[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2197-2198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-821]


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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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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 9 / Wednesday, January 14, 1998 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Nevada/Dalton Project; Including Timber Harvest, Prescribed Fire, 
Fish and Wildlife Habitat Improvement, Road Construction, Road 
Obliteration, and Travel Management; Helena National Forest, Lewis & 
Clark 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 Nevada/Dalton 
Project located approximately 26 air miles northwest of Helena, 
Montana.
    The Forest Service proposes to treat approximately 1630 acres with 
regeneration harvest treatments, 320 acres with commercial thinning, 
160 acres with commercial thinning, 1670 acres with grass/shrub/
underburning, and 1000 acres of aerial herbicide treatment of noxious 
weeds. The proposal would also hydromulch erosive sites along existing 
roads and install other erosion control structures within the project 
area. Approximately 7 miles of new system road construction is needed 
to access treatment areas. The new roads will be obliterated after 
harvest. An additional 7 miles of existing road would be obliterated 
also. The proposed action would implement a new travel management plan 
that identifies designated routes which would be available for 
motorized vehicle use with a mix of seasonal and vehicle type 
restrictions.
    The proposal is designed to help achieve the goals and objectives 
of the 1986 Helena National Forest Plan and move selected areas towards 
the desired conditions identified from the Forest Plan. These needs are 
supported by the findings of the Blackfoot Landscape Analysis. The 
purpose is to maintain healthy, sustainable ecosystems that (1) reduce 
fire risk, (2) provide wildlife habitat similar to the habitat that 
existed when fire was a natural component of the ecosystem, (3) protect 
solid and water, (4) provide recreation opportunities, and (5) provide 
wood for people's use.
    A Forest Plan amendment is proposed to change management direction 
for the M-1 management area. Further analysis of the proposed action 
and alternatives to that proposal may result in a decision(s) that 
include amendments to the Forest Plan.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing on or before February 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official is Thomas J. Clifford, Forest 
Supervisor, Helena National Forest, Supervisor's Office, 2880 Skyway 
Drive, Helena, MT 59601. Phone: (406) 449-5201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gilbert Zepeda, District Ranger, 
Lincoln Ranger District, P.O. Box 219, Lincoln, MT 59639. Phone: (406) 
362-4265; or Tom Andersen, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Helena 
National Forest, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT 59601. Phone: (406) 449-
5201 [Ext. 277].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project would occur on National Forest 
lands of the Lincoln Ranger District. The activities would take place 
within portions of T.12N., R.7,8,9 W., T.13N., R.7,8,9,10W., and 
T.14N., R. 10W., Montana Principle Meridian.
    Portions of the prescribed fire treatment units, road construction 
and tree harvest are within the Ogden Mountain roadless area and Nevada 
Mountain roadless area.
    The decisions to be made, based on this environmental analysis, 
are:
    1. Whether or not to treat the vegetation at this time, and if so, 
how would the treatments be accomplished.
    2. What type of transportation system will be necessary to 
accomplish the vegetation management objectives, while considering 
other resource transportation needs and objectives.
    The 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 Blackfoot Landscape Analysis.
    The Forest Service is seeking information and comments from 
Federal, State, and local agencies together with 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 the following steps:
    1. Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth.
    2. Identification of additional reasonable alternatives.
    3. Identification of potential environmental effects of the 
alternatives.
    Timber harvest includes even-aged management treatments such as 
clearcutting with reserves, seed tree with reserves, and shelterwood 
with reserves. Intermediate treatment such as commercial thinning will 
also be considered. Prescribed burning will be used to treat 
nonforested and forested vegetation. Alternatives to this proposal will 
include the ``no action'' alternative, in which none of the proposed 
treatments would be implemented. Other alternatives will examine 
variations in the location, amount and method of vegetative management.
    The preliminary issues identified are:
    1. The effects on forest health and sustaining ecosystems.
    2. The effects on recreation and visual resources.
    3. The effects on wildlife.
    4. The effects on the roadless and wilderness character of the 
Ogden Mountain and Nevada Mountain Roadless Areas.
    5. The effects on fish, water quality, and riparian 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.
    Public participation is especially important at several points of 
the analysis. Interested parties may visit with the Forest Service 
officials at any

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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 second review period is during the 
45 days 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 September 1998. 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 is it is meaningful 
and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and contentions. 
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NDRC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). 
Secondly, environmental objections that could be raised 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 the 
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 February 1999.

    Dated: January 5, 1998.
Thomas J. Clifford,
Forest Supervisor, Helena National Forest.
[FR Doc. 98-821 Filed 1-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M