[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 1994)] [Notices] [Pages 290-292] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-79] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: January 4, 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service White Sand Ecosystem Management Project; Clearwater National Forest, Idaho County, ID AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of vegetation retention, vegetation treatments, access management, and fish habitat enhancement in the vicinity of White Sand Creek, Beaver Creek, Savage Creek, Rabbit Creek, and Colt Creek drainages. The area is located south and east of the Powell Ranger Station, Powell Ranger District, Clearwater National Forest, Idaho County, Idaho. Most of the proposed project's activities are within the North Fork Spruce - White Sand (#1309) and Sneakfoot Meadows (#1314) Roadless Areas. The proposal's actions are being considered together because they represent either connected or cumulative actions as defined by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25). The purposes of the project are to implement the Clearwater Forest Plan within the context of Ecosystem Management principles; conserve biological diversity; retain the undeveloped character of White Sand scenery; restore ecosystem function in fire-dependant forest communities; reduce the risk of large fires and improve opportunities for use of prescribed natural fire; create vistas and visually rehabilitate several existing harvest unit boundaries; produce wood products and increase timber growth and yield in a way that provides long-term sustainability of both wood products and other ecosystem elements; protect water quality, fish populations, wildlife, and roadless characteristics influenced by access; improve safety of roads for current public use and expected increases and changes in use; enhance trail-based recreation; and manage limiting factors that affect fish populations in White Sand streams. This project-level EIS will tier to the Clearwater National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) and Final EIS (September, 1987), which provides overall guidance of all land management activities on the Clearwater National Forest. DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received on or before February 18, 1994, to receive timely consideration in the preparation of the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency in September, 1994. The Final EIS and Record of Decision are expected to be issued in February, 1995. ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed action or requests for a map of the proposed action or to be placed on the project mailing list to Margaret Gorski, District Ranger, Powell Ranger District, Clearwater National Forest, Lolo, MT 59847. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Pope, EIS Team Leader, Powell Ranger District, CLearwater National Forest, Phone (208) 942-3113. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is based on the findings of the White Sand Integrated Resource and Ecosystem Analysis (IRA). The White Sand IRA is the first analysis on the Powell Ranger District using policy direction and emerging concepts of Ecosystem Management (EM). The overriding purpose of EM policy is to better blend the needs of people and environmental values so that National Forests represent diverse, healthy, productive, and sustainable ecosystems. The planning area consists of approximately 40,000 acres of National Forest land located in sections 33-36 of T.37N., R.14E.; sections 13-15, 20-24 and 26-35 of T.37N., R.15E.; sections 1-3, 10-16 and 22-27 of T.36N., R.14E.; sections 1-11, 13-14 and 25-36 of T.36N., R.15E.; sections 1, 2, 11 and 12 of T.35N., R.14E.; sections 2-9, 17 and 18 of T.35N. and R.15E.; Boise Meridian. The proposed action was designed to meet various ecological and social needs expressed in the White Sand IRA. Proposed action activities fall into four broad categories: vegetation retention, vegetation treatments, access management, and fish habitat enhancement. The purpose of the proposed action is to: Vegetation Retention --Conserve biological diversity --Retain the undeveloped character of White Sand scenery Vegetation Treatments --Restore ecosystem function in fire-dependant forest types --Reduce the risk of large fires in White Sand landscape and improve opportunities for use of prescribed natural fire --Create vistas and visually rehabilitate several existing harvest unit boundaries --Implement the Clearwater Forest Plan within the context of Ecosystem Management --Produce wood products and increase timber growth and yield in a way that provides long-term sustainability of both wood products and other ecosystem elements Access Management --Protect water quality, fish populations, and roadless characteristics influenced by access --Improve safety of roads for current public use and expected increases or changes in use --Enhance trail-based recreation Fish habitat Enhancement --manage limiting factors that affect fish populations in White Sand streams The proposed action would accomplish the following activities over the next ten years: Vegetation Retention and Treatments --1,314 acres of underburning in fire-dependant vegetation communities, 59 acres of planting understocked seedling stands, 14 acres of precommercial thinning overstocked sapling stands, create one vista area for picnicking and viewing scenery, implement the following prescriptions for managing the forest: 704 acres of uneven-aged regeneration harvest, 1313 acres of even-aged regeneration harvest, 55 acres of commercial thinning, and 50 acres of uneven-aged regeneration harvest with underburning. These prescriptions would result in harvest of about 14,418 thousand board feet (MBF) of timber Access Management --2.7 miles of temporary road construction to provide access for harvesting, 6.0 miles of permanent road construction to provide access for harvesting, 10.7 miles of road reconstruction to improve safety, re-align the junction of roads 360 and 359 to improve safety, create 3 temporary helicopter landings for harvesting, manage road access by closing all new roads with gates or earthen barriers after completion of management activities, 5.7 miles of new trail construction, and 13.6 miles of existing trail reconstruction Fish Habitat Enhancement --5.4 miles of fish habitat improvement by increasing active debris, developing pools, and modifying debris dams and passage barriers Possible Forest Plan amendments or site-specific adjustments may be needed to implement the proposed action. For example, the Powell District will need to seek approval to exceed the 40 acre opening limitation, to create openings within the historic range of variation and minimize fragmentation of large blocks of old growth. Openings larger than 40 acres would retain remnants of the original tree cover to provide structural diversity within those stands. Possible Forest Plan amendments include: --Management area allocation changes for the Wild and Scenic River Corridor, to be determined through the concurrent Wild and Scenic River Suitability Study for White Sand Creek --Change the Forest Plan standard for Beaver Creek from A channel to B channel standards --Change the Forest Plan standard for Crab Creek from Steelhead to Cutthroat --Propose a Visual Travel Corridor for Elk Summit Road --Propose several Visual Travel Corridors including parts of Beaver Ridge Trail 47 and roads 369, 368, 111, 362, 360, and 359 The decision to be made is what, if anything, should be done in the White Sand Planning Area to achieve the purpose and need. The Clearwater Forest Plan provides guidance for management activities within the potentially affected area through its goals, objectives, standards and guidelines, and management area direction. The area of proposed timber harvest and reforestation would occur within Management Areas C8S, E1, E3, A4, and M2. Timber harvest would occur only on suitable timber land, except where needed to facilitate ecosystem burning. These areas would be harvested only to manage fuel conditions to prevent crown fires during reintroduction of fire to fire-dependant ecosystems. Ecosystem burning would occur within management area C6, Key Fishery Habitat. Below is a brief description of the applicable management direction. Management Area E1--Timber Management--Provide optimum, sustained production of timber products in a cost effective manner while protecting soil and water quality. Management Area E3--Aerial Harvesting Systems/Timber Management-- Similar to management area E1, except long-span cable, multi-span cable, or helicopter harvest systems will be utilized to limit road development. Management Area C8S--Big Game Summer Range/Timber Management-- Maintain high quality wildlife and fishery objectives while producing timber. Management Area A4--Visual Travel Corridor--Maintain or enhance an aesthetically pleasing, natural appearing forest setting surrounding designated roads, trails, and other areas considered important for recreational travel and use. Management Area M2--Riparian Lands--Meet watershed and riparian dependant resource objectives and compatible timber production. Management Area C6--Key Fishery Habitat--Soil and water will be protected in these lands encompassing or adjacent to high value fishery streams. Considered key summer range for elk and moose. This area is designated unsuitable for timber production. The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives to the proposed action. One of these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in which none of the proposed activities would be implemented. Additional alternatives will examine varying levels and locations for the proposed activities to achieve the proposal's purposes, as well as to respond to the issues and other resource values. The EIS will analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the alternatives. Past, present, and projected activities on both private and National Forest lands will be considered. The EIS will disclose the analysis of site-specific mitigation measures and their effectiveness. Public participation is an important part of the project, commencing with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7), which starts with publication of this notice and continues for the next 45 days. In addition, the public is encouraged to visit with Forest Service officials at any time during the analysis and prior to the decision. The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and assistance from Federal, State, and local agencies, the Nez Perce Tribe, and other individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected by the proposed action. Public meetings will be scheduled between now and publishing of the Draft EIS. Interested individuals and organizations are encouraged to contact the Powell District Ranger to be added to the project mailing list to receive future newsletters related to this project and notification of public meetings. Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to: 1. Identify potential issues. 2. Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth. 3. Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a relevant previous environmental analysis, such as the Clearwater Forest Plan EIS. 4. Identify alternatives to the proposed action. 5. Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action and alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect, and cumulative effects). 6. Determine potential cooperating agencies and task assignments. Some public comments have already been received in conjunction with the White Sand IRA. Preliminary issues identified so far have been grouped into seven major categories: Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Management; Recreation, Wilderness, and Roadless Areas; Water Resources and Fisheries; Wildlife; Social and Economic; Heritage Resources; and Scenery. Issues commonly associated with effects of timber harvesting and road construction are grouped into these seven categories. The complete list is available upon request from the Powell District Ranger. This list may be verified, expanded, or modified based on public scoping for this proposal. The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in September of 1994. 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 45 days from the date the EPA's notice of availability appears in the Federal Register. It is very important that those interested in management of the White Sand area participate at that time. To be most helpful, comments on the Draft EIS should be as site- specific as possible. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed by February, 1995. 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 by the close of the 45-day scoping 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 developing issues and alternatives. To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues on the proposed action, comments should be as specific as possible. 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. I am the responsible official for this environmental impact statement. My address is Clearwater National Forest, 12730 Highway 12, Orofino, ID 83544. Dated: December 15, 1993. James L. Caswell, Forest Supervisor. [FR Doc. 94-79 Filed 1-3-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-11-M