[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 244 (Monday, December 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70383-70385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33695]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


EIS for The Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery 
Act Pilot Project

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: On October 21, 1998, the President of the United States signed 
the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
including Section 401, The Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest 
Recovery Act (Act).
    The Act states that the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 
the Forest Service and after completion of an environmental impact 
statement, shall conduct a pilot project on described Federal lands to 
demonstrate the effectiveness of specific resource management 
activities including fuelbreaks, group selection and individual tree 
selection, and avoidance or protection of specified areas. A Record of 
Decision (ROD) is to be adopted by August 17, 1999. Additionally, the 
Forest Service is to develop a program for riparian restoration. The 
Pilot Project is defined in the Act as Quincy Library Group Proposal, 
as described in the ``Quincy Library Group-Community Stability 
Proposal'', to be implemented on Federal lands identified on the map 
(MAP) entitled ``Quincy Library Group Community Stability Proposal'', 
dated October 12, 1993, and prepared by Vestra Resources of Redding, 
California.

DATES: The public is asked to submit any issues (points of concern, 
debate, dispute or disagreement) regarding potential effects of the 
proposed action or alternatives by January 19, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to David Peters, Project Manager, USDA Forest 
Service, Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act 
Pilot Project, PO Box 11500, Quincy, CA 95971.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Contact David Peters, Project Manager, USDA Forest Service, Herger-
Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act Pilot Project, PO 
Box 11500, Quincy, CA 95971. Copies of the Quincy Library Group 
Community Stability Proposal, the ACT, the MAP and associated documents 
are available upon request from the Project Manager.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Early Public Involvement

    The pilot project is based on an agreement by a coalition of 
representatives of fisheries, timber, environmental, county government, 
citizen groups, and local communities that formed in northern 
California to develop a resource management program that promotes 
ecologic and economic health for certain Federal lands and communities 
in the Sierra Nevada area. The agreement is the ``Quincy Library Group-
Community Stability Proposal,'' which has received broad public review 
over a period of years. The proposal was developed by an active cross-
section from the local communities. The proposal was included for 
analysis in the ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Managing 
California Spotted Owl Habitat in the Sierra Nevada National Forests of 
California, an Eco-system Approach'', 1996. Additionally, there were 
congressional hearings and debate associated with the proposed Bill as 
it was introduced in the House of Representatives.

Proposed Action

    The Act directs the Forest Service to develop a Pilot Project, 
described as follows
     Pilot Project Area and Exclusions. The pilot project is 
limited to certain Federal lands (National Forest System Lands of the 
Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests) and local communities of 
the Sierra Nevada area, that are identified on the MAP as ``Available 
for Group Selection''. All spotted owl habitat areas and protected 
activity centers located in the pilot project area will be deferred 
from resource management activities.
     Riparan Protection and Limitation. The Scientific Analysis 
Team (SAT) guidelines for riparian protection are described in the 
document entitled ``Viability Assessments and Management considerations 
for Species Associated with Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forests of 
the Pacific Northwest'', a Forest Service research document dated March 
1993 and coauthorized by the Scientific Analysis Team, including Dr. 
Jack Ward Thomas. The ACT does not require the application of SAT 
guidelines to any livestock grazing in the pilot project area during 
the term of the pilot project, unless the livestock grazing is being 
conducted in the specific location at which the SAT guidelines are 
being applied to a required ``Resource Management Activity''.
     Compliance. All required ``Resource Management 
Activities'' shall be implemented to the extent consistent with 
applicable Federal Law and the standards and guidelines for the 
conservation of the California spotted owl as set forth in the 
California Spotted Owl Sierran Province Interim Guidelines or 
subsequently issued guidelines.
     Roadless Area Protection. Required ``Resource Management 
Activities'', road building, riparian managment activity that utilize 
road construction, and timber harvesting activities, shall not be 
conducted on National Forest System Lands that are designated as either 
``Off Base'' or ``Deferred'' on the MAP.
     Required ``Resource Management Activities''. The following 
``Resource Management Activities'' shall be implemented in compliance 
with Section 401 (1) on an acreage basis during the term of the pilot 
project:
    (1) Fuelbreak Construction.--Construction of a strategic system of 
defensible fuel profile zones, including

[[Page 70384]]

shaded fuelbreaks, utilizing thinning, individual tree selection, and 
other methods of vegetation management consistent with the Quincy 
Library Group--Community Stability Proposal, on not less than 40,000, 
but not more than 60,000, acres per year.
    (2) Group Selection and Individual Tree Selection.--Utilization of 
group selection and individual tree selection uneven-aged forest 
management prescriptions described in the Quincy Library Group-
Community Stability Proposal to achieve a desired future condition of 
all-age, multistory, fire resilient forests as follows:
    (A) Group Selection.--Group selection on an average acreage of 0.57 
percent of the pilot project land each year of the pilot project.
    (B) Individual Tree Selection--Individual tree selection may also 
be utilized within the pilot project area.
    (3) Total Acreage.--The total acreage on which resource management 
activities be implemented under this subsection shall not exceed 70,000 
acres each year.
    (4) Riparian Management.--A program of riparian management, 
including wide protection zones and riparian restoration projects, 
consistent with SAT guidelines.
     Term of Pilot Project.--The pilot project shall continue 
for five years unless the amendment or revision of the land and 
resource management plans for the Plumas, Lassen and Tahoe National 
Forests as directed are completed earlier.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    To comply with NEPA, the Forest Service will evaluate alternatives 
to the proposed action within the EIS, including No Action and other 
alternatives responding to public comments. Each alternative would be 
rigorously explored and evaluated, or rationale would be given for 
eliminating an alternative from detailed study. The range of 
alternatives to be considered would include, but not be limited to:
    Identification of strategic systems of defensible fuel profile 
zones (DFPZ), that would include shaded fuelbreaks and would be 
achieved through thinning, individual tree selection, and other 
vegetative management activities. The strategic systems would include 
complete descriptions of the physical arrangement of living and dead 
vegetation remaining in the DFPZ when completed, and identification of 
topographic, elevation, vegetation type, and other physical and 
biological criteria within which each ``typical'' DFPZ would also be 
appropriate.
    Identification of a strategy to evaluate the effectiveness of 
uneven-age management that would be achieved by application of thinning 
and group selection prescriptions. The strategy would include 
identification of topography, elevation, vegetation type, and other 
physical and biological criteria that would be used to determine where 
and how group selection and individual tree selection prescriptions 
would be applied.
    Strategies developed would include standards and guidelines for 
monitoring the effectiveness of each strategic system of DFPZs, and 
each uneven-aged management strategy.

Relationships With Sierra Nevada Framework for Conservation and 
Collaboration (SNFCC)

    Selection 401 of the 1999 Department of the Interior and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act (the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group 
Forest Recovery Act), 112 Stat. 2681, directs the Secretary to 
implement a pilot project on certain federal lands within the Plumas, 
Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests. We will coordinate the Sierra 
Nevada Forest Plan Amendment Project Environment Impact Statement with 
the HFQLG environmental impact statement to implement section 401. We 
would like comments from the public and interested groups concerning 
the relationship between the two environmental impact statements.

Public Scoping Process

    This Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environment Impact Statement is 
the initiation of a public scoping process related to implementation of 
the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act's Pilot 
Project. The public is invited to comment by submitting any issues 
(points of concern, debate, disagreement, or dispute) they may have 
regarding potential effects of the proposed action.
    Public information meetings will be hosted by the Lassen, Plumas, 
and Tahoe National Forests at Loyalton, Blairsden, Quincy, Oroville, 
Chico, Burney, and Chester, CA, between January 4th and January 16th, 
1999. Additionally, two scoping workshops will be held, one at 
Susanville and one at Quincy, on Saturday, January 16th. Location and 
times for the meetings will be published in the official newspapers of 
record for each forest. Throughout the scoping process, coordination 
will occur with Federal and State agencies, Tribal governments, local 
governments, and historically under-represented communities.

Commenting

    A draft environmental statement is expected to be available for 
public review and comment in June, 1999 and a final environmental 
impact statement in August, 1999. The comment period on the draft 
environmental impact statement will be 45 days from the date of 
availability published in the Federal Register by the Environmental 
Protection Agency.
    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. 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 (FOIA) permits such 
confidentiality. Persons requesting such confidentiality should be 
aware that, under the FOIA, 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 resubmitted with or without name and address.
    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 environmental impact statements must structure their 
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is 
meaningful and alerts the 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 state may be waived 
or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 3 F.2d 1016, 1022 
(9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 
1334 (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

[[Page 70385]]

respond to them in the final environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft 
environmental impact statement 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 
environmental impact statement 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 Environment Policy Act at 40 
CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.

    Dated: December 15, 1998.
Mark J. Madrid,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-33695 Filed 12-18-98; 8:45 am]
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