[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 112 (Tuesday, June 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32676-32677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12823]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
East Deer Lodge Valley Landscape Restoration Management
Environmental Impact Statement, Deer Lodge County, MT
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) on a integrated restoration
proposal to restore terrestrial and aquatic conditions by improving the
health, vigor and resilience of forest stands of infected, dead and
high risk trees; restoration and maintenance of grass and shrub
communities through prescribed burning; the restoration of aspen age
classes and diversity; improving recreation opportunities and grazing;
capturing the economic value of the dead and dying mountain pine beetle
infested and high risk trees; understory thinning, followed with
prescribed burning, on small understory conifer trees; enhancing water
quality and quantity and maintaining and restoring conditions for
native fish populations. The integrated restoration EIS will also
improve public safety and infrastructure by reconstructing, relocating,
maintaining and improving signing, design and linkage of forest trails,
road densities and travel management. The EIS will address the
obliteration of roads as well as provide mitigation measures to avoid
introducing and spreading invasive vegetation. The proposed action will
occur on a project area of approximately 39,000 acres of National
Forest System land. The Forest Service will be using the Healthy Forest
Restoration Act (HFRA). The East Deer Lodge Valley Landscape
Restoration Project developed in response to the Healthy Forest
Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 (PL 108-148). Title 1 of HFRA contains
provisions to expedite hazardous fuel reduction and forest restoration
projects on certain National Forest System lands at risk from wildland
fire or are currently experiencing (or show imminent risk to) insect
and disease epidemics (HFRA 2003, p. 15). Section 1 02(a)(4) of the
HFRA authorizes expedited vegetation management projects where
conditions such as the existence of an insect or disease epidemic ``* *
* (poses) a significant threat to an ecosystem component, or forest or
rangeland resource on the Federal land or adjacent non-Federal land.''
(Ibid. p. 20).
Title 1 of HFRA encourages federal agencies to involve state and
local governments and citizens when developing plans and projects for
vegetation treatment on federal and adjacent non-federal lands (Ibid.,
p. 7). A stewardship contract will be let upon reaching the project
decision and implementation. The Record of Decision will disclose
whether and where the Forest Supervisor decides to provide integrated
restoration proposals for both the terrestrial and aquatic
environments.
DATES: A public mailing outlining the project timeline and public
involvement opportunities is planned the summer and fall of 2008.
Individuals who want to receive this mailing should contact us within
30 days of the publication of this NOI. To be most useful, comments
concerning the scope of this project should be received by July 30,
2008. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is anticipated in the
spring or summer of 2009 followed by a 45-day public comment period.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision should
be completed by the spring of 2010.
ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to the Pintler Ranger District,
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Attn: Charlene Bucha Gentry, East
Deer Lodge Valley Landscape Restoration Management EIS, 88 Business
Loop, Philipsburg, MT 59858. The FAX number is (406) 859-3689. E-Mail
comments can be submitted to the project leader, [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposal and EIS
should be directed to Charlene Bucha Gentry, District Ranger, Pintler
Ranger District, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, 88 Business
Loop, Philipsburg, MT 59858; telephone (406) 859-3211 or David
Fletcher, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest, Butte Ranger District/SO Annex, 1820 Meadowlark Lane, Butte, MT
59701 telephone (406) 494-0235. E-mail comments can be sent to
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The 39,000 acre East Deer Lodge Valley Landscape
Restoration Management Project is located in southwest Montana and is
bounded by the Clark Fork River along Interstate 90 on the west and the
Continental Divide above the Deer Lodge Valley on the east located
within the Pintler Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest, Deer Lodge County. In 2006 a Memorandum of Understanding
established the Forest Stewardship Partnership between a diverse group
of individuals and the Forest Service to provide framework for
cooperation and coordination between the Forest Service and the members
of the Forest Stewardship Partnership to engage in joint project
planning within the project area.
Purpose and Need: The purpose and need for the East Deer Lodge
Valley Landscape Restoration Management Project is to: (1) Restore
terrestial and aquatic conditions and processes in the project area,
including goals, objectives, management prescriptions, and standards
and guidelines set forth in the Forest Plan; (2) respond to needs and
opportunities identified in the East Deer Lodge Valley Landscape
Assessment of 2008; (3) capture the economic value of dead and dying
mountain pine beetle infested and high risk trees; and (4) implement
the Regional Integrated Restoration and Protection Strategy to help
move the project area towards greater diversity, resiliency, and
complexity; (5) incorporate Title 1 of HFRA which contains provisions
to expediate hazardous fuel reduction and forest restoration projects
on certain National Forest System lands that are at risk from wildland
fire or are currently experiencing (or show imminent risk to) insect
and desease epidemics (HFRA 2003, p. 15).
Proposed Action: The proposed action of the East Deer Lodge Valley
Landscape Restoration Management Project is to: (1) Improve the health,
vigor and resilience of up to approximately 2,200 acres of forest
stands of infected, dead and high risk trees; (2) treat approximately
13,900 acres of mixed conifer trees by a) cutting followed by
prescribed burning to restore and maintain grass and shrub communities
and b) reducing hazardous fuels that are at risk from wildfire; (3)
prescribe thinning on approximately 600 acres of smaller understory
trees situated under mature mixed conifer forests followed with
prescribed burning. The majority
[[Page 32677]]
of these proposed treatments acres are situated adjacent to wild and
urban interface developments, individual ranch houses and outbuildings
as well as popular recreation travel routes; (4) use receipts from the
sale of forest products to improve watersheds, fisheries, recreation
opportunities and grazing; (5) capturing the economic value of the dead
and dying mountain pine beetle infested and high risk trees; (6)
enhance water quality and quantity within the project area and maintain
and restore conditions for native fish populations. The integrated
restoration EIS will also evaluate reconstruction, relocation,
maintenance and improved signing, design and linkage of forest trails;
road densities, travel management and reconditioning forest roads and
providing mitigation measures to avoid introducing and spreading
invasive vegetation found within the East Deer Lodge Valley Landscape
Restoration Management Project Area, Pintler Ranger District.
Public Participation: Public participation has been an integral
component of the study process and will continue to be especially
important at several points during the analysis. The Forest Service
will be seeking information, comments, and assistance from Tribal
Governments, Federal, State, and local agencies, individuals and
organizations that may be interested in, or affected by, the proposed
activities. The scoping process includes: (1) Identification of
potential issues; (2) identification of issues to be analyzed in depth;
and, (3) elimination of insignificant issues or those which have been
covered by a previous environmental review. Based on results of scoping
and the resource capabilities within the project area, alternatives
including a ``no-action'' alternative will be developed for the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement.
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). Environmental objections that could have been raised at
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement stage may be waived or
dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2nd 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 of the proposed action, comments during scoping and
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 Environmental Impact 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 in response to this
solicitation, 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 215 or 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. Requesters 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 agencys 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 7 days.
Responsible Official: Bruce Ramsey, Forest Supervisor, Beaverhead-
Deerlodge National Forest, 420 Barrett Street, Dillon, MT 59725, is the
responsible official. The responsible official will consider the
comments, responses, disclosure of environmental consequences, and
applicable laws, regulations, and policies in making the decision and
state the rationale in the Record of Decision.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21.
Dated: May 30, 2008.
Bruce Ramsey,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. E8-12823 Filed 6-9-08; 8:45 am]
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