[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24634-24635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11749]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Private Property Access-Road Construction; Kootenai National 
Forest, Lincoln County, Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The owner of record of landlocked private property located in 
portions of Sections 33 and 34, Township 27 North, Range 31 West, 
Principal Montana Meridian and the owner of record of landlocked 
private property located in portions of Sections 12 and 13, Township 26 
North, Range 31 West, Principal Montana Meridian have requested special 
use permit applications for the construction and reconstruction of 
roads to their property.
    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 the proposed road construction 
and reconstruction. The decision areas are located approximately 24 and 
26 air miles respectively south of Libby, Montana.
    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 forest management of the area.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received on or before 
June 5, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is Robert L. Schrenk, Forest 
Supervisor, 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 U.S. Hwy 37 N, 
Libby, Montana 59923.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jon Jeresek, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Libby Ranger District. 
Phone: (406) 293-7773.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All of the properties and proposed road 
constructions are located within the Inventoried Roadless Area #671--
Cabinet Face East. The decision areas are occupied grizzly bear 
habitat.
    Proposed Action: The Kootenai National Forest is proposing to issue 
two special use permits for permanent access to West Fisher private 
property and to allow reconstruction of roads to allow passenger 
traffic. The purpose of the projects is to access private land that is 
surrounded by National Forest. No proposed activities are located in 
areas considered for inclusion to the National Wilderness Preservation 
System as recommended by the Kootenai National Forest Plan.
    The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 
provides overall management objectives in individual delineated 
management areas (MA's). The decision area is allocated to MA-2, Semi-
Primitive Non-Motorized Recreation. Briefly described, MA-2 is managed 
to provide for the protection and enhancement of areas for roadless 
recreation use, and to provide for wildlife management where specific 
values are high. Within grizzly bear habitat, the goal of MA-2 is to 
provide habitat that will contribute to the recovery of the grizzly 
bear.
    Preliminary Issues: Several preliminary issues of concern have been 
identified by the Forest Service. These issues are briefly described 
below.
     Water Quality--How would the proposed actions affect 
sediment production?
     Roadless Areas--The proposed road construction lies 
entirely within the Cabinet Face East Inventoried Roadless Area #671. 
What effect would the proposals have on the character of this Roadless 
Area?
     Grizzly Bear--The decision area lies within the recovery 
area for the Cabinet/Yaak grizzly bear ecosystem. How would the 
proposals protect and enhance grizzly bear habitat, and contributes to 
recovery efforts?
     Fisheries--The proposed road construction would cross 
Bramlet and 4th of July Creeks which are priority bull trout streams. 
How would the proposed action affect sediment production and bull trout 
habitat?
     Heritage Resources--The road construction is proposed to 
occur over the existing historic 4th of July Trail #115. Can the loss 
of this resource and associated sites by mitigated?
    Forest Plan Amendment: The Kootenai National Forest Land and 
Resource Management Plan has specific management direction for the 
Harpole

[[Page 24635]]

and Skranak decision area. 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 amendments would be addressed in the 
EIS.
    Decisions To Be Made: The Kootenai Forest Supervisor will decide 
the following:
    Should road construction to the private properties be permitted and 
if so how and where,
    What mitigation measures would be required for protection of 
National Forest Service resources, and
    If Forest Plan amendments are necessary to proceed with the 
Proposed Action within the decision area.
    Public Involvement and Scoping: Notices will be mailed to 
interested parties from a mailing list, to provide an opportunity for 
the public to review and comment on the proposed action. Consultation 
with appropriate State and Federal agencies will be initiated. 
Preliminary effects analysis indicated that the proposed road 
construction may significantly affect the quality of the human 
environment. These potential effects prompted the decision to prepare 
an EIS for the road construction proposals.
    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 EIS is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for 
public review by August, 1997. 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 in November, 1997. 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 impact statements 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 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 alternative 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: Robert L. Schrenk, Forest Supervisor, 
Kootenai National Forest, 506 U.S. Highway 2 West, Libby, MT 59923 is 
the Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official I will decide 
which, if any, of the proposed projects will be implemented. I will 
document the decision and reasons for the decision in the Record of 
Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal 
Regulations.

    Dated: April 28, 1997.
Robert L. Schrenk,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 97-11749 Filed 5-5-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M