[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12076-12077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6367]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 48 / Thursday, March 12, 1998 / 
Notices  

[[Page 12076]]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Mill Project Timber Sales, Ochoco National Forest, Crook County, 
OR

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) on a Proposed Action to complete silvicultural 
treatments, including commercial harvest, precommercial thinning, and 
prescribed fire, to improve the health and diversity of forest stands 
in the Mill Creek Watershed. The Mill Creek Watershed is located 12-15 
miles northeast of Prineville, Oregon and covers approximately 72 
square miles (45,952 acres). Approximately 79% of the watershed is 
public land. The alternatives will include the proposed action, no 
action, and any additional alternatives that respond to issues 
generated during the scoping process. The Proposed Action will require 
non-significant amendments to the Ochoco National Forest Land and 
Resource Management Plan (LRMP) to allow activities to occur in 
allocated old growth and in late and old structure stands.

DATE: Send written comments and suggestions on the issues and 
management of this area by April 3, 1998.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, 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 part 215. 
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. 
Request for 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 re-submitted with or without name and address within 10 
days.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Art Currier, District Ranger, 
Prineville Ranger District, P.O. Box 490, Prineville, OR 97754.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dave Owens, Project Leader, Prineville Ranger District, phone 541-416-
6425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service Proposed Action will 
conduct management activities, including commercial timber harvest, 
precommercial thinning, and prescribed fire, in the Mill Creek 
Watershed, which includes portions of two inventoried roadless areas. 
Based on an analysis of existing vegetation conditions in the Mill 
Creek Watershed, opportunities were identified to conduct silvicultural 
treatments to improve the health and diversity of forested stands. 
Silvicultural treatments and timber harvest include 169 acres of 
improvement cutting; 5,237 acres of individual tree selection cutting; 
351 acres of group selection cutting; 3,758 acres of precommercial 
thinning; and 1,933 acres of prescribed fire. The Proposed Action also 
includes construction of 5.4 miles of new roads and surfacing or 
restoration of 9.65 miles of existing roads. No roads are proposed in 
inventoried roadless areas. The proposed action does not include any 
activities in the Mill Creek Wilderness Area, which encompasses 
approximately 13,000 acres of 28% of the watershed. The expected 
harvest volume is approximately 25 million board feet. Five potential 
sale areas have been identified, including two helicopter sales. These 
sales would be sold over the next 3 years.
    The Ochoco National Forest LRMP allocates lands within the project 
area to various management emphasis areas. These allocations include 
General Forest, General Forest Winter Range, Old Growth, Steins Pillar 
recreation Area, Dispersed Recreation, Developed Recreation, Riparian, 
and Mill Creek Wilderness. The emphasis for each of the management 
allocations is briefly described below.
    MA-F3  Mill Creek Wilderness--Protect wilderness ecosystems. Manage 
use to maintain a natural setting and preserve solitude.
    MA-F6  Old Growth--Habitat will be provided for wildlife species 
dependent upon old growth stands.
    MA-F13  Developed Recreation--Provide safe, healthful, and 
aesthetic facilities for people to utilize while they are pursuing a 
variety of recreation experiences within a relatively natural outdoor 
setting.
    MA-F14  Dispersed Recreation--provide and maintain a near-natural 
setting for people to utilize while pursuing outdoor recreation 
experiences.
    MA-F15  Riparian--Manage streamside vegetation and habitat to 
maintain or improve water quality. Meet temperature and turbidity 
levels as required by State standards under the clean Water Act.
    MA-F17  Stein's Pillar Recreation Area--maintain a scenic, natural, 
or natural-appearing setting associated with unique geologic 
formations, particularly Stein's Pillar. Provide roadless nonmotorized 
recreation, with various opportunities to enjoy nature.
    MA-F21  General Forest Winter Range--The area will be managed for 
timber production with management activities designed and implemented 
to recognize big game habitat needs.
    MA-F22  General Forest--The area will produce timber and forage 
while meeting the Forest-wide standards and guidelines for all 
resources.
    In 1997, a watershed analysis was completed for the Mill Creek 
Watershed. The watershed analysis identified management activities 
which may improve the health and diversity of forested stands by 
encouraging late and old structure conditions, reducing competition, 
reducing stress, and reducing risk of stand replacement fires.
    An initial scoping letter was mailed in February 1998.
    To date, issues identified include: inventoried roadless area, 
water quality, late successional stands, and visual quality.

[[Page 12077]]

    The EIS will analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative 
environmental effects of the alternatives. Past, present, and projected 
activities on both private and National Forest System lands will be 
considered.
    Public participation is important. Comments from the public will be 
used to:
     Identify, and/or confirm key issues and other potential 
issues.
     Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by 
a previous environmental analysis, such as the Ochoco LRMP.
     Identify alternatives to the proposed action.
     Identify, and/or confirm potential environmental effects 
of the proposed action and other alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, 
and cumulative effects).
     Determine potential cooperating agencies and task 
assignments.
    The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in May 1998. 
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. At 
the same time, copies of the draft EIS will be distributed to 
interested and affected agencies, organizations, tribes, and members of 
the public for their review and comment.
    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 EISs 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 these 
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 statement. Comments may also 
address the adequacy of the draft EIS 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.
    The final EIS is scheduled to be completed in August 1998. In the 
final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to comments 
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 decisions on this 
proposal. Thomas Schmidt, Forest Supervisor, is the responsible 
official. As responsible official he will document the selected 
alternative for the Mill Project Timber Sales EIS and his rationale in 
a Record of Decision.
    The decision for the Mill Project Timber Sales will be subject to 
Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR part 215).

    Dated: February 26, 1998.
Thomas A. Schmidt,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-6367 Filed 3-11-98; 8:45 am]
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