[Federal Register: November 2, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 212)]
[Notices]
[Page 62205-62206]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02no07-26]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Superior National Forest, Kawishiwi Ranger District, MN, Glacier
Project Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Glacier Project. The
proposed activities would manage forest vegetation composition,
structure, and spatial patterns (including habitat de-fragmentation),
and the transportation system associated with these activities.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by November 30, 2007. The draft environmental impact statement is
expected in January 2008 and the final environmental impact statement
is expected in May 2008.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Mark E. Van Every, Kawishiwi
District Ranger, Glacier Project EIS, 1393 Hwy 169, Ely, MN 55731. Send
electronic comments to comments-eastern-superior-kawishiwi@fs.fed.us.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Duffy, Glacier Project Leader,
1393 Hwy 169, Ely, MN 55731, Telephone (218) 365-2097.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose of the Glacier Project is to move the area towards the
vegetation and landscape ecosystem desired conditions described in the
2004 Superior National Land and Resource Management Plan.
Proposed Action
The Proposed Action would manage forest vegetation composition,
structure, and spatial patterns and the transportation system
associated with these activities. Proposed activities include: creating
young forest on approximately 5,500 acres, improving stand structure
and within-stand diversity on approximately 2,500 acres, and restoring
stand conditions through a variety of non-harvest activities such as
planting, biomass removal, and conducting prescribed burns to reduce
risk of wildfire on approximately 5,200 acres. The project has been
specifically designed to:
Maintain existing patches of mature forest greater than
300 acres that would not lose interior forest qualities during the next
ten years.
Create one 300-plus-acre patch of young forest by
harvesting a mature patch that will not meet interior forest
characteristics in ten years.
Reduce fragmentation by proposing regeneration harvests
adjacent to existing young stands, including those proposed to be
harvested on other ownership.
Maintain and improve habitat needed for threatened,
endangered, and sensitive species.
Possible Alternatives
Alternative 1 is the no-action alternative. Alternative 2, the
Modified Proposed Action, was developed based on the proposed action
that was included in the Scoping Report and incorporates comments from
the public and additional field information. Alternative 3 was
developed to address the significant issues raised by the public during
the Scoping comment
[[Page 62206]]
period. The Responsible Official directed the interdisciplinary team to
develop an alternative that would not harvest or build roads directly
adjacent to the BWCAW and would not harvest in an area perceived to be
at higher risk from non-native invasive species.
Responsible Official
Mark E. Van Every, Kawishiwi District Ranger, 1393 Hwy 169, Ely MN,
55731.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
An environmental analysis for the Glacier Project will evaluate
site-specific issues, consider management alternatives, and analyze the
potential effects of the proposed action and alternatives. The scope of
the project is limited to decisions concerning activities within the
Glacier Project Area that meet the Purpose and Need, as well as desired
conditions. An environmental impact statement will provide the
Responsible Official, Mark E. Van Every, with the information needed to
decide which actions, if any, to approve.
Scoping Process
The District Ranger mailed the Glacier Project Scoping Report to
area landowners and other interested individuals and groups in May
2007. Based on comments received during the scoping period and
additional information gathered by resource specialists, the District
Ranger has directed the Glacier Project Interdisciplinary Team to
develop an Environmental Impact Statement. The public will be notified
that an EIS is being developed and will have an additional opportunity
to submit comments before the Draft EIS will be completed. The public
will be notified of the significant issues and possible alternatives
that will be used to disclose the effects of the project. A public
meeting is planned during the comment period on the Draft EIS.
Preliminary Issues
For significant issues were identified based on comments the public
submitted on the May 2007 Scoping Report. These issues involve
vegetation and associated road management adjacent to the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, project activities that have the
potential to affect lynx and lynx habitat, concern about non-native
invasive species, and impacts to Forest Plan Inventoried Roadless
Areas.
Permits or Licenses Required
Easement or permission to cross non-federal property may be needed
to access some treatment units to implement Forest Service activities.
Comment Requested
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. Written comments
will be solicited through a notice that will be sent to the Glacier
Project mailing list.
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 court. 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: October 26, 2007.
Mark E. Van Every,
Kawishiwi District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 07-5457 Filed 11-1-07; 8:45 am]
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