[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15301-15303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-7017]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Hidden Cedar Project, ID; Panhandle National Forests, Shoshone 
County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National 
Forest is considering vegetation, watershed restoration, and access 
management activities in the Hidden Cedar Project. The project area is 
located approximately 26 miles south of the town of St. Maries on the 
St. Maries River.
    The proposed action was designed to meet the primary objectives 
listed below. The interdisciplinary team reviewed the Natural Resource 
Agenda, the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, the 
Idaho Panhandle Forest Plan, and the St. Joe

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Geographic Assessment. Using these documents and information specific 
to the project area, the interdisciplinary team completed an Ecosystem 
Analysis at the Watershed Scale for the Hidden Cedar Project Area 
(located in the project file) to document resource conditions and note 
where activities were needed to improve them. The following needs for 
the Hidden Cedar area were derived from the Ecosystem Analysis: (1) 
Improve soil conditions; (2) Reduce sedimentation from past activities, 
which have caused streambank instability, channel erosion and increased 
sedimentation; (3) Provide or improve wildlife security; (4) Reduce the 
impacts of existing roads such as influences on hydrologic properties, 
fish migration barriers (culverts), while providing adequate and 
appropriate access for management, recreation and adjacent landowners; 
(5) Move vegetation toward historical conditions in terms of species 
composition and size where feasible and acceptable to other resources, 
and (5) Reduce fuel build-up where it poses a risk to human uses in the 
project area.

DATE: Comments should be postmarked by April 15, 2000. Please include 
your name and address and the name of the project on which you are 
commenting.

ADDRESSES: For your comments to be most useful, they should be as 
specific as possible to the project area and the Proposed Action.
    Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed management 
activities or request to be places on project mailing list to: George 
M. Bain, District Ranger, St. Joe Ranger District, PO Box 407, St. 
Maries, ID 83861. Forest Supervisor, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 
3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814 is the Responsible 
Official.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cameo Flood, Project Team Leader, St. 
Joe Ranger District, (208) 245-4517.
    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; 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 submission from the public record by showing 
how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality. 
Persons requesting such 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 10 
days.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Vegetation management under this proposal is 
designed to meet several needs, including providing timber products to 
local markets, protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat needs, 
providing for long term growth and yield as directed in the Idaho 
Panhandle National Forest Plan, increasing fire resiliency, reducing 
fire hazards, and moving the vegetation to the conditions the area 
historically had in terms of tree species composition and density.
    Treatments include approximately 1768 acres of commercial timber 
harvesting including commercial thinning, shelterwood preparation and 
seed cuttings, group shelterwoods, irregular group shelterwoods, and 
clearcuts with reserves.

Stream Channel and Fish Habitat Restoration

    The NEPA analysis will consider possible riparian road relocation 
and/or obliteration in the proposed action or alternatives. Segments of 
Roads 498 (Hidden Creek), 341 (Wood Creek) and 3340 (Mazie Creek) have 
been identified for possible relocation or obliteration that could be 
included in the analysis. An unnamed drainage north of the Clarkia Work 
Center also contains several riparian and/or other primitive roads that 
could be put into long term storage or obliterated. Other unclassified 
roads throughout the project area will be evaluated if they should be 
placed on the Forest Development Road (FDR) system or if additional 
treatment is needed such as decompaction, revegetation, culvert removal 
or some degree of recontouring.
    As a minimum, for the proposed action, the following Forest 
Development Roads will be managed as unrestricted routes, available for 
all motorized vehicle use: East Elk Road 1451 (Staples Creek), from SH3 
to Road 1491; Christmas Creek Road 3321, from County Road to the end of 
road; Anthony Peak Road 1486, from the County Road to Road 3685; 
Bluebell Road 3685, from Road 1486 to the ``four way saddle;'' Cats 
Spur Road 361, from Road 1486 to Road 1450; Log Creek Road 1450, from 
Road 361 to Road 1480; Keeler Connection Road 764, from SH3 to Read 
765A; County Line Road 765A, from Road 765 to SH3; Hidden Creek Road 
498, from Road 765 to the ``forks of Hidden Cr''; Wood Creek Road 341, 
from SH3 to Road 3340; Clarkia Emerald Creek Road 504, from SH3 to Road 
447; Bechtel Mountain Road 3478, from Road 504 to the top of Bechtel 
Mountain; Anthony Peak Road 1486, segment I, from the County Road to 
Road 3685; Anthony Peak Road 1486, segment III, from Road 3685 to Road 
3686; Bluebell Road 3685, from Road 1486 to Road 3685C; and Bobcat Road 
3554, from Road 1450 to Road 3554A.
    These roads are in addition to the general public access provided 
by State Highway 3 and other landowners in the area.

Access Management

    Approximately 9.7 miles of road construction would be needed to 
access timber harvesting units.
    Adjacent landowners (Potlatch Corporation and the Idaho Department 
of Lands) have indicated that in the near future, they will be 
requesting access across National Forest System Lands in the project 
area to reach their lands. The federal government is required to allow 
reasonable access the adjacent lands after the appropriate analysis and 
consultation. The amount of additional road access (new road 
construction) associated with these access requests is estimated at 
between two and five miles.

Preliminary Issues

    We expect issues and concerns with this project to include the 
impacts on wildlife, fish, water quality, and recreation, as well as 
road construction, clearcutting and economic feasibility. Issues will 
be developed and analyzed based on public comment and the 
interdisciplinary team's analysis of effects on resources. Alternatives 
will be developed to modify or eliminate the impacts from proposed 
activities and still meet the purpose for this project.
    Additionally, some of the vegetation treatment may result in 
opening of over 60 acres, which requires a 60 day comment period. While 
we would like comments that would affect alternatives early, comments 
on the size of openings and their effects should be received by May 15, 
2000.
    The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public 
review in September 2000. The final environmental impact statement is 
expected to be completed in February 2001.

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    The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will 
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
the notice of availability in the Federal Register,
    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 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 environmental statement stage but that are not raised until after 
completion of the final environmental 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 
environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concern on the proposed action, comments on the draft environmental 
impact statement should be as specific as possible. It also helpful if 
comments refer to specific pages of 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. Reviews 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 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits 
discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national 
origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital 
or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of 
communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, 
etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center ad (202) 720-2600 (voice and 
TDD).
    To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or call 1-800-245-6340 
(voice) or 202-720-1127 (TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity 
employer.

    Dated: March 6, 2000.
George Bain,
St. Joe District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 00-7017 Filed 3-21-00; 8:45 am]
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