[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43983-43984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21786]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Plum Creek Access Requests Within the Green River Drainage, Mt. 
Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, King County, Washington

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service, USDA, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) on Plum Creek Timber Company's (Plum Creek) application 
to acquire easements which allow the construction and maintenance of 
roads across portions of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in 
King County in the State of Washington. The easements will access to 
Plum Creek parcels that are intermingled with National Forest System 
lands and that are not currently served by roads. The EIS will address 
Plum Creek proposals to build roads to eight separate parcels of 
company lands.
    Requirements of the access authorized in the Record of Decision 
will be consistent with the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Land 
and Resource Management Plan (LRPM) (as amended in April 1994), which 
provides guidance for all land management activities on the Mt. Baker-
Snoqualmie National Forest
    The Forest Service invites written comments and suggestions on the 
issues for the proposed project.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this analysis should be 
received in writing by September 19, 1997.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lloyd Johnson, Realty Specialist, 
North Bend Ranger District, 42404 Southeast North Bend Way, North Bend, 
Washington 98045. Phone: 425-888-1421.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Plum Creek owns lands which are intermingled 
with National Forest System lands in the Green River Watershed, North 
Bend District, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Some of the 
parcels that Plum Creek owns and wishes to manage for timber are not 
served by existing roads. Access to these parcels via roads 
necessitates crossing National Forest System lands. Because Plum 
Creek's purpose for requesting access is to harvest timber and to 
conduct forest management activities, consistent with a 50-year Habitat 
Conservation Plan for Plum Creek lands, the company has specifically 
requested permanent easements from the Forest Service to construct and 
maintain permanent roads for access to Plum Creek lands. Under Section 
1323 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 
(Pub. L. 96-487, 94 Stat. 2371; 16 U.S.C. 3210), the United States 
shall provide access to nonfederal lands within national forest 
boundaries, as deemed adequate to secure to the owner the reasonable 
use and enjoyment of those lands, subject to the rules and regulations 
applicable to ingress and egress to or from the National Forest System.
    Depending on specific road location alternatives, the road projects 
are likely to range from about 0.25 to 2.5 miles in length. For this 
analysis, it is assumed that a 66-foot-wide right-of-way (ROW) would be 
established for each road corridor and that vegetation clearing would 
only occur within this ROW.

[[Page 43984]]

 Vegetation removal would occur on approximately 24 to 32 feet of the 
ROW; the road surface proper would be approximately 14 feet wide. 
Because road grade and terrain would vary, the amount of the 66-foot 
ROW affected and the exact amount utilized per mile is unknown. Plum 
Creek would construct and maintain the roads according to Forest 
Service road construction standards and guidelines.
    The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie LRMP (as amended) provides guidance for 
access across National Forest System lands through its goals, 
objectives, standards, guidelines, and management direction.
    An environmental document will be produced which will display 
alternatives considered, including no action and the proposed action, 
and an estimation of the effects of the alternatives. The EIS will 
analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative 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 effects of site-specific mitigation.
    Comments from the public will be used to:
     Identify potential issues.
     Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.
     Eliminate minor issues or those that 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.
     Determine potential cooperating agencies and task 
assignments.
    Issues identified as the result of internal scoping include:
     How will wildlife and wildlife habitat be affected by the 
project;
     Will unique plant communities be affected;
     Will fish habitat be affected downstream, especially in 
Sawmill Creek which has a distinct population of trout as well as coho 
and steelhead that are being planted by the State and the Muckleshoot 
Tribe;
     Will water quality be affected by sedimentation from mass 
wasting and surface erosion;
     Will large woody material be affected;
     Will water temperature be affected;
     The conversion of areas without roads to roaded areas; and
     Will cultural properties or heritage sites be impacted.
    An initial scoping letter was mailed on August 8, 1997. One public 
scoping meeting will be held on September 9, 1997, at the North Bend 
Ranger District from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The responses and 
information provided during scoping will be compiled and will be 
incorporated into the analysis.
    The draft EIS is expected to be filed in December 1997. The comment 
period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in the Federal 
Register.
    The Forest Service believes that 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 
the 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 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 EIS. Comments may also address the 
adequacy of the draft EIS or the merits of the alternatives formulated 
and discussed in the EIS. (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 in June 1998. 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. Dennis 
E. Bschor, Supervisor of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, is 
the responsible official. As the responsible official, he will document 
the decision and the reasons for the decision in the Record of 
Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service appeal 
regulations (CFR Part 215).

    Dated: August 7, 1997.
Terry L. Degrow,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 97-21786 Filed 8-15-97; 8:45 am]
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