[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 105 (Wednesday, May 31, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34654-34655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-13501]



[[Page 34654]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Bonners Ferry Ranger District Salvage Sales; Idaho Panhandle 
National Forests; Boundary County, ID

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) to disclose the potential environmental effects of 
salvage harvesting up to 20,000 acres of dead and damaged trees in 
scattered areas located on the Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Idaho 
Panhandle National Forests. Harvest of these trees is proposed to 
reduce hazardous fuels, to restore productive stand conditions and/or 
ecological functioning in areas affected by windstorms, insects, 
disease and other damaging events. Salvage harvest of these threes will 
help provide products for local post and pole mills, small sawmills, 
and other forest product manufacturers.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received on or before 
July 3, 2000. The draft environmental impact statement is expected to 
be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available 
for public review in August 2000. A Final Environmental Impact 
Statement will be published to sooner than September 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposal, or 
requests to be placed on the project mailing list, to District Ranger, 
Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Route 4, Box 4860, Bonners Ferry, Idaho 
83805-9764.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry Wynsma, project leader, Bonners 
Ferry Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Route 4, Box 
4860, Bonners Ferry, Idaho 83805-9764, e-mail address: 
[email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Windstorms, heavy snowfall, insects and 
disease and other events annually result in mortality and damage to 
numerous timber stands across the Bonners Ferry Ranger District. If 
untreated, affected stands can display a significant reduction 
productivity, can increase fire risks, and can create favorable 
conditions for increases in insect populations that can spread to 
adjacent healthy stands. Salvage harvesting within affected stands can 
restore the stands to more desirable conditions.
    Such events typically occur in small areas and are scattered across 
the District. Due to the scattered nature of these stands and the 
relatively small amount of salvageable material, salvage harvests have 
historically been accomplished through the use of small timber sales, 
generally purchased by local small timber operators. Small salvage sale 
contracts typically include between 50 to 100 thousand board feet of 
dead trees (about 10 to 20 log-truck loads) per contract. Trees 
salvaged from such areas are utilized for firewood, paper pulp, house 
logs, sawlogs and a wide variety of other value-added products such as 
rustic furniture and musical instruments. These small industries are 
considered an import component of the local economic structure. The 
District has historically offered and sold an average of two to three 
million board feet of forest products per year of these types of 
salvage sales.
    Salvage harvest can have adverse effects on other resource values 
and is not appropriate in many areas. To reduce the potential for 
adverse effects and to clarify the analysis necessary to determine the 
effects of the proposed action, the District conducted a screening 
process to avoid areas of the forest that contain resource values 
highly sensitive to proposed salvage harvest activities.
    The acres within which salvage activities would be allowed through 
this proposed action are outside of riparian buffer zones, sensitive 
plant protection areas, designated old-growth stands, roadless areas, 
wetland and cultural resource protection zones. Also, the proposed 
salvage areas and activities are compatible with management strategies 
and Recovery Plans for Threatened or Endangered Species or their 
habitat and also with visual resources.
    Preliminary issues include potential effects to Threatened, 
Endangered, and Sensitive wildlife, fish and plant species and water 
quality.
    The Forest Service will develop a range of alternatives, including 
a No Action alternative to respond to issues raised during this scoping 
period.
    The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public 
review in August 2000. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of 
Availability of the draft environmental impact statement in the Federal 
Register. The comment period on the draft environmental impact 
statement will be 45 days from the date the EPA publishes the Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. A final environmental impact 
statement will be published after all comments are reviewed and 
responded to. A Record of Decision will be published at the time the 
Final EIS is released. The final decision will be subject to 
administrative review under CFR 215.17.
    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 impact 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 concerns regarding the proposed action, comments on the draft 
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is 
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the 
draft environmental impact 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. 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.
    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 may not have 
standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR part 215. 
Additionally, pursuant

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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 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 
reqester 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.
    I am the responsible official for this environmental analysis. My 
address is Supervisor's Office, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 315 
Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814.

    Dated: May 24, 2000.
David J. Wright,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 00-13501 Filed 5-30-00; 8:45 am]
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