[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 131 (Friday, July 9, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37093-37094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-17476]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Meadow Smith Project Environmental Impact Statement; Flathead
National Forest, Swan Lake Ranger District, Lake and Missoula Counties,
State of Montana
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) for a proposal to harvest timber, commercial and pre-
commercial tree thinning, burn brush fields or forest understory trees,
reclaim and construct roads, change road access, improve fish passages,
wet land restoration, and reduce sediment sources within the Meadow
Smith Project area. The project area is located in the upper Swan
Valley and is approximately 35 miles air miles southeast of Bigfork,
Montana in the vicinity of the community of Condon.
The Forest Service is seeking further information and comments from
Federal, State, and local agencies and other individuals or
organizations who may be interested in or affected by the proposed
actions. These comments will be used to prepare the draft EIS.
DATES: The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency and made available for public review in August, 1999.
No date has yet been determined for filing the final EIS.
The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes
the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: You may request to be placed on the project mailing list or
direct questions, comments, and suggestions about the proposed action
and EIS to Keith Soderstrom, EIS Team Leader, or Chuck Harris, District
Ranger, Swan Lake Ranger District, 200 Ranger Station Road, Bigfork, MT
59911. Phone: (406) 837-7500.
The proposal's actions listed above 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 Forest Service believes the current forest conditions resulting
from large wildfires that occurred near the turn of the century and
subsequent management decisions are causing adverse effects.
Specifically, the encroachment of shade tolerant tree species on dry
sites historically dominated by open-grown, large-tree communities has
caused an overall reduction of individual tree health; increased risk
of property damage on both national forest and adjacent private land
from large and intense wildfires; and, a decrease in the presence of
open-grown, large tree ponderosa pine and western larch forests. The
Forest Service also believes implementing a no action alternative will
further increase these effects in the future. The proposed actions may
have short term significant effects on wildlife, but long term benefits
to the function of the ecosystem are more desirable.
The EIS will tier to the Flathead National Forest Land and Resource
Management Plan (LRMP) and EIS of January, 1986, and its subsequent
amendments, which provide overall guidance of all land management
activities on the Flathead National Forest.
Decision To Be Made
Should the Forest Service implement the proposed action or any
action to meet the purpose and need or to defer any action at this time
within the Meadow Smith Project area? The deciding official for this
project is Chuck Harris, Swan Lake District Ranger, Flathead National
Forest.
Preliminary Issues and Alternatives
Public and internal scoping which has already occurred for this
project includes two public meetings, four public field trips; three
mailings to Federal, State, and local agencies and other individuals or
organizations; personal conversations with interdisciplinary team
members and members of the public, and news media releases. An
Environmental Assessment has been completed for this proposal and made
available for public comment;
[[Page 37094]]
based on comments received, the Forest Service has decided to prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement. Through public and internal scoping,
the following significant issues emerged:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Nature and Scope of the Proposed Action
Ponderosa pine and western larch forests in the Swan Valley were
once a mosaic of open, park like stands that supported large trees.
Fire suppression and timber harvesting in this century have changed
these forests. Many of the remaining stands of ponderosa pine and
western larch have become densely overgrown with mid-story and
understory Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, spruce, and grand fir trees.
These shade tolerant species are growing into the crowns of the older
ponderosa pine and western larch. This creates ``fuel ladders'' that
put ponderosa pine and western larch at increased risk should a fire
occur. Historically, the low intensity ground fires will have thinned
out these shades tolerant species. Trees in these dense stands are also
susceptible to insects and pathogens. Dead or diseased trees increase
the risk of fire. The closed forest canopy is also shading and reducing
the vigor of shrub, grass, and forb populations associated with open
forest conditions.
This proposal addresses the need to restore old growth forest
characteristics within the Upper Swan Valley. The proposed management
actions are intended to increase the presence of open-grown, large-tree
ponderosa pine and western larch forests; lower the risks of loss of
mature large trees from insects, disease, and lethal fire; and return
fire, in the form of prescribed fire, as a process of forest
succession.
The proposed action outlines 2,090 acres of vegetation treatments
which include prescribed burning, pre-commercial thinning, and varying
intensities of timber harvest with associated fuels treatments and
preparation for reforestation. The proposed action includes 2.9 miles
of road reclamation, 3.3 miles of temporary road construction and
subsequent restoration, improved fish passages at 3 sites, culvert
replacement at one site, wetland restoration (filling a man-made ditch)
at one site, and approximately 5.5 miles of fuel breaks on upland sites
adjacent to private lands. In addition, road access changes are
proposed for 3.0 miles, and establishing approximately 5.5 miles of
fuel breaks on upland sites adjacent to private lands.
1. Effects of vegetation treatments on big game winter range
habitat.
2. Effects of vegetation treatments on existing and future old
growth forest communities. The interdisciplinary team has developed
alternatives to the proposed action that respond to these significant
issues.
The Forest Service believes 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. 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 environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement 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
environmental impact statement 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.
Following this comment period, the comments received will be
analyzed, considered, and responded to by the Forest Service in the
final environmental impact statement (FEIS). Chuck Harris, District
Ranger, Swan Lake Ranger District, 200 Ranger Station Road, Bigfork, MT
59911 is the responsible official for the preparation of the EIS and
will make a decision regarding this proposal considering the comments
and responses, environmental consequences discussed in the FEIS, and
applicable laws, regulations, and policies. The decision and rational
for the decision will be documented in a Record of Decision. That
decision will be subject to appeal under applicable Forest Service
regulations.
Dated: July 2, 1999.
Chuck Harris,
District Ranger, Swan Lake Ranger District, Flathead National Forest.
[FR Doc. 99-17476 Filed 7-8-99; 8:45 am]
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