99-24347. Nez Perce Fork Vegetation Management Project; Bitterroot National Forest, Ravalli County, MT  

  • [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
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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]
    BILLING CODE 3410-83-M
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
09/20/1999
Department:
Forest Service
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
Document Number:
99-24347
Dates:
Written comments and suggestions should be received by October 22, 1999.
Pages:
50790-50792 (3 pages)
PDF File:
99-24347.pdf