[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 99 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28348-28349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13686]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Proposed North Round Valley Timber Sale, Rapid River Roadless
Area, Payette National Forest, Adams County, Idaho
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service published a Revised Notice of Intent
to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Lockwood and
North Valley Timber Sales in the Federal Register on December 19, 1991
(Vol. 56, No. 244, page 65881). That revised notice is hereby revised
to show three changes: (1) Separate EIS's for each proposed timber
sale, (2) the name of the EIS's, and (3) the schedule for the North
Round Valley Timber Sale EIS.
(1) The Lockwood and North Round Valley Timber Sales Draft EIS was
released in January 1992. A Final EIS was completed in 1993 but was
never released to the public because of the listing of Chinook salmon
and subsequent delays with consultation under the Endangered Species
Act. During the large wildfires on the Forest in 1994, the
interdisciplinary team assigned to the Lockwood/North Round Valley
projects was disbanded, and the Final EIS was put on hold through the
post-fire landscape and salvage analyses conducted in 1994 and 1995. In
1996, the Forest formed a new interdisciplinary team to complete the
Final EIS and to analyze changed conditions since 1993. As part of the
analysis, the team recommended that the two timber sales be separated
into two EIS's primarily due to differences in the level of effects and
controversy associated with each project.
(2) This Revised Notice of Intent covers the proposed North Round
Valley Timber Sale. A separate Revised Notice of Intent will be
prepared for the proposed Lockwood Timber Sale.
(3) The North Round Valley Timber Sale Final EIS is scheduled to be
released in the spring or early summer of 1998. The exact date will
depend on when consultation on threatened and proposed species is
completed with the National Marine Fisheries Services and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments or requests to David Alexander, Forest
Supervisor, Payette National Forest, P.O. Box 1026, McCall, Idaho
83638.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the action should be
directed to David Ede, Team Leader, at (208) 347-0331; or Kimberly
Brandel, New Meadows District Ranger, at (208) 347-0300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USDA Forest Service is proposing to
harevest and regenerate timber in the North Round Valley Timber Sale on
the New Meadows Ranger District of the Payette National Forest in Adams
County, Idaho. The area is located in the Round Valley Creek and Trail
Creek subwatersheds, which drain into the Little Salmon River
The Preferred Alternative would harvest an estimated 184 acres with
shelterwood prescriptions designed to thin out overstocked stands of
mostly grand fir, which would leave a healthy overstory of mixed
species that are within the historic range of variability for this
area. Proposed logging systems include tractor and helicopter. Proposed
harvest units are on or near existing roads, so no new road would be
constructed. An estimated 0.5 mile of existing road would be
reconstructed. All reconstructed road would be closed following sale-
related activities. In addition, 6.3 miles of currently open roads in
the Round Valley Creek subwatershed would be closed year-round to
public motorized vehicles, and 4.0 miles of existing roads would be
obliterated. Closures and obliteration would improve wildlife habitat
and water quality over the long term.
An estimated 125 acres would be harvested in the Rapid River
Roadless Area (0.6 percent of the roadless area), but no new road
construction or reconstruction would occur in the roadless area. Three
roadless units (90 acres) would be harvested by helicopter, and two
roadless units would be tractor-
[[Page 28349]]
skidded to nearby existing roads. This portion of the roadless area is
a narrow finger with roads and harvest units on three sides, which
currently has relatively low potential for wilderness.
The responsible Official is David F. Alexander, Forest Supervisor,
Payette National Forest.
Dated: May 11, 1998.
David F. Alexander,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-13686 Filed 5-21-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
