[Federal Register: March 24, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 56)]
[Notices]
[Page 14175-14176]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24mr03-30]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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[[Page 14175]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Easy Fire Recovery Project, Malheur National Forest, Grant
County, OR
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) on a proposal to assist the recovery of the area that
burned in the Easy Fire in the Summer of 2002. The proposal is to
salvage fire-killed and fire-damaged timber, implement re-forestation
in the project area, and implement projects to reduce the potential for
future damage to wildlife habitat and aquatic resources as a result of
the Easy Fire. The 5,839 acre project area is located on the Prairie
City Ranger District and is centered approximately 11 miles east of
Prairie City, Oregon, with the Upper Middle Fork John Day River and
Upper John Day River Watersheds. The agency gives notice of the full
environmental analysis and decision making process that will occur on
the proposal so that interested and affected people may become aware of
how they can participate in the process and contribute to the final
decision.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by April 30, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Ryan Falk, Acting District Ranger,
Prairie City Ranger District, 327 Front Street, Prairie City, Oregon
97869.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Ornberg, Easy Fire Recovery
Project Team Leader, Middle Fork Ranger District, Williamette National
Forest; Phone: 541-782-5217. Email eornberg@fs.fed.us or use the
Malheur National Forest Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/malheur.
Malheur National Forest Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/malheur.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In July and August 2002, the Easy Fire
burned approximately 5,839 acres on the Malheur National Forest. The
decision area for the Easy Fire Recovery Project is located in the
Upper Middle Fork John Day River watershed and the Upper John Day River
Watershed. The project area is entirely within National Forest System
lands.
Purpose and Need for Action. The purposes and need for actions
``here'' within the Easy Fire Recovery Project area and ``now'' are:
[sbull] Capture the economic value of the dead and dying trees that
are in excess to other resource needs;
[sbull] Reduce the fuels levels of dead standing and down;
[sbull] Improve resiliency of forest vegetation to insect and
disease outbreaks, and restore ecologically appropriate forest
structure in the surviving stands;
[sbull] Replant and restore forest vegetation for the benefit of
wildlife, fish, and timber products;
[sbull] Replace Dedicated and Replacement Old Growth areas that
burned and are not longer suitable;
[sbull] Reduce road and skid trail impacts to meet Forest Plan
standards for wildlife, fisheries, and water quality; and
[sbull] Provide safe access for administrative, recreational, and
fire recovery activities.
Proposed Action. The following actions are proposed to respond to
the purpose and need for action: approximately 3,200 acres, in areas of
moderate and high burned severity, would be salvaged (including dead,
dying, and green trees) and replanted; approximately 400 acres of lower
severity burned forest would be salvaged and replanted to improve stand
resiliency to insects and disease outbreak; approximately 160 acres of
fire-killed or damaged post and pole-sized stands will be salvaged;
designate new Dedicated and Replacement Old Growth areas to replace
areas now unsuitable due to fire damage; and hazard trees would be
removed along system roads. About 50 percent of the proposed timber
salvage units would be harvested using ground-based logging systems, 10
percent would be harvested using skyline logging systems, and 40
percent would be harvested by helicopter. No new system road
construction is proposed for the salvage harvest. Construction of
approximately 0.6 miles of temporary roads and approximately 69 miles
of road maintenance would be required for timber salvage. The temporary
roads would be decommissioned after project activities. Connected
actions in association with salvage include water barring and erosion
control measures such as scattering of slash on skid trails and
treatment of slash.
Approximately 3,760 acres would be planted following salvage and
site preparation. Snag retention levels would meet Forest Plan
standards. Fuels would be reduced to within the range of historic
variability throughout the project area. A variety of fuel treatment
methods would be used (salvage, burning in place, piling and burning,
and whole-tree yarding). Selection of new Dedicated and Replacement Old
Growth areas would require a non-significant amendment to the Forest
Plan.
Alternatives. A full range of alternatives will be considered,
including a ``no-action'' alternative in which none of the activities
proposed above would be implemented. Based on the issues gathered
through scoping, the action alternatives would differ in: the
silvicultural and post-harvest treatments prescribed; the amount and
location of harvest; or the amount and location of fuels reduction
activity. Other management activities which will be used to develop
other alternatives may include: avoid salvage harvest on the steeper
slopes above Clear Creek and Easy Creek to reduce sediment delivery to
these streams (which are habitat or tributary to habitat for threatened
fish species); consider various regeneration strategies (i.e. low
stocking levels); and consider current science on snag and coarse woody
debris dependent species habitat (this could result in site-specific
Forest Plan amendment to update standards and guidelines).
Scoping. The scoping process will include: identifying potential
issues, identifying major issues to be analyzed in depth, eliminating
non-significant issues or those previously covered by a relevant
environmental analysis, and identifying potential environmental effects
of this proposed action and alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and
cumulative effects and connected actions). The public will have the
opportunity to participate at several points during the analysis
process. The
[[Page 14176]]
public will be kept informed of the EIS process through the quarterly
publication of the ``Malheur National Forest's Schedule of Proposed
Actions'' and letters to agencies, organizations, and individuals who
have previously indicated their interest in similar activities.
Issues. Preliminary issues include effects of proposed actions on:
Water quality and fish habitat for resident and anadromous threatened
species; snags and downed wood habitat; noxious weeds; late and old
growth structure; Armillaria root rot; restoration of historic
vegetation composition, structure, and pattern; potential loss of
commercial timber value; and economic viability of timber salvage.
Comments. Public comments about this proposal are requested in
order to assist in properly scoping issues, determining how to best
manage the resources, and fully analyzing environmental effects.
Comments received to this notice, including names and addresses of
those who comment, will be considered part of the public record on this
proposed action and will be available for public inspection. Comments
submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; however, those
who submit anonymous comments will not have standing to appeal the
subsequent decision under 36 CFR parts 214 and 217. Additionally,
pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the agency to
withhold a submission from the public record by showing how the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality. Persons
requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under FOIA,
confidentiality may be granted in only very limited circumstances, such
as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service will inform the
requester of the agency's decision regarding the request for
confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the agency will
return the submission and notify the requester that the comments may be
resubmitted with or without name and address within a specified number
of days.
The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and made available for public review by July
2003. The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date
the EPA publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
The final EIS is scheduled to be available in October 2003.
Implementation is expected to occur in 2004.
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
a draft EIS 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 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 made 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 on the draft EIS 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 EIS 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.
The Forest Service is the lead agency. The Responsible Official is
the Forest Supervisor, Malheur National Forest. The Responsible
Official will decide which, if any, of the proposed projects will be
implemented. The Responsible Official may also decide on site-specific
Forest Plan amendments regarding standards and guidelines for snag and
coarse woody debris, as well as big game habitat, if warranted by the
analysis of those components in light of recent science. The
Responsible Official will document the Easy Fire Recovery Project
decision and reasons for the decision in the Record of Decision. That
decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR
part 215).
Dated: March 13, 2003.
Roger Willians,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 03-6900 Filed 3-21-03; 8:45 am]
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