[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 77 (Tuesday, April 22, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19543-19544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10315]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Southwestern Region, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas and 
Oklahoma; Proposed Projects in the Hopewell Analysis Area, Carson 
National Forest, Taos County, MN

AGENCY: Forest Service.

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

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SUMMARY: The Carson National Forest, Tres Piedras Ranger District will 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to disclose the 
environmental consequences of the Hopewell Ridge proposed action. The 
proposal includes the allocation of old growth, harvesting of trees for 
sawtimber and forest products, prescribed burning, thinning, new road 
construction, road reconstruction, closure of existing roads, and 
designation of a cross-country ski trail.
    An environmental assessment (EA) on the Hopewell Ridge proposed 
projects and subsequent decision notice (DN) and finding of no 
significant impact (FONSI) was completed and signed on December 20, 
1996. The decision was appealed and later remanded back to me by the 
Appeal Deciding Officer (3/97). I have decided to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Hopewell Ridge proposal and 
incorporate additional information related to the proposed action and 
alternatives to that action and their direct, indirect and cumulative 
environmental effects. This notice is to disclose the Forest Service's 
intention to issue a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for 
Hopewell Ridge proposed projects by the end of May, 1997.

DATES: Comments in response to this NOI should be received by May 15, 
1997.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Tres Piedras Ranger District, PO 
38, Tres Piedras NM 87556, ATTN: Dan Rael, District Ranger.

RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: The Forest Supervisor, Carson National Forest, 
will be the responsible official and will decide on what, where, how 
and when projects will be implemented by the Forest Service in the 
Hopewell Ridge analysis area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Rael (505) 758-8678.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Proposed Action: The Forest Service is planning to manage the 
existing vegetation through the allocation old growth, harvesting of 
trees for sawtimber and forest products (e.g., fuelwood, vigas and 
latillas), prescribed burning, and thinning of forested stands. The 
proposal also includes the construction of new roads and the 
reconstruction and closure of existing roads.
    Location: The Hopewell Ridge analysis area (13,011 acres) is 
located in Taos County in northern New Mexico, nine miles west of Tres 
Piedras.
    Purpose: The purpose of allocating old growth is to preserve large, 
old vegetation structure for old growth dependent wildlife species. It 
is also necessary to provide saw logs to local sawmills and forest 
products, such as fuelwood, vigas and latillas, to small, local 
operators from nearby communities. Prescribed burning is needed to 
create openings and maintain meadows as part of the natural variation 
and to support grasses and forbs for wildlife. Burning is also needed 
to produce conditions suitable for natural pine and aspen regeneration 
and maintain watershed integrity. The regeneration of aspen will 
restore and sustain an aesthetically pleasing landscape. In the pine/
oak type, prescribed fire is needed to stimulate the growth of oak and 
other shrubs, which provide important habitat for turkey and browse for 
mule deer. The purpose of thinning dense, forested stands is to reduce 
tree competition, therefore increasing the growth rate of trees left 
behind. The construction of new roads will access stands to be 
harvested and the closure of roads will move the analysis area to a 
desired density of one mile per square mile (Carson Forest Plan).
    Decisions: The decisions to be made are:


[[Page 19544]]


--Whether or not to allocate old growth. If so, where and how much?
--Whether a timber sale(s) should be used to help achieve the desired 
condition. If so, which stands in the Hopewell Ridge analysis area 
should be harvested and what vegetation conditions should be created in 
the harvest areas?
--Whether forest products should be offered. If so, what type of 
products (firewood, vigas, poles, etc.) and how much?
--Whether prescribed fire should be used. If so, where and how much 
area should be burned?
--Whether areas should be thinned. If so, where?
--Whether new roads ought to be built. If so where and how much?
--Whether roads should be reconstructed. If so where and to what 
extent?
--Whether roads should be closed. If so, which ones and where should 
the closures be?

    Scoping: The Hopewell Ridge project proposal has been through 
initial analysis through an environmental assessment and decision (12/
96). Comments on the EA and its preferred alternative (Alternative F) 
were received from the public and other federal and state agencies. 
These comments will be used and tracked through the EIS process. Issues 
include the effects of allocating old growth, the effects of roads on 
wildlife, water quality and access into the National Forest, the 
effects of providing saw logs and forest products on the local 
community's stability and economy, and the effects of harvesting, 
burning and road building on wildlife and vegetation diversity.
    Alternatives: Alternatives in the DEIS will be the same as those 
developed for the environmental assessment.
    Supplemental Information for Public Participation: There will be a 
45-day comment period on the draft environmental impact statement 
beginning when the legal notice of availability appears in The Taos 
News, the paper of record for the Carson National Forest. Comments 
received in response to this NOI or the DEIS, including names and 
addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public 
record on this proposed action and will be available for public 
inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and 
considered; however, those who submit anonymous comments will not have 
standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR parts 215 or 
217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request 
the agency to withhold a submission from the public record by showing 
how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality. 
Persons requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under the 
FOIA, confidentiality may be granted in only very limited 
circumstances, such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service 
will inform the requester of the agency's decision regarding the 
request for confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the 
agency will return the submission and notify the requester that the 
comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within 10 
days.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 
notice of several court rulings related to public participation in the 
environmental review process. To be the most helpful, comments on the 
DEIS should be as specific as possible and may address the adequacy of 
the statement or the merits of the alternatives discussed (see Council 
of Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the procedural 
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3).
    In addition, Federal Court decisions have established that 
reviewers of draft environmental impact statements must structure their 
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is 
meaningful and alerts the agency to the reviewer's position and 
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 
533 (1978). Environmental objections that could have been raised at the 
draft stage may be waived if not raised until after completion of the 
final environmental impact statement. City of Angoon v. Hodel (9th 
Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 
1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). The reason for this is to ensure 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 environmental impact statement.

    Dated: April 14, 1997.
Leonard L. Lucero,
Forest Supervisor, Carson National Forest.
[FR Doc. 97-10315 Filed 4-21-97; 8:45 am]
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