[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 59 (Monday, March 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16163-16165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-7411]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Fuels Treatment 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA

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

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SUMMARY: On July 4, 1999, heavy rains and straight-line winds in excess 
of 90 miles per hour blew down approximately 477,000 acres of forest 
within northeastern Minnesota. The majority of the blown down forest 
occurs within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) on the 
Superior National Forest. As a result of the windstorm, down and dead 
trees and brush (fuels) on approximately 360,000 acres within the 
wilderness increased from 5 to 20 tons per acre up to 50 to 100 tons 
per acre. This fuel loading increases the potential for wildfire to 
move from within the wilderness to adjacent State, County, federal, and 
private lands and across the Canadian border, and possibly threaten 
life, property and other resource values. The Department of 
Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the BWCAW to develop a site-specific fuels 
treatment plan to reduce the fire hazard resulting from the blown down 
forest. This fuels treatment plan may require an amendment or exception 
to the Superior National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 
(Forest Plan) and the BWCAW Management Plan in order to use prescribed 
fire (fire ignited by management actions to meet specific objectives) 
within the Wilderness. The purpose of the project is to improve public 
safety by reducing the potential for high-intensity wildland fires to 
spread from the BWCAW into areas of intermingled ownership that 
includes homes, cabins, resorts, and other improvements both in the 
United States and Canada. This will be accomplished in a manner which 
is sensitive to ecological and wilderness values, and protects safety 
of firefighters and BWCAW visitors during implementation. The proposed 
action is to treat approximately 47,000 to 81,000 acres with prescribed 
fire over a five to six year time-period. The proposed action would 
treat approximately 13 to 22 percent of the area blown down in the July 
4, 1999 windstorm or four to seven percent of the 1.1 million acre 
wilderness. Implementation of the proposed action may require the use 
of mechanized tools within the BWCAW. A range of alternatives 
responsive to significant issues will be developed, including a no-
action alternative. The Record of Decision will disclose whether or not 
the Forest Service will manage fuels within the BWCAW to improve public 
safety. If the decision is to use prescribed fire, the decision will 
include the following:
     The pattern of treatment to be used;
     The priority areas to be treated;
     The approximate timeframe when each area will be treated;
     The minimum action and tools needed within the wilderness 
to meet management objectives;
     The environmental conditions (e.g., weather conditions) 
under which areas will be prescribed burned;
     How wilderness and ecological values and other resources 
will be protected during treatment;
     Surveys and monitoring that will be conducted before, 
during and after treatments; and
     How decisions will be coordinated with adjacent landowners 
and how the public will be notified of prescribed burns.

DATES: Public open houses to solicit comments and to answer questions 
on the proposed action will be held from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM, CST at the 
following locations:
     April 10, 2000 at Cook County Community Center, 317 West 
5th St., Grand Marais, MN 55604.
     April 11, 2000 at Holiday Inn SunSpree, Ridgeview Room, 
400 North Poineer Rd., Ely, MN 55731.
     April 12, 2000 at Radisson Hotel, Great Hall 1, 505 West 
Superior St., Duluth, MN 55802.
     April 13, 2000 at Country Inn at White Bear Lake, Lambert 
Room, 4940 Hwy. 61 N., White Bear Lake, MN 55110 (directly north of 
Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN).
     April 14, 2000 at U.S. Forest Service, LaCroix Ranger 
District Office, 320 Hwy 53 N., Cook, MN 55723.
    Comments concerning the scope of this project should be received by 
the Superior National Forest by May 1, 2000.

[[Page 16164]]


ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to Superior National Forest, 
BWCAW Fuels Reduction EIS, 8901 Grand Ave. Place, Duluth, MN 55808.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James W. Sanders, Forest Supervisor, 
Superior National Forest, telephone: (218) 626-4300, or Joyce Thompson, 
BWCAW EIS Team Leader, Superior National Forest, 8901 Grand Ave. Place, 
Duluth, MN 55808, telephone (218) 626-4317, email: jelmatho/
[email protected]. A detailed scoping package is available by 
contacting Joyce Thompson at the address listed above or on the 
Superior National Forest's website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/superior/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public participation will be an integral 
component of the study process, and will be especially important at 
several points during the analysis. The first is during the scoping 
process. The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments and 
assistance from federal, State, County, and local agencies, individuals 
and organizations that may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
activities. The scoping process will include: (1) Identification of 
potential issues, (2) identification of issues to be analyzed in depth, 
and (3) elimination of insignificant issues or those which have been 
covered by a previous environmental review. Written scoping comments 
will be solicited through a scoping package that will be sent to the 
project mailing list and the local newspaper. For the Forest Service to 
best use the scoping input, comments should be received by May 1, 2000. 
Preliminary issues identified for analysis in the EIS include the 
potential effects and relationship of the project to fire hazard 
reduction, safety of firefighters and wilderness visitors during 
implementation, and the impact of the proposed action on wilderness 
values (including the use of mechanized equipment within the 
wilderness, ecological conditions, recreation, scenery, air quality, 
wildlife habitat, riparian areas, heritage resources, sensitive plants 
and communities, soil productivity, and water quality).
    Based on the results of scoping and the resource conditions within 
the project area, alternatives (including a no-action alternative) will 
be developed for the draft EIS. The draft EIS is projected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December 2000. The 
final EIS is anticipated in April 2001.
    The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date 
that the EPA publishes the notice of availability in the Federal 
Register.
    At this early stage, 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, reviewers of 
draft EIS's 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 have been raised at the draft EIS stage, but that 
are not raised until the completion of the final EIS, may be waived or 
dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2nd 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 on the draft EIS, so that 
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest 
Service at a time when they can be meaningfully considered and respond 
to them in the final EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns of 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 of the draft statement. Comments may 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 in 
40 CFR 1503.3, in addressing these points.
    The proposed action is to treat between 47,000 to 81,000 acres of 
fuels within the BWCAW over a five to six year time-period. The 
proposed action includes a variety of prescribed burning treatments, 
including patchwork treatment pattern, fuel patch burns, and understory 
burns. In areas adjacent to the BWCAW boundary and where fuels are the 
heaviest, a patchwork pattern of prescribed burns across the landscape 
would be used. Patchwork pattern treatments would be designed to use 
natural fire breaks and fit into the natural landscape where possible. 
A patchwork pattern of fuels treatment would break up fuels so that in 
the event of a wildfire the rate of spread of the fire would be greatly 
reduced. Within the patchwork treatment areas, a variety of density of 
treatments are proposed based upon the risk to health and safety and 
fuel loads. Between 33,524 to 51,576 acres are proposed for treatment 
under this pattern.
    In areas where isolated stands of trees were blown down, treatment 
of the individual patches (or fuel patch treatment) would be used. 
Patch fuel treatments would include burning in isolated patches on the 
landscape. Between 4,195 to 11,310 acres are proposed for fuel patch 
treatment.
    Understory burns (i.e., burning fuels under the main forest canopy) 
would be used, where the blowdown is patchy and ecological conditions 
allow the use of burning the understory to reduce fuel ladders, which 
in turn reduce the potential of high intensity crown fires. Fuel 
ladders are young trees and dead and down fuels beneath the tops of 
older trees. These create a ``ladder'' for fire to travel from the 
ground to the forest canopy and burn more intensely. Between 9,180 to 
18,360 acres are proposed for a combination of fuel patch treatment and 
understory burning.
    Implementing the proposed prescribed burns may require the use of 
mechanized equipment within the wilderness. Prior to using any 
mechnanized equipment a site-specific minimum requirements and tools 
analysis will be prepared. Possible mechanized and motorized tools that 
may be used while implementing the prescribed burns include: chainsaws; 
portable water pumps; and helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for 
transporting of fire personnel, igniting prescribed burns and dropping 
water and fire retardant and motor boats on lakes where use is allowed 
by the public. Aircraft may need to fly below the 4,000 foot limit 
above sea-level in the BWCAW or land on waterbodies. Nonmotorized and 
nonmechanized tools that possibly could be used during implementation 
of the proposed action include: digging and chopping tools (shovel, 
pulaski, axe, etc.), crosscut saws, drip torch ignition tools and 
fusees, fireline construction explosives, hoses and hose-fittings, 
sprinklers, backpack pumps, and non-motorized boats and canoes. Fire 
camps (camps where fire crews stay during implementation) and fire 
caches (caches of fire fighting equipment) within the wilderness may 
need to be used during implementation.

Permits/Authorizations

    The proposed action includes prescribed fire in the BWCAW to reduce 
heavy fuel accumulation. This action may require an amendment or 
exception to the Forest Plan and the BWCAW

[[Page 16165]]

Management Plan to use prescribed fire within the BWCAW. U.S.D.A. 
Forest Service, Eastern Region, may request the project be considered 
an emergency under CFR 215.10(d)(1) in order to allow for 
implementation during the appeal period. The use of motorized and 
mechanized tools were not allowed by the general public and flights 
below 4,000 feet above sea level on National Forest System lands within 
the BWCAW would also require approval.

Lead and Cooperating Agencies

    The Superior National Forest manages approximately 800,000 acres 
within the boundaries of the BWCAW. It is the lead agency for 
preparation of this document. The State of Minnesota manages 
approximately 279,000 acres wthin the boundaries of the BWCAW. In order 
to achieve the best arrangement of prescribed burn treatment units to 
minimize the risk of an escaped wildfire it may be necessary to treat 
State lands. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is a 
cooperating agency on this project. They will provide direction and 
approval regarding fuels treatment on State lands.

Responsible Official

    James W. Sanders, Forest Supervisor, Superior National Forest, is 
the responsible official. In making the decision, the responsible 
official will consider the comments; responses; disclosure of 
environmental consequences; and applicable laws, regulations, and 
policies. The responsible official will state the rationale for the 
chosen alternative in the Record of Decision.

    Dated: March 20, 2000.
James W. Sanders,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 00-7411 Filed 3-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-U