[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9818-9820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4222]



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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 1995 / 
Notices  
[[Page 9818]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Scenery Fire Recovery; Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, 
MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Scenery Face Fire burned approximately 4700 acres of 
Kootenai National Forest system lands in the late summer of 1994. The 
Libby Ranger District on the Kootenai National Forest intends to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess and disclose 
the environmental effects of opportunities designed to recover economic 
value of burned timber, reduce fuel accumulations, rehabilitate 
existing sediment sources and protect long-term soil productivity. 
These objectives would be accomplished through salvage harvest of fire-
killed trees; reforestation of some harvested and severely burned 
areas; fuels reduction in harvested areas and restoration of non-
essential roads. The Scenery decision area is located approximately 1 
air mile west of Libby, Montana.
    The proposal's actions to salvage fire-killed trees and reforest 
burned areas, reduce fuels, and restore roads 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 EIS will tier to the Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plan and Final EIS of September 1987, which provides overall 
guidance for achieving the desired forest condition of the area.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by no later 
than March 24, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is Lawrence A. Froberg, District 
Ranger, Libby Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest. Written 
comments and suggestions concerning the scope of the analysis should be 
sent to Lawrence A. Froberg, District Ranger, Libby Ranger District, 
12557 US Hwy 37 N, Libby, Montana, 59923.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Leanne Marten, NEPA Coordinator, Libby Ranger District. Phone: (406) 
293-7773.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the night of August 14-15, 1994, a 
lightning storm started 207 fires on the Kootenai National Forest in 
northwest Montana. Several of these fires occurred on the Libby Ranger 
District. The Scenery Fire Recovery EIS is being prepared in response 
to conditions resulting from one of the largest of these fires, the 
4700 acre Scenery Face Fire. An interdisciplinary landscape analysis 
team is using an ecosystem based approach to assess the fires affects 
and identify management opportunities that could be implemented to move 
the postfire landscapes toward a desired ecological condition.
    Burn intensities in the Scenery wildfire varied considerably. 
Within the fire perimeters approximately 2200 acres burned at moderate 
intensity (average 55% tree mortality) and approximately 2500 acres 
burned at low intensity (average 25% mortality). The fire burned within 
the Cabinet Face East Roadless Area #671.
    The Scenery decision area contains approximately 3,300 acres within 
the Kootenai National Forest in Lincoln County, Montana. The legal 
location of the decision area is as follows: Sections or portions of 
Sections 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30 
and Township 31 North, Range 32 West; Sections or portions of Sections 
24 and 25 of Township 31 North, Range 33 West; Principle Meridian. The 
land in and adjacent to the decision area is primarily federal 
ownership under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service with some 
intermixed private ownership.

Proposed Action

    The primary purpose of the project is to recover valuable timber 
products from trees burned by the Scenery Face wildfire that occurred 
in 1994 (while maintaining ecological processes), with the secondary 
benefit of reducing fuel loads. Actions are also proposed to enhance 
watershed recovery and improve grizzly bear habitat security. The 
Forest Service proposes to harvest approximately 2.1 million board feet 
of timber by salvaging fire-killed trees and dying trees on 
approximately 350 acres of forest land outside riparian protection 
areas. Only trees that were killed, or are expected to die as a result 
of the fires, would be harvested. The proposal includes prescribed 
burning of about 67 acres to reduce fuel loads in harvested areas. An 
estimated 263 acres of proposed salvage units would be planted with 
conifer seedlings to help meet desired conditions for species 
diversity. The Forest Service also proposes to scarify and revegetate 
an estimated 4 miles of existing non-essential roads to reduce sediment 
and water yields, and improve grizzly bear habitat security. Non-
essential roads are those that are no longer considered a necessary 
part of the permanent transportation system. Additional road access 
restrictions may be needed to provide adequate security areas for 
grizzly bears, however identification of specific road closure 
proposals is pending further analysis.
    The decision area includes a portion of the Cabinet Face East 
Roadless Area #671. Approximately 330 acres of timber salvage and 
approximately 250 acres of reforestation would occur within the 
roadless area. No road construction is proposed within the roadless 
area. No proposed activities are located in areas considered for 
inclusion to the National Wilderness System as recommended by the 
Kootenai National Forest Plan.
    Due to the high level of tree mortality in proposed harvest units, 
most harvested areas would resemble clearcut or seed-tree silvicultural 
methods. Only those live trees which must be cut to facilitate logging 
fire-killed trees would be harvested. Timber harvest would be done by 
skyline and helicopter yarding, designed to result in minimal ground 
disturbance, risk of erosion, and compaction.
    The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 
provides overall management objectives in individual delineated 
management areas (MA's). The decision area contains four MA's: 11, 12, 
14 and 19. Briefly described, MA 11 is managed to maintain or enhance 
the winter-range habitat effectiveness for big-game species and produce 
a programmed yield of timber. MA 12 is managed to maintain or enhance 
the summer-range [[Page 9819]] habitat effectiveness for big-game 
species and produce a programmed yield of timber. MA 14 focuses on 
maintaining or enhancing grizzly bear habitat, reducing grizzly/human 
conflicts, assisting in the recovery of the grizzly bear, realizing a 
programmed yield of timber production, and providing for the 
maintenance or enhancement of other wildlife species, especially big 
game. MA 19 is managed to protect soil stability and water quality by 
maintaining the vegetation in a healthy condition and minimizing 
surface disturbance. Timber salvage and fuels reduction is proposed in 
MA 12.

Preliminary Issues

    Several preliminary issues of concern have been identified by the 
Forest Service. These issues are briefly described below:
     Water Quality--Streams in the decision area have been 
impacted by the Scenery Face wildfire. How would the proposed action 
affect water yield, sediment production, stream stability, and recovery 
from the wildfire?
     Timber Supply--Much of the fire-killed timber will quickly 
lose its commercial value due to rapid deterioration. To what extent 
does the proposed action recover the commercial value of fire-killed 
timber to help meet local and national needs?
     Activity in Roadless Areas--What effect would the proposal 
have on the roadless character of the Cabinet Face East Roadless Area 
#671?
     Grizzly Bear--The decision area lies within the recovery 
area for the Cabinet/Taak grizzly bear ecosystem. How would the 
proposal maintain and enhance grizzly bear habitat, and contribute to 
recovery efforts?
     Visual Quality--The units proposed can be viewed from 
Highway 2, the Kootenai River Road or the Bighorn Trail. To what extent 
will the viewshed be altered?

Forest Plan Amendment

    The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan has 
specific management direction for the Scenery decision area. The 
Scenery proposed action is designed to maintain or improve resource 
conditions and move towards achieving desired ecological conditions, 
and is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Forest Plan. 
Prior to making a NEPA decision, a thorough examination of all 
standards and guidelines of the Forest Plan would be completed and, if 
necessary, plan exceptions or amendments would be addressed in the EIS.

Decisions To Be Made

    The Libby District Ranger will decide the following:
    Should dead and imminent dead trees within fire areas be harvested 
and if so how and where,
    What amount, type, and distribution of watershed restoration 
projects, including road restoration, would be implemented,
    What burned areas need to be replanted, and
    If Forest Plan exception or amendments are necessary to proceed 
with the Proposed Action within the decision area.

Public Involvement and Scoping

    An open house will be scheduled in March, to provide an opportunity 
for the public to review the proposed action. Consultation with 
appropriate State and Federal agencies will be initiated. Preliminary 
effects analysis indicated that the wildfires may significantly affect 
the quality of the human environment, and fire recovery activities have 
the potential to both intensify and reduce effects. These potential 
effects prompted the decision to prepare an EIS for the Scenery Fire 
Salvage.
    This environmental analysis and decision making process will enable 
additional interested and affected people to participate and contribute 
to the final decision. Public participation will be requested at 
several points during the analysis. The Forest Service will be seeking 
information, comments, and assistance from Federal, State, local 
agencies, and other individuals or organizations who may be interested 
in or affected by the proposed projects. This input will be used in 
preparation of the draft and final EIS. The scoping process will 
include:
     Identifying potential issues.
     Identifying major issues to be analyzed in depth.
     Exploring additional alternatives which will be derived 
from issues recognized during scoping activities.
     Identifying potential environmental effects of this 
project and alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative effects 
and connected actions).
    The analysis will consider a range of alternatives, including the 
proposed action, no action, and other reasonable action alternatives.

Estimated Dates for Filing

    The draft Scenery Fire Recovery EIS is expected to be filed with 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for 
public review by June, 1995. At that time 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 publishes 
the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.
    The final EIS is scheduled to be completed by September, 1995. In 
the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to comments 
and responses received during the comment period that pertain to the 
environmental consequences discussed in the draft EIS and applicable 
laws, regulations, and policies considered in making a decision 
regarding the proposal.

Reviewer's Obligations

    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 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 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 and respond to them in the final EIS.
    To be most helpful, comments on the draft EIS should be as specific 
as possible and may address the adequacy of the statement or the merit 
of the alternatives discussed. 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.

Responsible Official

    Lawrence A. Froberg, District Ranger, Libby Ranger District, 
Kootenai National Forest, 12557 US Highway 37 North, Libby, MT 59923 is 
the Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official he will decide 
which, if any, of the proposed projects will be implemented. He will 
document the decision and reasons for the decision in the Record of 
Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal 
Regulations.

    [[Page 9820]] Dated: February 10, 1995.
Lawrence A. Forberg,
District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 95-4222 Filed 2-21-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M