[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 37 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9575-9576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4708]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


North Belts Travel Plan/Magpie-Confederate Vegetation Restoration 
Project; Including Timber Harvest, Prescribed Fire, Watershed 
Improvement, Road Reconstruction and Obliteration, Trail Relocation, 
and Travel Management

    Travel management will be addressed on both Forest Service and 
Bureau of Land Management jurisdictions. Bureau of Land Management, 
Butte District, Headwaters Resource Area, Helena National Forest, 
Broadwater, Lewis & Clark, and Meagher Counties, Montana.

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA/Bureau of Land Management, USDI.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare Environmental Impact Statement and a 
BLM Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management USDI 
are gathering information and preparing an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the North Belts Travel Plan/Magpie-Confederate 
Vegetation Restoration Project located approximately 25 air miles east 
of Helena, Montana.

    The Forest Service proposes to treat forested areas with 
approximately 1480 acres of commercial timber harvest and 3725 acres of 
prescribed fire. An estimated three miles of new construction and three 
miles of road reconstruction will be needed to access the treatment 
areas. All new construction will be obliterated following harvest, 
Prescribed fire is also proposed for 6452 acres of grasslands (315 
acres of which belong to the BLM). The Bureau of Land Management and 
Forest Service propose to develop long-term travel management plans for 
the northern Big Belt Mountains and Spokane Hills. The proposal 
includes corrective measures to facilitate watershed improvement and 
reduce or eliminate various problems on existing roads and trails. The 
proposed action would implement new travel management plans that 
identify 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, move selected areas towards 
the desired conditions identified from the Forest Plan, and BLM 
Headwaters Resource Management Plan of 1984. These needs are supported 
by the findings of the Big Belts Integrated Resource 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) enhance 
soil and water, (4) provide recreation opportunities, and (5) provide 
reasonable long-term travel management.
    No Forest Plan amendments are proposed. Further analysis of the 
proposed action and alternatives to the proposal may result in a 
decision(s) that include amendments to the Forest Plan. Amendments to 
the BLM Headwaters Resource Management Plan are expected to be 
identified and therefore plan amendment procedures will be followed 
from the onset.

DATES: Comments should be received in writing on or before March 31, 
1998.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official for the USDA Forest Service is 
Thomas J. Clifford, Forest Supervisor, Helena National Forest, 
Supervisor's Office, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT 59601. Phone: (406) 
449-5201. The responsible official for the USDI Bureau of Land 
Management is Merle Good, Headwaters Resource Area Manager, Butte 
District Office, P.O. Box 3388, Butte, Montana 59702.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
George Weldon, District Ranger, Townsend Ranger District, or Quinn 
Carver, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Townsend Ranger District, 415 S. 
Front, Townsend, MT 59644. Phone: (406) 266-3425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project would occur on Bureau of Land 
Management lands of the Butte District and National Forest lands of the 
Helena and Townsend Ranger Districts. The activities would take place 
within portions of T.11, T.12 and 13N., R.2W., T.9-13N., R.1W., T.10-
13N., R.1E., T.9-12N., R.2E., and T.9-11N., R.3E., Montana Principle 
Meridian.

    Portions of the timber harvest and prescribed fire treatment units 
are within the Hellgate Gulch and Cayuse Mountain roadless areas. No 
road construction is proposed within either 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 systems will be necessary to 
accommodate the long-term needs of the public while considering other 
resource needs and objectives.
    This EIS will tier to the Helena Forest Plan Final EIS of April 
1986 and the BLM Headwaters Resource Management Plan of 1984, which 
provide program goals, objectives, and standards and

[[Page 9576]]

guidelines for conducting management activities in these areas. All 
activities associated with the proposal will be designed to maintain or 
enhance the resource objectives identified in the BLM Headwaters 
Resource Management Plan and Helena Forest Plan further refined in the 
Big Belts Integrated Resource Analysis.
    The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are 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 and Bureau of Land 
Management invite 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 treatments 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 
Roadless Areas.
    5. The effects on fish, water quality, and riparian areas.
    6. The potential for increase in noxious weed populations or 
distribution.
    The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will jointly 
analyze and disclose in the DEIS and FEIS the environmental effects of 
the proposed action pertaining to each agency 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/
Bureau of Land Management 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 and Bureau of Land Management. The second review period 
is during the 90 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 March of 1999. 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 90 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 and 
Bureau of Land Management believe 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 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 90-
day comment period so that substantive comments and objections are made 
available to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management at a time 
when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the FEIS.
    To assist the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management 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 and Bureau of Land 
Management in preparing the FEIS. The FEIS is expected to be filed in 
February of 2000.

    Dated: February 18, 1998.
Thomas J. Clifford,
Forest Supervisor.

    Dated: February 18, 1998.
Merle Good,
Headwaters Resource Area Manager, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 98-4708 Filed 2-24-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M