[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 222 (Wednesday, November 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64035-64036]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30859]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Rocky Mountain Region; Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for Sheep Flats Diversity Unit Timber Sales, Grand Mesa, 
Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest, Mesa County, Colorado

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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    Responsible Official: The Responsible Official for this 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is Mr. Robert Storch, 
Forest Supervisor of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National 
Forests, 2250 Highway 50, Delta, Colorado 81416.

SUMMARY: The Forest Service prepared and issued a final environmental 
impact statement in June 1998 about four (4) proposed timber sales: 
Valley View, Sheep Flats, Grove Creek, and Leon. These sales are 
located on the Grand Mesa National Forest, Collbran Ranger District. 
The Forest Service will supplement this environmental impact statement 
by developing and presenting additional information concerning soils 
and watershed resources. Errors and inconsistencies in the June 1998 
EIS will also be corrected.

DATES: Publication of Draft Supplemental EIS: December 1998. 
Publication of Final Supplemental EIS: March 1999. Publication of 
Record of Decision: April 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Mr. Robert Storch, Forest 
Supervisor of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National 
Forests, 2250 Highway 50, Delta, Colorado 81416. Send electronic mail 
comments to Pam Bode, Project Leader at pam.bode/[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Supervisor will use this 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to reconsider his decision 
concerning how to manage the timber resource within Sheep Flats 
Diversity Unit. The Forest Service is proposing to harvest four timber 
sales on this National Forest System land. Even-aged and uneven-aged 
silvicultural systems are considered in Engelmann spruce, subalpine 
fir, and aspen stands. These sales are scheduled to be offered within a 
five to ten year period after this analysis.
    Initial scoping of interested parties identified three preliminary 
issues. These are: (1) Constructing roads and harvesting timber within 
areas that were identified as Salt Creek Roadless Area and Priest 
Mountain Roadless Area during the 1979 RARE II inventory, (2) 
harvesting old growth timber, and (3) cumulative impacts on ecosystems 
from logging operations in and around the sale areas.
    Five alternatives were studied in the June 1998 EIS. Alternative 1 
is No Action. Alternatives 2 and 4 harvest suited timber but do not 
enter the Salt Creek or Priest Mountain Roadless Area. Alternatives 3 
and 5 enter both the Salt Creek and Priest Mountain Roadless Areas. 
Alternatives 2 and 3 emphasize maintenance of current old growth 
attributes and wildlife habitat networks while moderately improving 
timber structural diversity. Alternatives 4 and 5 emphasize improvement 
of timber structural diversity and production of wood fiber for timber 
industry. The selected action in the June 1998 Record of Decision was a 
combination of Alternatives 3 and 5. This action will be reconsidered 
when the Final Supplemental EIS is complete and a new decision will be 
published.
    News releases were issued, field tours have been conducted, and 
public meetings have occurred over the past six years. No additional 
scoping is planned for this project. News releases will be issued to 
inform the public that a Supplemental EIS will be prepared. These 
releases will outline the analysis schedule, and identify the period of 
opportunity for comment. The comment period on the Draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement will be 45 days from the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the Notice of Availability in 
the Federal Register. The parties that expressed interest previously 
have been informed individually by mail that this analysis is 
continuing.

[[Page 64036]]

    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 
supplemental 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 supplemental environmental impact stage but that are not raised 
until after completion of the final supplemental 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 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 supplemental environmental impact 
statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the supplemental EIS 
should be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer 
to specific pages or chapters of the supplement. Comments may also 
address the adequacy of the supplement or its merits. 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.

    Dated: November 9, 1998.
Robert L. Storch,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-30859 Filed 11-17-98; 8:45 am]
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