[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 68 (Friday, April 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18275-18276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8623]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Big Butte Timber Sales and Related Activities, Rogue River 
National Forest Jackson County, OR

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). The purpose of the EIS is to analyze and disclose the 
environmental impacts of a site specific proposal to commercially 
harvest and regenerate trees, construct, reconstruct, and decommission 
roads, implement vegetation density management activities, implement 
wildlife projects, and conduct prescribed burns. The activities are 
proposed in the Big Butte Springs watershed located on lands 
administered by the Rogue River National Forest, Butte Falls Ranger 
District, Jackson County, Oregon. The Proposed Action will tier to and 
be designed under the Rogue River National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plan (1990), as amended by the Record of Decision for the 
Northwest Forest Plan (1994), which provides guidance for land 
management activities. This proposal is scheduled for implementation 
during fiscal years 2000-2003. The Cascade Zone invites written 
comments concerning the scope of the analysis in addition to those 
comments that will be solicited as a result of local public 
participation activities. The Forest Service will also give notice of 
the full environmental analysis and decision making process so that 
interested and affected people are made aware as to how they may 
participate and contribute to the final decision.

DATES: Issues and comments concerning the scope, implementation, and 
analysis of the Proposed Action must be received by May 15, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments regarding the Proposed Action to 
Joel King, District Ranger, Prospect Ranger District, 47201 Highway 62, 
Prospect, Oregon, 97536.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct questions about the Proposed 
Action and EIS to Don Boucher, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Prospect 
Ranger District, 47201 Highway 62, Prospect, Oregon, 97536, phone: 541-
560-3400, FAX: 541-560-3444, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Big Butte Timber Sales and Related 
Activities Project will take place within the upper portion of the Big 
Butte Springs Watershed. This sub-watershed is also referred to as the 
Medford Watershed because it supplies domestic water to the city of 
Medford, Oregon and surrounding communities. The Big Butte Springs 
watershed is located approximately 18 miles east of Medford, Oregon, 
and is just north of State Highway 140. Only Forest Service managed 
lands would be treated. The legal description of the area being 
considered is: T 35 S, R 3 E, sections 13, 22-36; T 35 S, R 4 E, 
sections 7-34; T 36 S, R 3 E, sections 1-17, 21-28, 35, & 36; T 36 S, R 
4 E, sections 3-8, 16-21, & 27-33; Willamette Meridian.
    The Forest Service Proposed Action implement activities which 
include, in part, one or more timber sales involving approximately 
6,200 acres of harvest units. Silvicultural prescriptions include: 
density management of overstocked stands of trees (approximately 1,700 
acres); treating mature stands with small group selections or even-aged 
management (approximately 2,000 acres); and, density management of 
small, younger stands for forest health and stand development 
(approximately 2,500 acres). Other projects include road 
decommissioning (approximately 13 miles), prescribed fire for wildlife 
habitat improvement and fuels reduction (approximately 500 acres), 
density management of stands of young trees less than six inches in 
diameter (approximately 1,500 acres), and other wildlife improvement 
projects. Minor amounts of new road construction or reconstruction may 
be necessary to access harvest units. These activities are proposed on 
Matrix lands in the

[[Page 18276]]

Northwest Forest Plan. The Big Butte Springs watershed is not a Tier 1 
Key Watershed. No activities are planned within any inventoried 
roadless areas.
    The Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action is to implement 
management direction from the Rogue River National Forest Land and 
Resource Management Plan as amended by the Northwest Forest Plan and to 
manage for ecosystem needs. Specifically for the Big Butte area, needs 
include; improvement of overall forest health by stimulating natural 
processes that encourage more stable and resilient forest vegetation 
conditions; management and improvement of stand densities and species 
composition in overstocked natural and created sapling and pole stands; 
management, maintenance or improvement of current soil and water 
quality conditions; management, maintenance or improvement of current 
big game winter range conditions and Forest Service road systems; and 
providing a sustainable yield of commercial timber and other 
commodities, in concert with land management allocation and direction.
    The following preliminary issues are identified: direct, indirect, 
and cumulative impacts to soils; water quality, including domestic 
watershed values; vegetation condition (diversity of seral stages and 
control insects and disease); wildlife big game winter range and travel 
and migration corridors; and human and social values such as economic 
feasibility and preservation of currently unroaded areas. The Forest 
Service will consider these and other issues with the Proposed Action, 
and develop additional alternatives to the Proposed Action that respond 
to the significant issues. The no-action alternative will also be 
considered.
    Public participation will be important during the analysis. 
Reviewers may refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations 
for Implementing the procedural provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1501.7. The Agency will be seeking 
written issues with the Proposed Action from Federal, State, and local 
agencies, any affected Indiana tribes, and other individuals who may be 
interested in or affected by the Proposed Action. This input will be 
used to develop additional alternatives.
    The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and be available for review for June 2000. The 
comment period for the Draft EIS will be 45 days from the date that the 
EPA publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.
    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 Part 215. 
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. 
Person requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under the 
FOIA, confidentially 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 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, a reviewer of 
a Draft EIS must structure their participation in the environmental 
review process of the proposal so that it is specific, meaningful, and 
alerts an agency to the review's position and contentions. Vermont 
Yankee Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 533 (1978). Also, 
environmental objections that could be raised at the Draft EIS stage, 
but that are not raised until after the 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, 409 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 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 of the Draft EIS. Comments may also address 
the inadequacy of the Draft EIS or the merits of the alternatives 
formulated and discussed in the EIS. 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.
    After the 45 day comment period ends on the Draft EIS, comment will 
be considered and analyzed by the Agency in preparing the Final EIS. 
The Final EIS is scheduled for completion by September 2000. In the 
Final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to the comments 
and responses received during the comment period that pertain to the 
environmental consequences discussed in the Draft EIS and applicable 
laws, regulations, and policies considered in making the decision 
regarding the proposal.
    The Forest Service is the Lead Agency. The Forest Service 
Responsible Official is Joel King, Prospect District Ranger. The 
Responsible Official will consider the Final EIS, applicable laws, 
regulations, policies, and analysis files in making a decision. The 
Responsible Official will document the Big Butte Timber Sales and 
Related Activities decision and rationale in a Record of Decision. The 
decision will be subject to under Forest Service appeal regulation (36 
CFR Part 215).

    Dated: March 28, 2000.
Joel T. King,
Prospect District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 00-8623 Filed 4-6-00; 8:45 am]
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