which provides overall guidance of all land
management activities on the Clearwater National Forest.
DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by July 5,
1994, to receive timely consideration in the preparation of the Draft
EIS. The Draft EIS will be filed with the Environmental Protection
Agency in September 1994. The Final EIS and Record of Decision are
expected to be issued in March 1995.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed
action or requests to be placed on the project mailing list to Arthur
S. Bourassa, District Ranger, North Fork Ranger District, Clearwater
National Forest, P.O. Box 2139, Orofino, ID, 83544. FAX: 208-476-5441.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jennefer Sundberg, Team Leader, North Fork Ranger District, Clearwater
National Forest, P.O. Box 2139, Orofino, ID, 83544. Phone: (208) 476-
3775.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The planning area consists of approximately
11,500 acres of National Forest land located in all or part of sections
1, 2, 3, 9-16, 21, 22, 23, and 24 of T40N, R7E; and sections 7, 8, 16-
21, 29, and 30 of T40N, R8E, Boise Meridian. All management activities
would be administered by the North Fork Ranger District, Clearwater
National Forest, Clearwater County, Idaho.
The proposed action includes activities covering approximately 600
acres of the 11,500-acre analysis area. Silvicultural prescriptions
would include 203 acres of sanitation/salvage, 59 acres of seed tree,
52 acres of clearcuts with reserve trees, and 287 acres of group
selection harvests. These harvest units are expected to yield
approximately 4.5 MMBF of timber product. The majority of this volume
(63%) would be yarded with a skyline system. The remaining volume (37%)
would be helicopter yarded. Approximately .31 miles of new road
construction would be required to access landing sites and .35 miles of
road reconstruction would be required.
The Clearwater Forest Plan provides guidance for management
activities within the potentially affected area through its goals,
objectives, standards, guidelines and management area direction. The
areas of proposed timber harvest and reforestation would occur within
Management Areas E1, C4, A4 and M2. Timber harvest would occur only on
suitable timber land. Below is a brief description of the applicable
management direction.
Management Area E1--Timber Management--Provide optimum,
sustained production of timber products in a cost-effective manner
while protecting soil and water quality.
Management Area C4--Elk Winter Ranger/Timber--Provide sufficient
winter forage and thermal cover for existing and projected big game
populations while achieving timber production outputs.
Management Area A4--Visual Travel Corridor--Maintain or enhance
an aesthetically pleasing, natural appearing Forest setting
surrounding designated roads, trails, and other areas considered
important for recreational travel and use.
Management Area M2--Riparian Lands--Meet watershed and riparian
dependant resource objectives and compatible timber production.
The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives to the
proposed action. One of these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in
which none of the proposed activities would be implemented. Additional
alternatives will examined varying levels and locations for the
proposed activities to achieve the proposal's purposes, as well as to
respond to the issues and other resource values.
The EIS will analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental effects of the alternatives. Past, present, and projected
activities on both private and National Forest lands will be
considered. The EIS will disclose the analysis of site-specific
mitigation measures and their effectiveness.
Public participation is an important part of the project,
commencing with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7), which
starts with publication of this notice and continues for the next 45
days. In addition, the public is encouraged to visit with Forest
Service officials at any time during the analysis and prior to the
decision. The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and
assistance from Federal, State and local agencies, as well as other
individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected by
the proposed action. No meetings are scheduled, but letters, phone
calls or personal visits are invited for the purpose of providing
information related to this proposal. Interested individuals and
organizations are encouraged to contact the North Fork District Ranger
to be added to the project mailing list to receive future information
related to this project.
Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in
preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to:
1. Identify potential issues.
2. Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.
3. Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a
relevant previous environmental analysis, such as the Clearwater
Forest Plan EIS.
4. identify alternatives to the proposed action.
5. Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action
and alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect, and cumulative effects).
6. Determine potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.
Preliminary issues identified as a result of internal scoping
include: effects of the proposal on old growth habitat, cumulative
effects of the past harvest that has occurred in the area,
fragmentation, opening size (existing and proposed), water quality,
impacts to biodiversity of the area, watershed rehabilitation, effects
of the proposal on riparian areas, impacts to fish species, snag
management, visual quality of the area, travel corridors/linkages and
effects on threatened, endangered, and sensitive species. This list
will be verified, expanded, and/or modified based on the public scoping
for this proposal .
The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in September of
1994. At that time, 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 of Environmental Protection Agency
publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register. It is
very important that those interested in management of the Fish Bate
area participate at that time. To be most helpful, comments on the
Draft EIS should be as site-specific as possible. The Final EIS is
scheduled to be completed by March, 1995.
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
draft environmental impact statements 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 environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised
until after completion of the final environmental impact statement 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. 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 environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
on the proposed action, comments on the draft environmental impact
statement should be as specific as possible. It is helpful if comments
refer to specific pages or chapters of the draft 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.
I am the responsible official for this environmental impact
statement. My address is Clearwater National Forest, 12730 Highway
12, Orofino, ID 83544.
Dated: May 6, 1994.
James L. Caswell,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 94-12395 Filed 5-19-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
