[Federal Register: July 24, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 142)] [Notices] [Page 39810-39811] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr24jy98-54] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Salmon River Canyon Project; Nez Perce National Forest, Payette National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, Salmon/Challis National Forest, Idaho County, ID AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the environmental effects of fuels reduction within the Salmon River Canyon. The area is located between Cottonwood, ID and North Fork, ID. Some activities are proposed within the Gospel Hump and Frank Church--River of No Return Wildernesses. This EIS will tier to the Nez Perce National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, the Bitterroot National Forest Forest Plan, the Land and Resource Management Plan for the Salmon National Forest, and the Payette National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan which provide overall guidance for achieving the desired forest condition of the area. The purpose of the proposed action is to reduce fuels that have accumulated as a result of fire suppression in areas of historic high frequency, low intensity fires. DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by August 24, 1998 to receive timely consideration in the preparation of the Draft EIS. ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions on the proposed action or requests for a map of the proposed action or to be placed on the project mailing list to Coy Jemmett, Forest Supervisor, Nez Perce National Forest, Route 2 Box 475, Grangeville, ID 83530. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Shields, Planner, Nez Perce National Forest, Route 2 Box 475, Grangeville, ID, 83530, Phone (208) 983-1950. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Activities are proposed on the following Ranger Districts: Salmon River and Red River Districts, Nez Perce NF; New Meadows, McCall, and Krassell, Payette NF; West Fork, Bitterroot NF; and North Fork, Salmon NF. Activities are also proposed on the Cottonwood Resource Area of the Bureau of Land Management. The proposed activity is ignition of approximately 210,000 acres through the use of helicopter and hand ignition over a ten-year period. This treatment is expected to reduce fuels in the Salmon River Canyon area. The following goals will be achieved: 1. Reintroduce fire as a primary ecological disturbance process in ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir types, to initiate the restoration of vegetation densities toward historic levels. 2. Increase the opportunities to allow lightning fires to play, as nearly as possible, their natural ecological role within wilderness in accordance with Wilderness Fire Management Plans. 3. Reduce the risk from wildland fire to private land and structures within and adjacent to the Salmon River Canyon . The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives to the proposed action. One of these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in which none of the proposed actions will be implemented. Additional alternatives will examine varying levels and locations for the proposed activities, including entry into wilderness areas, to achieve the proposal's purposes, as well as to respond to the issues and other resource values. Public participation is an important part of the project, commencing with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7), which starts with publication of this notice and continues for the next 30 days. 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, the Nez Perce Tribe, and other individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected by the proposed action. Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to: 1. Identify potential issues. 2. Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth. 3. Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a relevant previous environmental analysis, such as the Nez Perce National Forest Plan EIS. 4. Identify alternatives to the proposed action. 5. Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action and alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect, and cumulative effects). While public participation in this analysis is welcome at any time, comments received within 30 days of the publication of this notice will be especially useful in the preparation of the draft EIS, which is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency and available for public review [[Page 39811]] in January 1999. A 45-day comment period will follow publication of a Notice of Availability of the draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comments received will be analyzed and considered in preparation of a final EIS, which is expected to be filed in June 1999. A Record of Decision will be issued not less than 30 days after publication of a Notice of Availability of the final EIS in the Federal Register. The Forest Service believes it is important at this early stage to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of draft EISs 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, 513 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the draft EIS stage but that are not raised until after completion of the final EIS 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 available to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the final EIS. To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues and concerns 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. Coy Jemmett is the responsible official for this environmental impact statement. Dated: July 17, 1998. Philip N. Jahn, Acting Forest Supervisor, Nez Perce National Forest. [FR Doc. 98-19725 Filed 7-23-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-11-M