[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 162 (Friday, August 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44830-44832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-22508]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Cool Bear Vegetative Management, Road Management, and Watershed 
Rehabilitation. Lolo National Forest, Sanders County, Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of timber 
harvest, reforestation, precommercial thinning, prescribed burning, 
road management and watershed rehabilitation; and to correct management 
area mapping errors in the Lolo National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plan (Forest Plan) in the Fishtrap Creek drainage (herein 
referred to as the Cool Bear Project). The project area encompasses 
18,000 acres north of Thompson Falls, Montana.
    The proposed actions of timber harvest, reforestation, 
precommercial thinning, prescribed burning, road management, and 
watershed rehabilitation are being considered together because they 
represent either connected or cumulative actions as defined by the 
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25). This EIS will tier 
to the Lolo Forest Plan Final EIS (April, 1986).

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by September 
21, 1998.


[[Page 44831]]


ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed 
management activities or a request to be placed on the project mailing 
list to Richard A. Smith, District Ranger, Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger 
District, Lolo National Forest, P.O. Box 429, Plains, Montana 59859.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Frank Yurczyk, EIS Team Leader, Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District, 
Lolo National Forest, Phone (406) 826-4313.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Timber harvest, is proposed on approximately 
2170 acres of forested land removing an estimated 8.9 MMBF, in the Cool 
Bear project area, T. 24 N.,R. 27 W.: T. 24 N., R. 28 W.; and T. 25 N., 
R. 28 W, PMM. This area has been designated as suitable for timber 
management by the Lolo Forest Plan. Prescribed burning on approximately 
701 acres is proposed to facilitate reforestation, improve forest 
health, reduce fuel loading and enhance big game forage production. 
Approximately 1.9 miles of new road construction is proposed. 
Reconditioning of 12 miles and reconstructing 27 miles of existing road 
is proposed to improve drainage and reduce sediment delivery to 
Fishtrap Creek. Fishtrap Creek is identified as a water quality limited 
stream segment by the State of Montana. The project would also 
obliterate the entrances of secondary roads that are not needed in the 
future. There are 15 roads that are now closed with gates. The gates 
will be removed and the entrances obliterated to prevent all motor 
vehicle travel. These roadways will be reseeded to hasten recovery. The 
project will also propose correction of mapping errors in the Forest 
Plan Management Area allocation.
    The Lolo Forest Plan provides the overall guidance for management 
activities in the potentially affected area through its goals, 
objectives, standards and guidelines, and management area direction. 
The purpose of these proposed actions is to alter current trends in the 
forest condition and to regulate, over time, changes in vegetative 
cover which could adversely affect timber commodity potential, wildlife 
habitat, fuel build up or watershed stability. Timber harvest will help 
support the economic structure of local communities while contributing 
to the regional and national timber supply. Proposed road closures and 
timing of harvest activities are intended to limit human disturbance 
within suitable grizzly bear habitat, improve long-term watershed 
conditions, while continuing to provide non-motorized recreational 
uses.
    The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives. One of 
these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in which none of the 
proposed activities would be implemented. Additional alternatives will 
examine varying levels and locations for the proposed activities in 
response to issues and other resource values.
    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 lands will be 
considered. The EIS will disclose the analysis of site-specific 
mitigation measures and their effectiveness.
    Public participation is an important part of the analysis. The 
public may visit 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 and other individuals or organizations who may be interested 
in or affected by the proposed action. No public meetings are scheduled 
at this time. Comments previously received from the public on the Cool 
Bear project, will be utilized in the preparation of the EIS and do not 
need to be resubmitted.
    Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in 
preparation of the Draft EIS.
    The following principle issues have been identified so far:
    1. The potential effect of proposed timber harvest and associated 
road development on forest health, old growth, fragmentation, 
vegetative cover types and patterns across the landscape and natural 
ecological processes.
    2. The potential effect of proposed timber harvest and associated 
road development on grizzly bear recovery.
    3. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road 
development to affect water quality and quantity, including all 
cumulative effects from adjacent previous and reasonable foreseeable 
future activities.
    4. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road 
development to affect wildlife habitat including big game, snag 
dependent species, riparian dependent species, threatened, endangered, 
and sensitive species.
    5. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road 
development to affect the net economic cost and benefit to the public.
    6. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road 
development to affect the current patterns of public use for 
recreation, hunting, personal firewood gathering and the natural 
appearance of the landscape.
    7. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road 
development to affect fisheries, including bull char and their habitat.
    Other issues commonly associated with timber harvesting and road 
construction include effects on cultural resources, soils, compaction, 
nutrients, and noxious weeds in the area. This list will be verified, 
expanded, or modified based on public scoping for this proposal.
    The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in February 
1999. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of Availability of 
the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the Draft 
EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA's notice of availability 
appears in the Federal Register. It is very important that those 
interested in management of the Cool Bear project area participate at 
that time. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed by April, 1999.
    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, reviewers of draft environmental 
impact statements 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 
environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised until 
after completion of the final environmental impact statement 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 30-day scoping 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 developing issues and alternatives. To assist the 
Forest Service in identifying and considering issues, comments should 
be as specific to this proposal as possible. Reviewers may wish to 
refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for 
implementing the procedural provisions of the National

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Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
    I am the responsible official for this environmental impact 
statement. My address is Lolo National Forest, Building 24--Fort 
Missoula, Missoula, MT 59804

    Dated: August 13, 1998.
Dallas J. Emch,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-22508 Filed 8-20-98; 8:45 am]
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