[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-2050]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: February 1, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service
[OR-015-94-4410-02; G4-047]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

 

Eastside Ecosystem Management Strategy, Pacific Northwest Region

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA; Bureau of Land Management, USDI.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
propose to develop and adopt a coordinated ecosystem management 
strategy for forests and public lands east of the Cascade Mountains in 
Oregon and Washington. The strategy will include direction which will 
protect and enhance aquatic ecosystems for anadromous fish and bull 
trout (formerly known as the PACFISH strategy) and terrestrial 
ecosystems. It will also address the social and economic interactions 
with these biological variables. The purpose is to carry out President 
Clinton's mandate of July 1993 to develop a scientifically sound and 
ecosystem-based strategy for management of these lands. The selected 
alternative will result in amendment to the Forest Service Regional 
Guide for Oregon and Washington and amendment or revision of applicable 
national forest land management plans and BLM resource management 
plans.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing by March 3, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments concerning this proposal to Jeff D. 
Blackwood, Project Manager, 112 E. Poplar St., Walla Walla, Washington 
99362.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
George R. Pozzuto, EIS Team Leader, 112 E. Poplar St., Walla Walla, 
Washington 99362, phone (509) 522-4030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EIS will address all lands east of the 
crest of the Cascade Mountains in the states of Oregon and Washington 
that are managed by the Forest Service or BLM. The selected alternative 
will result in amendment to the Forest Service Regional Guide for 
Oregon and Washington and amendment or revision to the Land Management 
Plans (forest plans) for the Colville, Okanogan, Wenatchee, Gifford 
Pinchot, and portions of the Umatilla National Forests in Washington; 
the Deschutes, Fremont, Malheur, Ochoco, portions of the Umatilla, 
Wallowa-Whitman, Mt. Hood and Winema National Forests and the Crooked 
River National Grassland in Oregon. The BLM Resource Management Plans 
(RMPs) which are entirely within the proposed EIS analysis area include 
the Spokane RMP (Spokane District), baker RMP (Vale District), and Two 
Rivers and John Day RMPs (Prineville District). In addition, forested 
portions of the Brothers-LaPine RMP (Prineville District) and Three 
Rivers RMP (Burns District) will be reviewed in the EIS.
    The BLM Klamath Falls Resource Area (Lakeview District) is now 
preparing its RMP and is expected to incorporate equivalent ecosystem 
management strategies in conjunction with other western Oregon BLM and 
Forest Service plans. Depending upon the results of public scoping and 
the basin-wide assessment, additional portions of the BLM managed lands 
in the Lakeview and Vale Districts may be included in the EIS and lead 
to land use plan amendments. At this time, BLM lands subject to 
potential plan decision amendments aggregate approximately 1.6 million 
acres in Oregon and Washington. Supplemental information concerning the 
approved RMPs will be available shortly from the BLM District offices 
noted above and mailed to all persons currently on the District contact 
lists.
    The land area involved in this EIS overlaps to some degree with the 
land area addressed in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (DSEIS) on Management of Habitat for Late-Successional and 
Old-Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of the Northern 
Spotted Owl (Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register 
on July 28, 1993, 53 FR 40444). The July DSEIS addressed all lands 
within the range of the northern spotted owl, some of which are on the 
east side of the Cascade Crest. It is these lands, which are within the 
range of the spotted owl and east of the Cascade Crest, that are within 
the scope of both this eastside EIS and the DSEIS. Included in this 
overlap are parts of the Winema, Deschutes, Mt. Hood, Gifford Pinchot, 
Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests. Whatever decision is made as a 
result of the SEIS will be considered in this Eastside Ecosystem 
Management EIS.
    To support this EIS, a basin-wide assessment will be made for the 
interior Columbia River Basin (roughly described as that portion of the 
Columbia River upstream from Bonneville Dam). This assessment will 
characterize and assess broad ecosystems, and describe social, 
economic, and ecological processes and functions. The biophysical 
provinces (those land areas having relatively similar landform, 
climate, and other biological and physical properties that lead to 
certain potential vegetation types) within this broad geographic area 
have been altered over time by many factors including drought, fire 
suppression, livestock grazing, mining, global climate change, timber 
harvest and management, water uses for energy and irrigation, and 
urbanization. The results of this assessment will be used, in part, to 
analyze the effects of alternative exosystem management strategies for 
eastern Oregon and Washington, including effects of continued 
management under current forest or land use plans (i.e. the no action 
alternative).
    This EIS will analyze a number of alternatives, one or more of 
which will include anticipated interim direction for maintaining or 
restoring anadromous fish habitat. It is expected that EISs will be 
initiated in Idaho and California to protect and enhance aquatic 
ecosystems for anadromous fish and bull trout. These EISs will be done 
in a coordinated manner between Forest Service Regional and BLM State 
Offices.
    In the case of Alaska, the BLM and the Forest Service are examining 
the need for coordinated direction to protect and enhance aquatic 
ecosystems for anadromous fish. Also, the Forest Service, in 
cooperation with the State of Alaska, is conducting studies and 
monitoring existing management practices in Alaskan anadromous fish 
habitats on the Tongass National Forest as directed in the Fiscal Year 
1994 Appropriations Act.
    The scoping process as defined in the Council of Environmental 
Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing 
regulations will be used to identify issues for developing a range of 
management alternatives that simultaneously consider sustained long-
term economic, social, and ecological values of the region. Initial 
meetings are planned for John Day, Klamath Falls, Bend, LaGrande, 
Salem, and Lakeview in Oregon, and Chewelah, Okanogan, Seattle, and 
Walla Walla in Washington. Specific dates, times and locations for the 
meetings will be announced in local newspapers of general distribution.
    Alternatives will be developed by comparing existing conditions to 
desired future conditions described by the public and Federal land 
managers and scientists. Information will be used from the basin-wide 
assessment, as well as the ``Eastside Forest Ecosystem Health 
Assessment'', recommendations of the ``Eastside Forests Scientific 
Society Panel'', and other sources. The selected alternative is 
intended to serve as a vehicle by which to move from today's conditions 
to those conditions desired by society, and to be capable of being 
ecologically sustained, while leaving options available for future 
generations. The strategy will include integration of social values, 
ecological capabilities, and economic relationships including treaty 
rights reserved by various American Indian Tribes on ceded lands. The 
strategy also will include management direction derived from analysis 
of conditions at the biophysical province scale to (1) respond to 
current species and habitats of concern (currently listed or being 
considered for listing being listed under the Endangered Species Act or 
designated as sensitive species by the Forest Service or BLM); (2) 
assure viability of species within the context of desired ecosystem 
function and structure; (3) support the needs of dynamic ecosystems 
that change over time and space; and (4) recognize the role that 
disturbance mechanisms play in their evolution and maintenance.
    The Forest Service will be the lead agency for this analysis with 
the BLM as a cooperating agency. The two agencies will consult with the 
Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service 
pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. Other Federal agencies such as 
the Soil Conservation Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, 
and Tribal and State Governments also will be involved.
    The responsible official for National Forest System lands will be 
the Regional Forester, Pacific Northwest Region, P.O. Box 3623, 
Portland, Oregon 97208. The responsible official for public lands 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management will be the State 
Director for Oregon and Washington, P.O. Box 2965, Portland, Oregon 
97208.
    The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) in November 1994 and will be available for 
public review at that time. The comment period on the draft EIS will be 
90 days from the date the EPA publishes the notice of availability in 
the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 
notice at this early stage of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
draft EISs 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 EIS stage but that are not raised 
until after completion of the final EIS 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 90-day comment period on the draft EIS 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 EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS should 
be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to 
specific pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also 
address the adequacy of the draft EIS 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.
    It is expected that the final EIS will be filed with the 
Environmental Protection Agency approximately 6 months after the draft 
EIS is published. There will be two records of decisions issued; one 
for National Forest System Lands and one for BLM public lands in Oregon 
and Washington. The decision for National Forest System Lands will be 
subject to Forest Service appeal regulations (36 CFR part 217).

    Dated: January 21, 1994.
John E. Lowe,
Regional Forester.
    Dated: January 21, 1994.
D. Dean Bibles,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 94-2050 Filed 1-31-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M