[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 181 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50790-50792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24347]
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Notices
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 181 / Monday, September 20, 1999 /
Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Nez Perce Fork Vegetation Management Project; Bitterroot National
Forest, Ravalli County, MT
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 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 management
activities proposed in the Nez Perce Fork area on the West Fork Ranger
District of the Bitterroot National Forest. Proposed management
activities include management ignited prescribed fire, timber harvest,
reforestation, and road reconstruction. The Nez Perce Fork area is
located in Ravalli County, Montana, approximately 30 miles southwest of
the city of Hamilton. The Nez Perce Fork area includes the entire Nez
Perce Fork drainage and several other tributary drainages of the West
Fork Bitterroot River, including Boulder Creek, Christisen Creek, Baker
Creek and Pierce Creek.
A variety of management activities proposed in the project 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: (1) To restore fire
and its associated ecological benefits, (2) to reduce fuel
accumulations, (3) to modify timber stand structure and species
composition in order to maintain or restore ecosystem diversity, (4)
modify the edges of two older clear cut units so they better comply
with visual quality objectives, (5) improve habitat conditions for
bighorn sheep and other big game species, (6) reduce sediment sources
on open roads and stabilize a segment of one road by constructing a
retaining wall, and (7) to utilize surplus biomass removed in
fulfilling purposes 1 through 5, above, by providing raw materials for
forest products. This project level EIS will tier to the Bitterroot
National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) and
Final EIS (September, 1987), which provides overall guidance for all
land management activities on the Bitterroot National Forest.
DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by October
22, 1999.
ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is David M. Campbell, District
Ranger, West Fork Ranger District, Bitterroot National Forest, Darby,
Montana 59829. Written comments and suggestions concerning the scope of
the analysis or a request to be included on the project mailing list
should be sent to him at that address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stuart Lovejoy, Resource Team Leader, Sula Ranger Station, Bitterroot
National Forest, Phone (406) 821-3201.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project encompasses approximately 86,000
acres of land in southwestern Montana on the Bitterroot National
Forest. The Nez Perce Fork area includes lands drained by the Nez Perce
Fork and several other tributaries of the West Fork Bitterroot River
including Boulder Creek, Christisen Creek, Baker Creek and Pierce
Creek. A map and legal descriptions are available on request.
Management ignited prescribed fire and timber harvest are proposed
on approximately 10,500 acres and 1,400 acres, respectively. Proposed
management ignited fire and harvest activities focus primarily on low
to mid elevations and drier aspects, which are considered more at risk
ecologically due to fire absence.
An analysis of the Nez Perce Fork area reveals changes in how the
forest vegetation currently looks and functions compared to the past.
Natural patterns and stand structures have changed, largely due to the
absence of fire during this century in this fire dependent ecosystem.
This has caused notable changes in vegetation species composition,
plant density, stand structures, fuels, seral species regeneration, and
the health and vigor of forest stands. The primary purpose of
prescribed fire and timber harvest in the Nez Perce Fork area is to
maintain or restore ecosystem diversity, function, and health. There is
also an opportunity to address ecological trends and at the same time
utilize surplus biomass for forest products. Maintaining plant
community diversity will promote the range of habitats that native
plants and animals evolved in. Management prescriptions to promote
diversity include low to moderate intensity management ignited
prescribed fire, and on some sites prescribed fire would be used in
combination with silvicultural practices. Silvicultural treatments
proposed include pre-commercial thinning, commercial thinning,
irregular shelterwood harvest, seed tree harvest, sanitation salvage
harvest, improving cutting, and reforestation.
Managing fuels using fire and silvicultural practices would
decrease the risk of uncharacteristically intense fires and associated
undesirable effects. These activities could also increase the ability
of the Forest Service to allow more naturally occurring fires to burn
in the adjoining Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area by reducing fuels
near private property at lower elevations. This would to some degree
reduce the risks to private property from natural fires allowed to burn
in the Wilderness.
Prescribed fire is proposed in 13 acres totaling about 9,700 acres,
with special focus on the ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir community, which
have been most altered due to fire absence.
Big game forage, including some winter range areas, would be
improved in the areas to be understory burned. Bighorn sheep forage
vigor would also be improved in four underburn areas that are located
within the Nez Perce sheep herds range.
Fire would also be reintroduced in a portion of the Boulder Creek
Research Natural Area, presenting the opportunity to conduct research
on the effects of fire absence and reintroduction. These opportunities
have been discussed with representatives of the Rocky Mountain Research
Station from Missoula, Montana and the research would fulfill a need
for additional information regarding fire absence and the effects of
fire reintroduction.
Seven areas totaling 307 acres are proposed for commercial
thinning. Following the thinning, understory burning is prescribed in
the areas within the ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir
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community. Pre-commercial thinning is also needed on 311 acres of
densely stocked sub-merchantable trees in order to maintain desirable
species composition, tree growth, and vigor.
Four areas totaling 93 acres would be harvested using an
``irregular shelterwood'' method to regenerate them. All areas would be
treated with understory burning following harvest in order to reduce
fuels, prepare sites for regeneration, and to maintain fire as an
ecosystem process. The irregular shelterwood treatment would provide
the relatively open conditions necessary for ponderosa pine tree
seedlings to become established and provide for future stands that are
dominated by large ponderosa pines.
One even aged mature lodgepole pine stand is prescribed for seed
tree harvest and prescribed burning. Within the Nez Perce area, there
has been a shift toward more late seral stands during this century due
to fire absence. This treatment would to some degree simulate a stand
replacing fire event, thereby increasing early seral stage habitat.
Two areas totalling 177 acres are proposed to receive a sanitation
salvage harvest, an intermediate harvest treatment designed to remove
individual dead, dying, and diseased trees. One of these areas would be
understory burned following harvest and activity fuels in the other
area would be limbed and lopped and/or hand-piled and burned. Fire
absence in the Nez Perce area has allowed for higher than historic
levels of dwarf mistletoe and other disease or insect disturbance
levels, adding to heavy fuel accumulations.
Improvement cutting and prescribed fire would be used to restore
more favorable conditions for wintering big game animals and spring/
early summer range for bighorn sheep in one area. The resulting open
stand with an increased ratio of ponderosa pine would provide improved
sheep habitat and would more closely resemble historic conditions that
can be maintained with fire.
Two older clear-cut units that are visible from main roads are
proposed to have their edges modified in order to better meet visual
quality objectives. The visual impact of these two openings is proposed
to be reduced by modifying their geometric shape and straight edges.
The fill slope of Soda Springs Road (#5365) is eroding and is
proposed to be stabilized by construction of a bin retaining wall. The
bin wall is needed to stabilize the chronic sediment source from the
fill slope and to provide a safer and easier to maintain road facility.
Roads on which timber would be hauled would have surface improvement
work completed, such as installing drivable dips and gravelling. These
are needed to reduce sediment sources, thereby protecting water quality
and aquatic habitat.
The Bitterroot Forest Plan provides guidance for management
activities through its goals, objectives, standards, and management
area direction. The areas of proposed timber harvest occur in
Management Areas 1, 2, and 3a. Prescribed burning is proposed on lands
within Forest Plan Management Areas 1, 2, 3a, 3b, 5, and 6. The
management direction for these areas are briefly described, as follows.
Management Area 1 emphasizes timber management, livestock and big game
forage production, and roaded dispersed recreation activities.
Management Area 2 emphasizes elk winter range habitat, allows for
timber management and providing roaded dispersed recreation
opportunities. Management Area 3a emphasizes visual quality, allows
timber management, and providing roaded dispersed recreation
opportunities. Management Area 3b emphasizes protection of riparian
habitat and water quality and providing for water-related recreation.
Management Area 5 emphasizes semi-primitive recreation and elk
security. Management Area 6 includes areas recommended for Wilderness
designation.
This project proposal was analyzed in an Environmental Assessment
(EA) that was issued in February, 1998. Public scopeing meetings and
opportunities for interested parties to review and comment on the EA
were included in that analysis effort. That planning effort lead to the
decision to prepare an EIS. Public participation is also an important
part of this analysis, commencing with additional scoping (40 CFR
1501.7), which will occur during September and October, 1999. 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 and other
individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected by
the proposed action. No additional public meetings are scheduled at
this time.
Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in
preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to
identify issues and alternatives to the proposed action. Some public
comments have already been received in conjunction with an analysis
documented in the Nez Perce Fork Vegetation Management Project EA
(February, 1998). The following issues have already been identified: 1.
How would the proposed timber harvest (improvement cutting) between
Watchtower and Sheepshead Creeks and above the Nez Perce Road change
the undeveloped character of this portion of the Selway Bitterroot
Roadless area? 2. How would the proposed activities affect threatened,
endangered and sensitive fish and wildlife species that inhabit the
area? 3. How would the proposed activities affect the movement of
wildlife through the area? 4. Can the vegetation diversity and
ecological purposes of the project be met without any further timber
extraction in the area? 5. To what degree would the proposed activities
contribute to the spread of noxious weeds in the area? Other issues
commonly associated with prescribed fire and timber harvest include:
potential effects on cultural resources, water quality, air quality,
soils, old growth, and scenery values. This list may be verified;
expanded, or modified based on public scoping for this proposal.
The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives in the
EIS. One of these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in which none
of the proposed activities would be implemented. Additional
alternatives will examine 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 scheduled 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.
The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in December,
1999. 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 the EPA's notice of availability
appears in the Federal Register. It is very important that those
interested in management of the Nez Perce Fork area participate at that
time. To be most helpful, comments on the Draft EIS should be as
specific as possible. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed in
April, 2000.
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,
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reviewers of draft environment 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 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 scoping 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 developing issues and alternatives.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
on the proposed action, comments should be as specific as possible.
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.
The responsible official for this environmental impact statement is
David M. Campbell, West Fork District Ranger. His address is West Fork
Ranger District, Bitterroot National Forest, 6735 West Fork Road,
Darby, Montana 59829. He will decide which, if any, of the proposed
actions will be implemented and will document the decision and reasons
for the decision in a Record of Decision. That decision will be subject
to Forest Service Appeal Regulations.
Dated: September 9, 1999.
Jeff Amoss,
Acting Forest Supervisor, Bitterroot National Forest.
[FR Doc. 99-24347 Filed 9-17-99; 8:45 am]
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