[Federal Register: December 9, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 236)]
[Notices]
[Page 72903-72904]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09de02-25]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Stanislaus National Forest, CA; Larson Reforestation and Fuels
Reduction Project
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 to restore, reforest, and reduce fuels within the 13,263 acre
Larson project area that was burned in the Stanislaus Complex Fire of
1987. The Larson project area is located in Mariposa County,
California, on Stanislaus National Forest, Groveland Ranger District.
The project area is located three miles south of Highway 120, two miles
north of the Merced River Canyon, and is bounded by Pilot Peak Lookout
on the west and Yosemite National Park on the east. The legal
description is: Township 2 South, Range 18 East, Sections 13, 24, 25,
36; Township 2 South, Range 19 East, Sections 15-18, 19-22, 26-30, 31-
35; Township 3 South, Range 19 East, Sections 2-6, 9-10, MDM.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by January 15, 2003. The draft environmental impact statement is
expected September 2003 and the final environmental impact statement is
expected April 2004.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to John R. Swanson, District Ranger,
Stanislaus National Forest, Groveland Ranger District, 24545 Highway
120, Groveland, CA 95321 or fax them to (209) 962-7412.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Roskopf, Silviculture Forester,
Stanislaus National Forest, Groveland Ranger District, 24545 Highway
120, Groveland, CA 95321, phone (209) 962-7825.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is being undertaken to
comply with the direction contained in the National Forest Management
Act (1976) Sec. 4.(d)(1), stating that ``it is the policy of Congress
that all forested lands shall be maintained in appropriate forest cover
with species of trees, degree of stocking, rate of growth, and
conditions of stands designed to secure the maximum benefits of
multiple use sustained yield management in accordance with the land
management plans''. In addition, this environmental impact statement
(EIS) will tier to the Stanislaus National Forest Land and Resource
Management Plan and EIS of 1991 as amended.
Purpose and Need for Action
The Larson Fire (part of the Stanislaus Complex Fire of 1987)
burned over 15,000 acres of forest and non-forest lands within the
Larson project area. The fire burned in a mosaic pattern of moderate
and high intensities. Significant regeneration of conifer trees
following a wildfire and the associated benefits of a forested
ecosystem has not occurred. Relying on natural regeneration and
succession to reforest an area would take many decades. By restoring
and reforesting the area, the associated benefits of recreation,
timber, soil quality, visual quality, water quality, and wildlife
habitat would recover to pre-fire levels at an accelerated rate.
Proposed Action
The proposed action would consist of combinations of site
preparation (4,300 acres), reforestation (4,500 acres), release (4,800
acres), precommercial thinning (750 acres), prescribed burning (4,800),
and defensible fuel profile zone construction (150 acres) treatments.
Site preparation treatments would include mechanical, manual, and
chemical methods. Specific treatments would include shredding, tractor
piling,
[[Page 72904]]
grapple piling, crushing, felling, hand herbicide applications
(glyphosate or triclopyr), and aerial herbicide (glyphosate)
applications. Reforestation treatment would include planting and re-
planting if needed. Release treatments would include hand herbicide
(glyphosate or triclopyr) application and a second hand herbicide
(glyphosate or triclopyr) application if needed. Precommercial thinning
treatments would include shredding, hand felling and piling, and hand
felling with lopping and scattering of slash. Prescribed burning
treatments would include broadcast, underburn, and pile burning.
Defensible fuel profile zone construction would include tractor piling
and shredding.
Possible Alternatives
A range of reasonable alternatives will be considered as long as
they meet the purpose and need of the proposed action, meet the project
objectives of the proposed action, and are consistent with the Forest
and Resource Management Plan. A ``no action'' alternative will also be
considered.
Responsible Official
The Responsible Official is Glenn Gottschall, Acting Forest
Supervisor, Stanislaus National Forest, Supervisor's Office, 19777
Greenley Road, Sonora, CA 95370.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The decision to be made is how to restore and reforest the land
that was burned in the Stanislaus Complex Fire of 1987 to meet a
variety of resource needs (i.e., recreation, timber, watershed,
wildlife). The Forest Supervisor may select one of the proposed
alternatives for reforesting the burn area, modify one of the proposed
alternatives by adding additional management requirements or mitigation
measures, or defer reforestation treatments of the burned area.
Scoping Process
The Larson Reforestation and Fuels Reduction Project encouraged
public participation through notification in the Stanislaus National
Forest Schedule of Proposed Actions (SOPA), a publication mailed to
over 500 governmental agencies, organizations, groups, and interested
individuals. In addition, the project is listed on the Stanislaus
National Forest SOPA web site (http;://www.r5.fs.fed.us/stanislaus/planning/sopa/index.htm
). Furthermore, a preliminary scoping letter was
mailed out to various individuals, organizations and government
agencies in September of 1997 and August of 1998 requesting public
comments. This project will also be listed in the Federal Register.
Preliminary Issues
Preliminary concerns include the effects of mechanical, chemical,
and prescribed burning treatments on air quality, soil quality, water
quality, and threatened and endangered species.
Permits or Licenses Required
A county burning permit will be required for prescribed burning
operations. A California Pesticide Applicators License will be required
for herbicide operations.
Comment Requested
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. The Forest
Service will be seeking information, comments, and assistance from
Federal, State, and local agencies, and other individuals or
organizations that may be interested in, or affected by, the proposed
action. Scoping comments will be used to refine the proposed action;
develop management requirements, mitigation measures, or alternatives;
and identify potential issues and environmental effects of the proposal
and the alternatives. This input will be used in the preparation of the
draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: A draft environmental impact statement will be
prepared for comment. 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.
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. 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.
Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21)
Dated: November 26, 2002.
Glenn J. Gottschall,
Acting Forest Supervisor, Stanislaus National Forest.
[FR Doc. 02-31025 Filed 12-6-02; 8:45 am]
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