[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 135 (Friday, July 14, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36257-36258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17299]



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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 135 / Friday, July 14, 1995 / 
Notices  


[[Page 36257]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Huckleberry Land Exchange With Weyerhaeuser Company, Mt. Baker-
Snoqualmie National Forest, Skagit, Snohomish, King, Lewis and Pierce 
Counties, Washington

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service, USDA, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) on a proposal to exchange lands west of the Cascade 
Crest in the state of Washington. The exchange would result in the 
transfer of up to 7,200 acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands for 
up to 33,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser lands in Snohomish, King, Pierce, 
Yakima, Skagit, and Kittitas Counties in the state of Washington. 
Transfer of these lands will result in consolidation of NFS land 
ownership in the Greenwater, Snoqualmie (I-90 corridor), and Skykomish 
River Basins.
    The EIS will be consistent with the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National 
Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) (as amended in April 
1994), which provides overall guidance of all land management 
activities on the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
    The Forest Service invites written comments and suggestions on the 
issues and management opportunities for the area being analyzed.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing by July 31, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Dennis Bschor, Forest Supervisor, 
21905 64th Avenue West, Mountlake Terrace, Washington 98043.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeff Osmundson, Washington Area Land Adjustment Team, Staff Appraiser, 
Phone: 206-744-3446.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service proposed action would 
consolidate landownership presently characterized by a ``checkerboard'' 
ownership pattern. Consolidation will enable the Forest Service to: 
implement more effective ecosystem based management; better protection 
of wetlands; attainment of long-term habitat needs by reducing 
fragmentation of forest cover; and reduce recreational conflict. Lands 
acquired in the exchange by the Forest Service will be managed in 
accord with the LRMP.
    The proposed action will exchange lands that are offered to the 
Forest Service which include Weyerhaeuser lands that are: in the 
Greenwater River Basin east of Enumclaw; near the Norse Peak Wilderness 
Area; and next to the Clearwater River Wilderness Area east of 
Carbonado. Other Weyerheauser lands offered are: between the north and 
middle forks of the Snoqualmie River near the Alpine Lakes Wilderness 
Area; in the McClellan Butte area near Snoqualmie Pass and south of 
U.S. Highway 2; and in the South Fork of the Skykomish River Basin near 
Index. Two smaller Weyerhaeuser parcels are located in south Skagit 
County and in Lewis County, in the North fork of the Stillaquamish 
drainage.
    Weyerhaeuser will acquire NFS lands located generally to the west 
of the administrative boundary of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National 
Forest. The area is mostly north of the Greenwater River and the 
community of Greenwater.
    The Mt-Baker-Snoqualmie LRMP (as amended) provides guidance for 
land exchanged within the potentially affected area through its goals, 
objectives, standards, guidelines and management area direction.
    An environmental document will be produced which will display 
alternatives considered, including the proposed action, and an 
estimation of the effects of the alternatives. Based on the issues 
identified through scoping, all action alternatives will vary in the 
number of acres to exchange, the location of the acres to be exchanged, 
and the kind of mitigation measures.
    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 System lands will be 
considered. The EIS will disclose the analysis of site-specific 
mitigation.
    Comments from the public will continue to be used to:

--Identify potential issues.
--Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.
--Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a previous 
environmental analysis, such as the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie LRMP.
--Identify alternatives to the proposed action.
--Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action and 
alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative effects).
--Determine potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.

    Issues identified as a result of internal and public scoping 
include: Access and travel management; threatened, endangered and 
sensitive plant and animal species; current condition of federal and 
nonfederal lands; and valuation procedures for Federal and nonfederal 
lands.
    An initial scoping letter was mailed on June 14, 1994. The 
responses have been compiled and will be incorporated into the process. 
Public involvement meetings have been considered but are not scheduled 
at this time.
    Consolidation of checkerboard ownership in the I-90 corridor into 
federal control would provide an opportunity for ecosystem management 
on a larger scale. It would also support the ``Mountains-to-the-Sound'' 
goals of a continuous greenway between the Cascade Mountains and Puget 
Sound.
    The draft EIS is expected to be filed in November 1995. The comment 
period on the draft environmental impact statement will be 45 days from 
the date the Environmental Protection Agency 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 EIS 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 

[[Page 36258]]
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 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 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.).

    The final EIS is scheduled to be completed March 1996. 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 the decision 
regarding this proposal. The lead agency is the Forest Service. Wendy 
M. Herrett, Director of Recreation, Lands, and Mineral Resources, 
Pacific Northwest Region, is the responsible official. As the 
responsible official she will document the decision and reasons for the 
decision in the Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to 
Forest Service appeal regulations (36 CFR Part 217).

    Dated: July 10, 1995.

Wendy M. Herrett,

Director, Recreation, Lands and Mineral Resources.

[FR Doc. 95-17299 Filed 7-13-95; 8:45 am]

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