[Federal Register: December 13, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 240)]
[Notices]
[Page 76713-76714]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13de02-23]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Forest Plan Amendment for Travel Management of the Road and Trail
System on the Gallatin National Forest, Montana; Gallatin National
Forest; Sweet Grass, Park, Carbon, Gallatin, Madison, and Meagher
Counties, Montana
AGENCY: Forest Service USDA.
ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of a proposed
amendment to the Gallatin National Forest Land and Resource Management
Plan (Forest Plan) that will establish direction for public
recreational use and access using the Forest's road and trail system.
For each road and trail the Amendment will specify the types of uses
that are appropriate including pleasure driving, high clearance and
off-road vehicle use, motorcycle use, biking, horseback riding,
snowmobiling, hiking, skiing and snowshoeing. The amendment will also
establish travel management goals, objectives and standards for sub-
areas within the Gallatin National Forest.
The Gallatin National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan
(Forest Plan) provides overall guidance for land management activities
that occur on the Forest. Forest plans are developed, revised, and
amended in compliance with the National Forest Management Act of 1976
(NFMA); and the regulations for National Forest Land and Resource
Management Planning at 36 CFR part 219. This amendment would remove
some existing Forest Plan provisions pertaining to travel management
and replace them with an overall travel management plan specific to
roads and trails. A range of 4 to 6 alternatives are targeted for
consideration in the travel planning process.
DATES: Alternatives are expected to be ready for public review and
comment by February or March, 2003. Requests to receive information and
notification of opportunities to provide comments should be received
prior to that time.
ADDRESSES: Requests to be placed on the travel planning mailing list
should be sent to Pam Bentley, Gallatin National Forest Supervisors
Office, P.O. Box 130, Bozeman, Montana, 59771-0130.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Christiansen, Travel Planning
Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Gallatin National Forest Supervisors
Office, (406) 587-6750.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gallatin National Forest includes
approximately 1.9 million acres of public land adjacent to the northern
and western boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. It lies within all
or portions of Sweet Grass, Park, Carbon, Meagher, Gallatin, and
Madison Counties, Montana. Local communities include Bozeman, Big Sky,
West Yellowstone, Livingston, Big Timber, Gardiner, and Cooke City,
Montana. There are over 1300 miles of road and
[[Page 76714]]
2300 miles of trail accessing the Forest that facilitate a variety of
management activities and provide opportunities for public recreation
use. In general, the road and trail system and recreation use of the
Forest has evolved incrementally over many decades based on site-
specific demands and capabilities. There has never been a comprehensive
evaluation on whether it is the best way to provide for these demands
in conjunction with other resources uses and land stewardship needs.
Due to changing and increasing trends in recreation use, recent
acquisitions of over 150,000 acres of land into public ownership, and
other resource and environmental issues, the Forest Service believes
that it is timely to establish a forest-wide travel management plan and
incorporate it into the Forest Plan.
The purpose for a Gallatin National Forest Travel Management Plan
and Amendment are to: (1) Provide for public access and recreational
demand of the road and trail system on the Forest considering both the
quantity and quality of opportunity to be provided. (2) Bring road and
trail use into compliance with laws, regulations, and other higher
level management direction. (3) Correct unacceptable resource damage
that may be occurring due to the use of or condition of Forest roads
and trails. (4) Provide for public understanding of the types of use
and season of use allowed for each road and trail. (5) Identify
administrative access routes to facilitate management of a variety of
resources on the Gallatin National Forest. (6) Replace outdated,
ineffective, and/or unclear Forest Plan standards and other direction
applicable to road and trail management.
As a beginning to the travel planning process the Forest Service
has prepared a ``benchmark'' travel management plan alternative. The
benchmark is not considered an agency proposal or preferred alternative
because it does not have the benefit of public input or preliminary
environmental analysis. It has been developed as a conceptual travel
management plan to focus interested citizen and user group
participation and initial environmental analysis from Forest Service
specialists. Based on early public comment and analysis the benchmark
will be used to develop a range of 4 to 6 alternatives that represent
various interests and respond to environmental issues. The alternatives
will represent ``proposed options'' for a travel management plan and
will be made available for review, comment, and modification during the
late winter/early spring of 2003. The benchmark can be viewed on the
Gallatin National Forest Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/rl/gallatin/travel_planning.
A copy can also be obtained on CD by calling or
writing the contact persons identified above.
Comments on the alternatives from the public and other agencies
will be used in preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS). More specifically, comments will be used to modify and refine
the alternatives and identify potential resource issues (environmental
effects) that should be considered in analysis.
The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review on January of
2004. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of Availability of
the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the Draft
EIS will be 90 days from the date the EPA's notice of availability
appears in the Federal Register. The Final EIS is scheduled for
completion in the spring of 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
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 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 during comment periods
provided so that substantive comments and objections are made available
to the Forest Service at a time when they can meaningfully consider
them. To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering
issues, comments should be specific to concerns associated with the
management of roads and trails on the Gallatin National Forest.
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 structuring comments.
I am the responsible official for this Environmental Impact
Statement and the ultimate decision for a Gallatin National Forest
Travel Management Plan and Forest Plan Amendment. My address is Forest
Supervisor, Gallatin National Forest, P.O. Box 130, Federal Building,
Bozeman, MT 59771.
Dated: December 4, 2002.
Rebecca Heath,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 02-31397 Filed 12-12-02; 8:45 am]
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