[Federal Register: February 26, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 38)]
[Notices]               
[Page 9525]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26fe99-89]


[[Page 9525]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

 
Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for a Forest Management Plan for the Flathead Indian 
Reservation, Pablo, Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed 
forest management plan for the trust forest lands of the Flathead 
Indian Reservation, Pablo, Montana, is now available for public review 
and comment. A description of the proposed action follows as 
supplemental information. This notice also announces a public hearing 
to receive public comments on the DEIS.

DATES: Written comments must be received by May 2, 1999. The public 
hearing will be held on Wednesday, April 21, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Address written comments to Mr. Ernest ``Bud'' Moran, 
Superintendent, Flathead Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, P.O. Box A, 
Pablo, Montana 59855. The public hearing will take place in the Dan 
Swaney Conference Room at the Mission Valley Power Headquarters, Pablo, 
Montana. It will begin at 6 p.m.
    To obtain a copy of this DEIS, please write or call Mr. Ralph 
Goode, Tribal Forestry, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, P.O. 
Box 278, Pablo, Montana 59855, Telephone (406) 676-3755. Copies of the 
DEIS have been sent to all agencies and individuals who participated in 
the scoping process or who have already requested copies of the 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ralph Goode, 406-676-3755.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: There are approximately 451,391 acres of 
forest trust land on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The Draft Forest 
Management Plan (the proposed action) takes an interdisciplinary 
approach to forest management and seeks to restore and maintain the 
long term ecological integrity of the reservation's forests in a manner 
consistent with tribal values. The plan describes resource management 
practices and levels of resource production. It establishes management 
standards, allocates land and prescribes management practices to 
achieve balanced forest ecosystems. The plan is needed to: (1) Ensure 
that management activities are compatible with sustainable forest 
ecosystems; (2) balance tribal cultural, social, economic and 
environmental values; and (3) establish a basis for adaptive management 
and monitoring that incorporates tribal members' values.
    The DEIS includes five alternatives, including a no action 
alternative. Alternatives One, Two and Three take an ecosystem approach 
to management. These focus on the overall vegetative structure and 
composition of the forest rather than on individual stands or on the 
needs of individual species. They seek to restore, to varying degrees, 
more natural structures, processes and functions to the forest in order 
to achieve more sustainable conditions over the long term. Of the 
three, Alternative One seeks the highest level of restoration, followed 
by Alternatives Two and Three. Alternative Five takes a passive 
approach to management, in which timber harvesting would be limited to 
salvage operations after fires, wind throw, or insect and disease 
outbreaks. Alternative Four, no action, would continue the management 
practices of the last forest management plan, which was adopted in 
1987.
    Alternative Two, the 1996 Draft Forest Plan with updates and 
revisions made in response to modeling refinements and new information, 
is both the proposed action and the preferred alternative. It is 
preferred because it best balances social, cultural, economic and 
environmental concerns and best meets the stated purpose and need.
    This notice is furnished in accordance with Sec. 1503.1 of the 
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through 
1508) implementing the procedural requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 
and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the 
exercise of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian 
Affairs by 209 DM 8.

    Dated: February 19, 1999.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-4641 Filed 2-25-99; 8:45 am]
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