[Federal Register: May 22, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 99)]
[Notices]               
[Page 28348-28349]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22my98-36]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

 
Proposed North Round Valley Timber Sale, Rapid River Roadless 
Area, Payette National Forest, Adams County, Idaho

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service published a Revised Notice of Intent 
to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Lockwood and 
North Valley Timber Sales in the Federal Register on December 19, 1991 
(Vol. 56, No. 244, page 65881). That revised notice is hereby revised 
to show three changes: (1) Separate EIS's for each proposed timber 
sale, (2) the name of the EIS's, and (3) the schedule for the North 
Round Valley Timber Sale EIS.
    (1) The Lockwood and North Round Valley Timber Sales Draft EIS was 
released in January 1992. A Final EIS was completed in 1993 but was 
never released to the public because of the listing of Chinook salmon 
and subsequent delays with consultation under the Endangered Species 
Act. During the large wildfires on the Forest in 1994, the 
interdisciplinary team assigned to the Lockwood/North Round Valley 
projects was disbanded, and the Final EIS was put on hold through the 
post-fire landscape and salvage analyses conducted in 1994 and 1995. In 
1996, the Forest formed a new interdisciplinary team to complete the 
Final EIS and to analyze changed conditions since 1993. As part of the 
analysis, the team recommended that the two timber sales be separated 
into two EIS's primarily due to differences in the level of effects and 
controversy associated with each project.
    (2) This Revised Notice of Intent covers the proposed North Round 
Valley Timber Sale. A separate Revised Notice of Intent will be 
prepared for the proposed Lockwood Timber Sale.
    (3) The North Round Valley Timber Sale Final EIS is scheduled to be 
released in the spring or early summer of 1998. The exact date will 
depend on when consultation on threatened and proposed species is 
completed with the National Marine Fisheries Services and U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments or requests to David Alexander, Forest 
Supervisor, Payette National Forest, P.O. Box 1026, McCall, Idaho 
83638.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the action should be 
directed to David Ede, Team Leader, at (208) 347-0331; or Kimberly 
Brandel, New Meadows District Ranger, at (208) 347-0300.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USDA Forest Service is proposing to 
harevest and regenerate timber in the North Round Valley Timber Sale on 
the New Meadows Ranger District of the Payette National Forest in Adams 
County, Idaho. The area is located in the Round Valley Creek and Trail 
Creek subwatersheds, which drain into the Little Salmon River
    The Preferred Alternative would harvest an estimated 184 acres with 
shelterwood prescriptions designed to thin out overstocked stands of 
mostly grand fir, which would leave a healthy overstory of mixed 
species that are within the historic range of variability for this 
area. Proposed logging systems include tractor and helicopter. Proposed 
harvest units are on or near existing roads, so no new road would be 
constructed. An estimated 0.5 mile of existing road would be 
reconstructed. All reconstructed road would be closed following sale-
related activities. In addition, 6.3 miles of currently open roads in 
the Round Valley Creek subwatershed would be closed year-round to 
public motorized vehicles, and 4.0 miles of existing roads would be 
obliterated. Closures and obliteration would improve wildlife habitat 
and water quality over the long term.
    An estimated 125 acres would be harvested in the Rapid River 
Roadless Area (0.6 percent of the roadless area), but no new road 
construction or reconstruction would occur in the roadless area. Three 
roadless units (90 acres) would be harvested by helicopter, and two 
roadless units would be tractor-

[[Page 28349]]

skidded to nearby existing roads. This portion of the roadless area is 
a narrow finger with roads and harvest units on three sides, which 
currently has relatively low potential for wilderness.
    The responsible Official is David F. Alexander, Forest Supervisor, 
Payette National Forest.

    Dated: May 11, 1998.
David F. Alexander,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-13686 Filed 5-21-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M