[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 228 (Monday, November 29, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66607-66609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30826]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Lost Moose Ecosystem Management Project, Bitterroot National 
Forest, Ravalli County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.


[[Page 66608]]


ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of management 
activities proposed in the Lost Moose Ecosystem Management Project area 
on the Darby Ranger District on the Bitterroot National Forest. 
Proposed management activities include: harvesting timber, management 
ignited prescribed burning, restoring ponderosa pine and aspen; 
precommercial thinning; fire hazard reduction treatments; and 
implementing road-use restrictions and watershed and recreation 
improvements. The Lost Moose Project Area is located in Ravalli County, 
Montana, approximately five miles west of the city of Hamilton and 
includes Lost Horse, Canyon, and Roaring Lion Creeks.
    A variety of management activities proposed in the project are 
being considered together because they represent either connected or 
cumulative actions as defined by the Council on Environmental Quality 
(40 CFR 1508.25). The purposes of the project are to reduce the fuels 
hazard, restore site productivity, and return ecosystems to more 
sustainable conditions. This project level analysis will tier to the 
Bitterroot National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest 
Plan) and Final EIS (September, 1987), which provides overall guidance 
for all land management activities in the Bitterroot National Forest.

DATE: Written comments and suggestions should be received by January 3, 
2000.

ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is Craig Bobzien, District Ranger, 
Darby Ranger District, Bitterroot National Forest, PO Box 388, Darby, 
Montana 59829. Written comments and suggestions concerning the scope of 
this analysis or a request to be included on the project mailing list 
should be sent to him at that address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tami Brewer, Resource Team Leader, 
Stevensville Ranger District, 88 Main Street, Stevensville, Montana, 
59870, phone (406) 777-5461.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project area encompasses approximately 
50,715 acres of land in southwestern Montana on the Bitterroot National 
Forest. The Lost Moose area contains lands drained by Lost Horse Creek 
and several other Bitterroot River tributaries including Canyon, 
Sawtooth, and Roaring Lion Creeks. A map and legal descriptions are 
available on request.
    Proposals in this analysis fall into three categories: Maintaining 
or restoring terrestrial ecosystems; maintaining or restoring aquatic 
ecosystems; and managing recreation. Proposals to maintain or restore 
terrestrial ecosystems include: underburning on about 1, 395 acres; 
restoring ponderosa pine ecosystems by reducing ladder fuels and 
underburning on about 307 acres; reducing fire risk along the Forest/
residential interface by thinning and/or underburning or burning with 
shelterwood harvesting, and precommercial thinning on a total of about 
2,050 acres; restoring hardwood tree and shrub communities by felling 
conifers and/or underburning to stimulate aspen reproduction on 260 
acres; and creating and maintaining wildlife trees where opportunities 
exist. These actions are designed to: reduce the fuels hazard--
particularly along the wildland/urban interface--and restore fire as a 
key ecosystem process; maintain and restore vegetative structures and 
compositions that reflect sustainable, natural patterns and processes; 
maintain and restore ecosystem health and productivity; enhance 
wildlife habitat; and provide wood products. Additionally, specific 
road-use restrictions are proposed to reduce human disturbance of 
wildlife and comply with Forest Plan standards for elk habitat 
effectiveness.
    Proposals to maintain or restore aquatic ecosystems include: 
gravelling and/or installing waterbars or drainage dips on specified 
road segments; road obliteration; constructing a short road segment 
(about 0.25 mile) to allow access through an existing loop route; and 
improving drainage on FS Trail #128. Fish habitat improvements include 
adding large woody debris to specified stream segments, planting 
conifers, replacing/modifying culverts, and constructing resting pools. 
These actions would improve stream habitat, contribute to the long-term 
health of aquatic ecosystems, and improve water quality.
    Proposals to manage recreation include: installing interpretative 
signs; extending the Blodgett Overlook Trail into a loop trail; 
improving resource conditions on the Foss-McCrossin/Brown irrigation 
ditch; and improving the Lost Horse dispersed camping sites. These 
actions would provide a balance of recreation opportunities while 
managing and enhancing other resource values.
    Maps and data describing these proposals in greater detail are 
available on request.
    The Bitterroot Forest Plan provides guidance for management 
activities through its goals, objectives, standards, and management 
area direction. The areas of proposed timber harvest occur in 
Management Areas 2, 3a, 3c, and 5. Aspen restoration is proposed in 
Management Areas 3a, 3b, and 3c. Prescribed underburning is proposed on 
lands within Forest Plan Management Areas 3c, 5, and 5-9. The 
management direction for these areas is briefly described as follows. 
Management Area 2 emphasizes elk winter range habitat, allows for 
timber management, and providing roaded dispersed recreation 
opportunities. Management Area 3a emphasizes visual quality, allows for 
timber management, and providing roaded dispersed recreation 
opportunities. Management Area 3b emphasizes protecting riparian 
habitat and water quality and providing for water-related recreation. 
Management Area 3c emphasizes visual quality, allows for timber 
management, and providing dispersed recreation opportunities. 
Management Area 5 emphasizes semi-primitive recreation and elk 
security. Management Area 5-9 emphasizes semi-primitive recreation and 
elk security and also includes proposed research natural areas. 
Portions of the Selway-Bitterroot Inventoried Roadless Area lie within 
the analysis area where management activities are proposed. 
Additionally, areas of unsuitable lands lie within some harvest units.
    The analysis process for the Lost Moose Ecosystem Management 
Project began in 1996. In April 1997 a summary of the existing 
conditions, purpose and need for action, and management opportunities 
for the assessment area was mailed. Following several public meetings, 
a Proposed Action was developed and mailed in March 1999. Primary 
issues that were identified at that time include the following: 1. How 
would the proposed timber harvest and prescribed burning affect the 
undeveloped character of this portion of the Selway-Bitterroot 
Inventoried Roadless Area? 2. How would the proposed activities affect 
fish and wildlife species that inhabit the area? 3. Can the vegetation 
diversity and ecological purposes of the project be met without any 
further timber extraction or road building in the area? 4. Are the 
proposed road closures necessary to improve elk habitat? 5. Would the 
proposed road closures cause more off-road traffic and subsequent 
resource damage? Other issues commonly associated with prescribed fire 
and timber harvest include: potential effects on water and air quality, 
soils, old growth, and scenery

[[Page 66609]]

values. This list may be verified, expanded, or modified based on 
public scoping for this proposal.
    The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives in the 
EIS. 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 to achieve the proposal's purposes as well as to respond to 
the issues and other resource values. The EIS will analyze the direct, 
indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the alternatives. 
Known past, present, and scheduled activities on both private and 
national forest lands will be considered.
    In addition to the scoping that has already occurred for this 
project, the public is encouraged to visit with Forest Service 
officials at any time during the analysis prior to the decision. The 
Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and assistance 
from federal, state, and local agencies and other organizations and 
individuals who may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
action. No further public meetings are scheduled at this time.
    The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in September 
2000. 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 that the EPA's notice of availability 
appears in the Federal Register. It is very important that those 
interested in the management of the Lost Moose area participate at that 
time. To be most helpful, comments on the Draft EIS should be as 
specific as possible. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed in 
January 2001.
    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 
Draft EISs 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 F2d 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 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 
related to the Proposed Action, comments should be as specific as 
possible. 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 responsible official for this EIS is Craig Bobzien, District 
Ranger, Darby Ranger District, Bitterroot National Forest, P.O. Box 
388. Darby, Montana 59829. The decision to be made is what, if 
anything, should be done in the Lost Moose Project Area to: (1) Reduce 
the fuels hazard; (2) restore site productivity and return ecosystems 
to a more sustainable condition; (3) restore watersheds; (4) promote 
aspen reproduction to restore hardwood tree and shrub communities; and 
(5) provide goods and services such as wood products and recreation 
opportunities. He will document the decision and reasons for the 
decision in a Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to 
Forest Service Appeal Regulations.

    Dated: November 16, 1999.
Susan L. Heald,
Acting Forest Supervisor, Bitterroot National Forest.
[FR Doc. 99-30826 Filed 11-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M