[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 26 (Friday, February 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5794-5795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-3023]


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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 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 26 / Friday, February 7, 1997 / 
Notices  

[[Page 5794]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Jericho Salvage Project; Helena National Forest, Powell County, 
Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service is gathering information and 
preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Jericho 
Salvage Project located approximately 18 air miles southwest of Helena, 
Montana.
    The Helena Ranger District of the Helena National Forest proposes 
to salvage winter killed and severely damaged trees on approximately 
200 acres in the Sally Ann Creek drainage. This area is located west of 
the Continental Divide approximately eight miles southeast of Elliston, 
Montana (Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12 Township 8 North, Range 6 West).
    The Proposed Action includes the construction of two temporary 
roads to provide logging truck access to the log collection sites. The 
total length of the temporary road construction is about two miles. No 
permanent road construction is proposed.
    The areas proposed for harvest are located within the Jericho 
Mountain Roadless Area (1607) and are located in or immediately 
adjacent to management areas designated by the Helena Forest Plan as 
suitable for timber management.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing on or before March 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official is Denis Hart, District Ranger, 
Helena Ranger District, Helena National Forest, 2001 Poplar St., 
Helena, MT. 59601. Phone: (406) 449-5490.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Denis Hart, Helena District Ranger or Dan Mainwaring, Interdisciplinary 
Team Leader, Helena Ranger District, Helena National Forest, 2001 
Poplar Street, Helena, MT 59601. Phone: (406) 449-5490.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 200 acres of timber salvage and 
associated two miles of temporary road construction would occur on 
National Forest lands in portions of Sally Ann Creek drainage. Included 
in the area being analyzed is all or portions of Sections, 1, 2, 3, 10, 
11, 12 Township 8 North, Range 6 West, Montana Principle Meridian.
    Most of the trees in the Sally Ann Creek drainage were killed 
during the winter of 1989 from stress associated with a weather event 
in which temperatures rose from well below freezing to the mid-60's and 
then plunged to below the zero mark, all in the period of 24 hours.
    The Proposed Action for this site includes the salvage of 
approximately 1 million board feet of timber and the regeneration of a 
new generation of trees. The District also proposes to construct 2 
temporary access spurs to provide logging truck access from Forest Road 
#495 to the log collection sites. The total length of temporary road 
construction is approximately 2 miles. No new permanent road would be 
constructed.
    The proposed harvest is within the Jericho Mountain Roadless Area. 
The treated sites will be planned for natural regeneration and/or 
planting of conifers, if necessary, to meet required regeneration goals 
and time frames. The proposed two miles of temporary, low standard road 
construction will be returned to contour and seeded to native grass 
species following harvest. Improvements will also be made to the main 
log haul route along Forest Road #495 by improving drainage and 
regarding the road surface.
    The responsible official is the Helena District Ranger of the 
Helena National Forest. This responsible official will decide (1) 
whether dead and dying trees within the proposed project area should be 
harvested and, if so, how much and by what methods, (2) what mitigation 
measures will be needed under the selected alternative, (3) how much 
temporary road will be constructed and how much road improvement will 
be done on Forest Road #495 and, (4) how much of the temporary road 
will be returned to contour and seeded to native grasses.
    If the decision is to implement an action alternative, salvage 
operations would begin as soon as the fall of 1997 and should be 
completed by the end of 1998. Public firewood gathering, road 
recontouring, and brush disposal work may extend into 1999. Other 
resource objectives for this site are within Forest Plan standards. All 
activities are designed to comply with the Forest Plan.
    This EIS will tier to the Helena Forest Plan Final EIS of April 
1986, that provides program goals, objectives and standards and 
guidelines for conducting management activities in this area. All 
activities associated with the proposal will be designed to maintain or 
enhance the resource objectives identified in the Forest Plan and 
further refined in the Divide Landscape Analysis.
    The Forest Service is seeking information and comments from 
Federal, State, local agencies and other organizations or individuals 
who may be interested in or affected by the proposed action. The Forest 
Service invites written comments and suggestions on the issues for the 
proposal and the area being analyzed. Information received will be used 
in preparation of the Draft EIS. Preparation of the EIS will include 
(1) identification of potential issues, (2) identification of issues to 
be analyzed in depth, (3) elimination of issues that have been covered 
by a relevant previous environmental analysis, (4) identification of 
reasonable alternatives to the Proposed Action and, (5) identification 
of potential environmental effects of the alternatives.
    The preliminary issues identified are (1) the effects on forest 
health and sustaining ecosystems, (2) the effects on recreation and 
scenic resources, (3) the effects on fish/wildlife and, (4) the effects 
on the roadless and wilderness character of the Jericho Mountain 
Roadless Areas.
    The Forest Service will analyze and disclose in the DEIS and FEIS 
the environmental effects of the proposed action and a reasonable range 
of alternatives. The DEIS and FEIS will disclose the direct, indirect 
and cumulative environmental effects of each alternative and its 
associated site specific mitigation measures.

[[Page 5795]]

    Public participation is especially important at several points of 
the analysis. Interested parties may visit with the Forest Service 
officials at any time during the analysis. However, two periods of time 
are specifically identified for the receipt of comments. The first 
comment period is during the scoping process when the public is invited 
to give written comments to the Forest Service. The scoping period ends 
on March 24, 1997. The second review period is during the 45 day review 
of the DEIS when the public is invited to comment on the DEIS.
    The DEIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) and available for public review in May, 1997. At that 
time, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of the DEIS in the 
Federal Register.
    The comment period on the DEIS will be 45 days from the date the 
notice of availability is published in the Federal Register.
    At this early stage in the scoping process, the Forest Service 
believes it is important to give reviewers notice of several court 
rulings related to public participation in the environmental review 
process. First, reviews of DEIS 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). Secondly, 
environmental objections that could be raided at the draft 
environmental impact statement stage, but that are not raised until 
after completion of the FEIS 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. 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 FEIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the DEIS 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 DEIS 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.)
    After the comment period ends on the DEIS, the comments will be 
analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing the FEIS. 
The FEIS is expected to be filed in August, 1997.

    Dated: January 21, 1997.
Denis Hart,
District Ranger, Helena Ranger District, Helena National Forest.
[FR Doc. 97-3023 Filed 2-6-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M