[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 198 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55085-55086]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27486]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Wolfmann Projects, Willamette National Forest, Lane County, 
Oregon

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 proposal to harvest trees, build roads, and 
conduct prescribed burns within the Blue River drainage of the Blue 
River Ranger District approximately 55 miles east of Springfield, 
Oregon. Approximately 800 acres will be harvested and approximately 1 
mile of road will be constructed. Prescribed fire will be used to treat 
approximately 180 acres. The proposal results from an extensive 
landscape design and watershed analysis conducted in the Blue River 
watershed located entirely within the Central Cascades Adaptive 
Management Area (AMA). The Blue River Landscape and Monitoring strategy 
provides the framework for management of the area and is being 
implemented through the Blue River Landscape Administrative Study. The 
dominant theme of the study uses an interpreted range of ``natural'' 
variability of disturbance processes to guide landscape and watershed 
objectives, designs, and prescriptions. The need for the proposed 
action is to meet Willamette National Forest goals, objectives and 
commitments outlined in the Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest 
Plan). The proposed action includes testing an alternative approach to 
achieve the Northwest Forest Plan objectives consistent with the AMA 
emphasis; producing timber to support the local and national economy; 
and using fire as a management tool to introduce mortality, reduce 
fuels, and stimulate herb and shrub growth variability.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing on or before November 25, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments concerning this project to Lynn 
Burditt, District Ranger, Blue River Ranger District, P.O. Box 199, 
Blue River, Oregon 97413.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Please direct questions about the proposed action and environmental 
impact statement to Karen Geary, Integrated Resources Assistant, phone 
541-822-3317.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Blue River Landscape Management and 
Monitoring strategy was developed as an alternative approach to 
achieving the basic objectives underlying the Northwest Forest Plan. 
The purpose of the strategy is to develop and test a landscape 
management approach that approximates aspects of historical disturbance 
regimes within the Blue River watershed which is approximately 57,000 
acres. The primary goal is to sustain native habitat, species, and 
ecological processes within historical ranges while providing a 
sustained flow of wood fiber. The central concept of this project is 
that we will be able to achieve these goals by approximating aspects of 
historical disturbance regimes through forest management practices. 
Timber harvest and prescribed fire will be planned to approximate 
historical fires regimes to the degree feasible while still meeting the 
underlying objectives of the Northwest Forest Plan. While this concept 
is largely untested, various projects are exploring this approach in a 
variety of settings across North America.
    The Wolfmann Project is the second timber harvest proposal 
resulting from the strategy. It is the first proposal to use prescribed 
fire as a management tool in unharvested areas.
    The strategy contains four major components:
    1. Special area reserves allocated in the Willamette National 
Forest Plan, as amended by the Northwest Forest Plan, were delineated. 
The reserve boundaries and general management prescriptions described 
in the Forest Plan were adopted for these areas.
    2. Landscape areas--The remainder of the planning area was 
subdivided into zones of similar ecological conditions and disturbance 
regimes (landscape areas). Vegetation management prescriptions were 
developed for each zone based on an interpreted range of historical 
conditions. For each landscape area, timber harvest and fire 
prescriptions were developed based upon the underlying fire regime, as 
interpreted from tree ring records. Timber harvest frequency, and 
rotation age (100-260 years) were based upon historical fire intensity, 
and the spatial patterns of timber harvest were based upon the spatial 
patterns of historical fires.
    3. Aquatic reserves were then established to ensure that the full 
range of objectives in the Northwest Forest Plan would be met. 
Achievement of the Aquatic Conservation Strategy Objectives (ROD 1994) 
was given particular attention. These reserves were based, in part, on 
the type and intensity of upslope management in the local landscape 
area, and were designed to reflect general patterns of disturbance

[[Page 55086]]

processes. These reserves generally take the form of entire small 
subdrainages. They are strategically located to encompass areas of high 
aquatic habitat diversity, source areas for organic and inorganic 
material to streams, and to include habitat around the most productive 
pairs of spotted owls. In addition, corridor reserves were established 
on all fish-bearing streams. This network of reserves is considerably 
different from the network provided on Matrix lands in the Northwest 
Forest Plan.
    4. Watershed restoration--this component of the project is intended 
to reestablish a resilient, interconnected aquatic network that is able 
to maintain aquatic habitats and processes with landscape disturbance 
processes operating at historical frequencies and intensities.
    The landscape management strategy was evaluated to ascertain 
whether the approach would meet each of the nine Aquatic Conservation 
Strategy Objectives in the Northwest Forest Plan. Results of the 
evaluation concluded that these objectives would be met. In addition, 
an evaluation of northern spotted owl habitat concluded that the owls 
would find larger patches and less fragmented habitat under this 
management strategy than would be found managing under the interim 
guidelines for Matrix lands and Riparian Reserves in the Northwest 
Forest Plan.
    The Wolfmann Project includes regeneration harvest in five 
``blocks'' for a total of approximately 200 acres. Regeneration harvest 
means a new stand of trees will be started. The blocks are within 
Landscape Area 3 and will have a prescription that results between 15% 
and 50% of the canopy being retained following harvest. The blocks 
selected for consideration were identified through a long term 
scheduling exercise that identifies potential harvest for 200 years. 
The project also includes commercial thinning harvest on approximately 
600 acres in 21 blocks. The stands which will be thinned range in age 
from 60 to 90 years old. Prescribed fire is proposed in three blocks 
for a total of approximately 180 acres. The 29 blocks are located in T. 
14 S., R. 5 E sections 25 through 36 and in T. 15 S., R. 5 E sections 
1, 2, 4, 5, 11 smf 12. This area is approximately 15 to 20 miles north 
of the town of Blue River, Oregon. The projects are located entirely 
within the Blue River watershed. The regeneration harvest portion has 
been called ``Mann Regen'' and the commercial thinning has been called 
``Bear Thin'' in The Forest Focus (Willamette National Forest Schedule 
of Proposed Actions (SOPA)).
    Detailed ground review and alternative development will concentrate 
on these 29 blocks. Decisions will include identification of the timing 
and location of timber harvest and prescribed fire, silvicultural 
prescriptions, levels of green and dead tree retention, and the spatial 
patterns of retention trees. Actions connected to this proposal include 
construction of roads, reconstruction of roads, construction of 
landings for harvest units, prescribed burning to treat slash, tree 
planting to reforest the site, and mitigation measures as deemed 
necessary.
    The analysis will consider a range of alternatives to the proposed 
action, including a no-action alternative. The Forest Service is 
seeking information and comments from Federal, State and local 
agencies, as well as, other individuals or organizations who may be 
interested in, or affected by, the proposed action. Information that 
would be especially useful would be identification of issues, 
exploration of additional alternatives based on the issues, and 
identifying potential environmental effects of the proposed action and 
alternatives to the proposal. Public involvement will include periodic 
mailings to interested persons, as the project progresses; public 
meetings will be held in Blue River, Oregon during October and November 
1998. Information on time and locations will be announced at a later 
date.
    Preliminary scoping identified potential issues related to slope 
stability, logging system economics, and spotted owl habitat.
    The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review in 
January 1999. 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 notice appears in the Federal 
Register. 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. It is very important that those interested in 
the management of the Willamette National Forest participate at that 
time.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 
notice at this early stage of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
a draft EIS 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 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 of 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 March 1999. In the 
final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to comments and 
responses 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 decision 
regarding this proposal. Lynn Burditt, Blue River District Ranger, 
Willamette National Forest, is the responsible official. As the 
responsible official she will document the decision and reasons for the 
decision in the Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to 
Forest Service Appeal Regulations 36 CFR Part 215.

    Dated: October 6, 1998.
Lynn Burditt,
Blue River District Ranger, Willamette National Forest.
[FR Doc. 98-27486 Filed 10-13-98; 8:45 am]
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