[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 147 (Monday, August 2, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41912-41913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19676]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
South Pyramid Timber Sales, Willamette National Forest, Linn
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 timber, regenerate harvested
lands, construct or reconstruct forest roads, and associated mitigation
projects in the South Pyramid subwatershed. The legal description for
the planning area is T12S, R5E, sections 19, 28-34. The planning area
is approximately 4,637 acres in the Middle Santiam Watershed.
The planning area is primarily designated Matrix-General Forest by
the Northwest Forest Plan, with Riparian Reserves, Late Successional
Reserve, and Matrix-Special Habitat Areas composing the rest of the
landbase. The planning area includes many acres of overstocked 90-150
year forest, where growth rates have slowed. Information and analyses
created during the Middle Santiam Watershed Analysis will also be
considered when designing this project. This proposal is tentatively
scheduled for implementation in fiscal year 2000-2003. The Willamette
National Forest invites written comments and suggestions on the scope
of this analysis, in addition to those comments received as a result of
local public participation activities. The agency will also give notice
of the full environmental analysis and decision making process so that
interested and affected people are informed as to how they may
participate and contribute to the final decision.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope and implementation of the analysis
should be received in writing by August 16, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Please send written comments and suggestions concerning the
South Pyramid Timber Sales to Mike Rassbach, District Ranger, Sweet
Home Ranger District, Willamette National Forest, 3225 Hwy 20, Sweet
Home, Oregon 97386.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the Proposed Action
and scope of analysis should be directed to Brian McGinley, Resource
Planner, Sweet Home Ranger District, Willamette National Forest, 3225
Highway 22, Sweet Home, Oregon 97386, phone 541-367-5168.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Northwest Forest Plan has designed most
of the forest's timber production capability to come from Matrix-
General Forest lands. The purpose and need for this proposal is to
improve tree growth rates and/or quality of overstocked matrix forests,
and harvest timber in a landbase that is Matrix Land-General Forest,
where timber management is a dominant resource objective. The Forest
Service proposal will comply with the 1990 Willamette National Forest
Land and Resource Management Plan, as amended by the 1994 Northwest
Forest Plan.
This Proposed Action will consider regeneration harvest and/or
commercial thinnings to meet project goals, and will compare
conventional logging systems with helicopter logging. This project is
expected to yield a volume of 4.0 to 4.4 million board feet, part of
which will be achieved by thinning at least 40 acres of forest stands
to improve growth rates reduced by overstocking. Other activities being
considered are likely to involve: reforestation, managed standard
improvements, road closures and obliteration, wildlife habitat
enhancement, and noxious weed control.
Preliminary resources issues identified that will influence
alternatives developed for this project are: old growth habitat
retention; maintenance of large, unroaded landscape blocks; economic
and biologic effects of logging systems; and northern spotted owl
dispersal habitat. Other issues that will be addressed through project
design are: edge effects of management on a neighboring Late
Successional Reserve, big game habitat conditions, and habitat
connectivity with adjacent watersheds.
Alternative have been developed around the Proposed Action
addressing the dominant issues and will be compared to the ``No
Action'' Alternative. One action alternative focuses on harvesting the
least number of acres and staying out of the unroaded landscape blocks.
To achieve project goals, this alternative proposes to regeneration
harvest 77 acres (47 acres of which are old growth habitat) and thin 48
acres. Conventional skyline and tractor logging systems will be used.
This alternative will require 1.1 miles of new road construction and
the obliteration of 0.6 miles of road.
A second action alternative focuses on preserving old growth
habitat and avoiding regeneration harvesting or road construction
within large unroaded landscape blocks. Because only thinning is
proposed, this alternative requires 287 acres (209 acres of which lies
within the Pyramids unroaded landscape block) to meet project
objectives. Helicopter logging will be used for most units, with only
0.8 miles of new road needed and the obliteration of 0.8 miles of road.
A third action alternative tries to balance the desires of
preserving old growth and maintaining large, unroaded landscape blocks
by regeneration harvesting 39 acres (23 acres of which is old growth
habitat) and thinning 161 acres outside or around the edge of the
Pyramids landscape block. This alternative proposes to construct 1.2
miles of new road and the obliteration of 0.6 miles of road.
The decisions to be made from the information and analysis include:
number and location of harvest units; silvicultural prescriptions for
each harvest unit; logging and transportation systems to access units;
priorities of mitigation projects; selection of monitoring needs around
this project.
Initial scoping began in November 1997. The forest Service will be
seeking additional input and comments from other agencies,
organizations and individuals who may be interested or affected by the
proposed project. Additional input will be helpful in identifying
resource issues not currently identified, and in developing
alternatives for a draft EIS.
Comments received in response to this notice, 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; however, those who submit anonymous comments will not have
standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR Parts 215 or
217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d) any person may request the
agency to withhold a
[[Page 41913]]
submission from the public record by showing how the Freedom of
Information Act (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 within a specified number
of days.
The scoping process included; identification of potential issues;
identification of key issues to be analyzed in depth; exploration of
additional alternatives based on identified issues from the scoping
process; and identification of potential environmental effects from
analyzed alternatives.
The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and will be available for public review by
September 1999. The comment period for the draft EIS will be 45 days
from the date the EPA publishes the notice of availability in the
Federal Register.
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, a reviewer 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 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 or chapters in 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 by January 2000. In the
final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to substantive
comments and responses received during the comment period that pertains
to the environmental consequences discussed in the draft EIS and
applicable laws, regulations, and policies considered in making the
decision regarding this proposal. The Forest Service is the lead agency
for this EIS. The responsible official is Mike Rassbach, District
Ranger. As a responsible official, he will document the South Pyramid
Timber Sales decision and rationale in the Record of Decision. That
decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR
Part 215).
Dated: July 22, 1999.
Mike Rassbach,
Sweet Home District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 99-19676 Filed 7-30-99; 8:45 am]
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