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Scratchings Timber Sale ROD II

Introduction

The Scratchings Timber Sale project area is located on Suemez Island , west of Prince of Wales Island and 12 miles southwest of Craig, on the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska . Suemez Island is 37,127 acres in size, 35,960 acres of which are National Forest System lands. In the northwest corner of the island, the remaining 1,167-acre parcel is owned by the University of Alaska . Suemez Island is only accessible by water or air.

This Record of Decision (ROD) documents my decision to implement timber harvest within units that were analyzed in the Scratchings Timber Sale Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) but deferred in the March 2007 Record of Decision. The seven harvest units and associated road construction were postponed in accordance with the provisions of the settlement agreement 1 with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Organized Village of Kake and the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et al. The settlement agreement sought to resolve issues regarding timber harvest in roadless areas and delayed the issuance of RODsfor timber harvest in those areas until after the completion of the 2008 Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (2008 Forest Plan).

The agreement stipulated that:

“. . . the Forest Service will not sign new records of decision (RODs) or other decision documents for timber sales in inventoried roadless areas (as shown on the 2003 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for TLMP) or on Kuiu Island until 30 days after the publication in the Federal Register of the notice of availability for the final environmental impact statement (Final EIS) for the TLMP review process now underway unless the Forest Service designates a later effective date for the new plan, in which case the Forest Service will not sign new RODs or other decision documents for timber sales in inventoried roadless areas or on Kuiu Island until the effective date designated by the Forest Service.

For the Scratchings project, the Forest Service may complete an EIS that considers roaded and roadless options, but will not issue a decision document that authorizes logging or road construction in inventoried roadless areas until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register of the notice of availability of the Final EIS for the TLMP review process now underway unless the Forest Service designates a later effective date for the new plan, in which case the Forest Service will not issue a decision document that authorizes logging or road construction in inventoried roadless areas until the effective date designated by the Forest Service. This provision does not affect decision documents for the Scratchings project that authorize logging exclusively outside of inventoried roadless areas.”

Alternative 3 of the Scratchings Final EIS was selected for implementation, but was modified to postpone harvest in the six units located within Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA) 502, and the one unit of which all but approximately 20 acres were in IRA 502. The construction of National Forest System (NFS) Road 1086500, designed as access to these units, was also delayed in the initial ROD.

The decision for the 2008 Forest Plan was signed on January 23, 2008 . The notice of availability of the 2008 Forest Plan was placed in the Federal Register on February 15, 2008 . The effective date for implementation of the 2008 Forest Plan was 30 days from the notice. This second ROD for Scratchings Timber Sale meets the conditions set forth in the settlement agreement for the Natural Resources Defense Council, et al; therefore, the seven harvest units and associated road construction from the first Scratchings decision may now be included in this subsequent ROD.

The Scratchings Timber Sale ROD ll is available electronically only as a PDF, requiring Adobe Acrobat™ Reader. If you would like a hard copy, please contact the Craig Ranger District at P.O. Box 500, (physical address 900 9th St), Craig, AK 99921, or call (907) 826-3271 . These PDFs are not scannable and cannot be read by a screen reader.

Scratchings Timber Sale ROD ll Entire Document (66 pages, 3,039 kb PDF)

Scratchings Timber Sale ROD ll Color Vicinity map (8,729 kb PDF)

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USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest
Last Modified: August 29, 2008