[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39810-39811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19725]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Salmon River Canyon Project; Nez Perce National Forest, Payette 
National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, Salmon/Challis National 
Forest, Idaho County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the environmental effects of 
fuels reduction within the Salmon River Canyon. The area is located 
between Cottonwood, ID and North Fork, ID. Some activities are proposed 
within the Gospel Hump and Frank Church--River of No Return 
Wildernesses. This EIS will tier to the Nez Perce National Forest Land 
and Resource Management Plan, the Bitterroot National Forest Forest 
Plan, the Land and Resource Management Plan for the Salmon National 
Forest, and the Payette National Forest Land and Resource Management 
Plan which provide overall guidance for achieving the desired forest 
condition of the area. The purpose of the proposed action is to reduce 
fuels that have accumulated as a result of fire suppression in areas of 
historic high frequency, low intensity fires.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by August 
24, 1998 to receive timely consideration in the preparation of the 
Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions on the proposed action 
or requests for a map of the proposed action or to be placed on the 
project mailing list to Coy Jemmett, Forest Supervisor, Nez Perce 
National Forest, Route 2 Box 475, Grangeville, ID 83530.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bill Shields, Planner, Nez Perce National Forest, Route 2 Box 475, 
Grangeville, ID, 83530, Phone (208) 983-1950.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Activities are proposed on the following 
Ranger Districts: Salmon River and Red River Districts, Nez Perce NF; 
New Meadows, McCall, and Krassell, Payette NF; West Fork, Bitterroot 
NF; and North Fork, Salmon NF. Activities are also proposed on the 
Cottonwood Resource Area of the Bureau of Land Management. The proposed 
activity is ignition of approximately 210,000 acres through the use of 
helicopter and hand ignition over a ten-year period. This treatment is 
expected to reduce fuels in the Salmon River Canyon area. The following 
goals will be achieved:
    1. Reintroduce fire as a primary ecological disturbance process in 
ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir types, to initiate the restoration of 
vegetation densities toward historic levels.
    2. Increase the opportunities to allow lightning fires to play, as 
nearly as possible, their natural ecological role within wilderness in 
accordance with Wilderness Fire Management Plans.
    3. Reduce the risk from wildland fire to private land and 
structures within and adjacent to the Salmon River Canyon .
    The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives to the 
proposed action. One of these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in 
which none of the proposed actions will be implemented. Additional 
alternatives will examine varying levels and locations for the proposed 
activities, including entry into wilderness areas, to achieve the 
proposal's purposes, as well as to respond to the issues and other 
resource values.
    Public participation is an important part of the project, 
commencing with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7), which 
starts with publication of this notice and continues for the next 30 
days. In addition, the public is encouraged to visit with Forest 
Service officials at any time during the analysis and prior to the 
decision. The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and 
assistance from Federal, State, and local agencies, the Nez Perce 
Tribe, and other individuals or organizations who may be interested in 
or affected by the proposed action.
    Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in 
preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to:
    1. Identify potential issues.
    2. Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.
    3. Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a 
relevant previous environmental analysis, such as the Nez Perce 
National Forest Plan EIS.
    4. Identify alternatives to the proposed action.
    5. Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action 
and alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect, and cumulative effects).
    While public participation in this analysis is welcome at any time, 
comments received within 30 days of the publication of this notice will 
be especially useful in the preparation of the draft EIS, which is 
expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency and 
available for public review

[[Page 39811]]

in January 1999. A 45-day comment period will follow publication of a 
Notice of Availability of the draft EIS in the Federal Register. The 
comments received will be analyzed and considered in preparation of a 
final EIS, which is expected to be filed in June 1999. A Record of 
Decision will be issued not less than 30 days after publication of a 
Notice of Availability of the final EIS in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes it is important at this early stage 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, 513 (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 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 should be as specific as 
possible. 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.
    Coy Jemmett is the responsible official for this environmental 
impact statement.

    Dated: July 17, 1998.
Philip N. Jahn,
Acting Forest Supervisor, Nez Perce National Forest.
[FR Doc. 98-19725 Filed 7-23-98; 8:45 am]
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