[Federal Register: December 9, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 236)]
[Notices]
[Page 72901-72902]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09de02-23]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Keystone-Quartz Ecosystem Management Project, Beaverhead-
Deerlodge National Forests, Beaverhead County, MT
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare a supplement to the Environmental
Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare a supplement to the final
Environmental Impact Statement to document additional soils analysis
and disclose the environmental impacts to the soils resource of the
preferred alternative to manipulate forest and range vegetation on 684
acres. The Preferred Alternative 6 would thin and prescribe burn 540
acres of Douglas-fir forest to restore open Douglas-fir forest habitat,
release 58 acres of aspen/shrub to restore aspen/shrub communities,
thin 19 acres of dense lodgepole pine to improve overall forest health,
and restore shrub/grass habitat by removal of small conifers and
prescribed burning on 67 acres of shrub/grass habitat that has been
lost to conifer succession. Forest product recovery would occur on 58
acres to remove the large conifers (aspen/shrub release only); on 260
acres to remove special forest products (small diameter trees), and on
19 acres to remove post and pole size lodgepole pine. Slashing would
remove smaller conifers in most treatment areas as a pre-treatment
prior to prescribed burning. Existing roads would be used and no new
roads would be built. This area lies at the northern end of the Pioneer
Mountains, three miles south of Wise River, Montana. The prior notice
of intent for this proposed action appeared in the Federal Register on
April 9, 1999, 64 FR 17310-11. The NOA for the DEIS appeared on April
6, 2001, 66 FR 18243. A Final Environmental Impact Statement and a
Record of Decision were issued on December 3, 2001. The legal notice of
the Record of Decision for the FEIS appeared on the Montana Standard on
December 31, 2001. The decision was appealed, and later reversed on
March 15, 2002.
DATES: Initial comments concerning the supplement to the EIS should be
received in writing no later than 30 days after the publication of this
NOI in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: The responsible official is the District Ranger, Beaverhead-
Deerlodge National Forest, Dillon, Montana. Please send comments to
Charlie Hester, District Ranger, Wise River Ranger District, P.O. Box
100, Wise River, MT 59762. Comments may be electronically submitted to
r1_b-d_comments@fs.fed.us.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Trejo, project leader, P.O. Box
100, Wise River, MT or phone (406) 832-3178 or by e-mail to
jtrejo@fs.fed.us. People may visit with Forest Service officials at any
time during the analysis and prior to the decision.
The draft supplement to the EIS is anticipated to be available for
review in January 2003. The final supplement to the EIS is planned for
completion in April 2003.
The Environmental Protection Agency will publish the notice of
availability of the draft supplement to the environmental impact
statement in the Federal Register. The Forest will also publish a legal
notice of its availability in the Montana Standard Newspaper, Butte,
Montana. A 45-day comment period on the draft supplement to the
Environmental Impact Statement will
[[Page 72902]]
begin the day following the publication of the legal notice.
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 supplement to the Environmental Impact Statement must structure
their participation in the environmental review of the preferred
alternative 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 supplement to the environmental impact
statement stage but that are not raised until after completion of the
final supplement to the 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 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
supplement to the Environmental Impact Statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns, comments on the draft supplement to the Environmental
Impact Statement should be as specific as possible. It is also helpful
if comments refer to specific pages of the draft supplement. 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 responsible official will make the decision on this proposal
after considering comments and responses, environmental consequences
discussed in the final supplement to the EIS, the EIS, applicable laws,
regulations, and policies. The decision and reasons for the decision
will be documented in a Record of Decision.
Dated: December 2, 2002.
Thomas K. Reilly,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 02-30980 Filed 12-6-02; 8:45 am]
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