[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56053-56054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27778]


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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 215 / Tuesday, November 6, 2001 / 
Notices  

[[Page 56053]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Gotchen Risk Reduction and Late-Successional Health Restoration, 
Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Skamania and Yakima Counties, WA

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to determine appropriate actions to reduce the risk of 
losing late-successional habitat to fire, and insect and disease-
related mortality; and to maintain or restore late-successional vigor, 
function and resiliency within the Gotchen landscape. The analysis will 
determine the best combination and placement of a variety of actions 
including silvicultural, limited aerial application of Btk spray (an 
insecticide), prescribed fire, road closures, and road decommissioning. 
These actions are to accomplish the following needs in the Gotchen 
planning area: reduce the risk of high intensity fires; reduce the 
risk-level of spruce budworm activity in late successional habitat; 
reduce the risk of remnant tree mortality; restore late-successional 
vigor, function, and resiliency; thinning live trees from overstocked 
stands less than 80 years old; salvage dead trees in stands greater 
than 10 acres in the Late Successional Reserve (LSR); regenerate dead 
and dying stands within the Matrix. The Gotchen landscape is comprised 
of the lands designated as the LSR and to its immediate south, Matrix. 
Both are interspersed with Riparian Reserves. These land allocations 
are described in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plan (1990) as amended by the Record of Decision for 
Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning 
Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl (1994)--
``Northwest Forest Plan''. Due to the extensive presence of insect and 
disease-susceptible tree species such as grand fir, the forests within 
the Gotchen landscape are in poor health and at risk of being consumed 
by high intensity, stand-replacing fires. The insect problems are from 
an ongoing epidemic infestation of the western spruce budworm, a well-
known forest pest that has defoliated extensive areas of coniferous 
forest throughout the Gotchen planning area and adjacent National 
Forest System and non-federal lands. These defoliated and dead trees 
contribute to an increasing fire hazard throughout the Gotchen 
landscape and threaten the vigor, function, and resiliency of the late-
successional habitat. Northern spotted owl habitat within the LSR is 
currently being lost due to insect and disease-related tree mortality.

DATES: Comments concerning issues and scope of this analysis should be 
received by November 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments via post mail to the Gotchen Planning Team, 
Mount Adams Ranger District, 2455 Highway 141, Trout Lake, Washington 
98650 or send comments via e-mail to [email protected] Subject: 
Gotchen EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Call Julie Knutson at (509) 395-3378, 
or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A primary purpose of the LSR is to provide 
habitat for late-successional forest habitat dependant species such as 
the northern spotted owl. The northern spotted owl is listed as a 
``threatened'' species under the Endangered Species Act. The Matrix is 
the portion of the National Forest that the Northwest Forest Plan 
allows to be managed for early successional habitat and commodity 
production, as well as provided connectivity and structural elements 
important to late-successional species. The Gotchen planning area is to 
the east of the Cascades in an area that had a mosaic of pine savannah 
and closed forest, at the time of European settlement. Today, the area 
is more uniformly forested and has supported up to six nesting pair of 
spotted owls. Although a century of fire suppression and selective 
harvest has led to the conditions that are now attractive to spotted 
owls, these practices contributed to development of an unstable 
landscape that is vulnerable to defoliation and mortality from insects, 
diseases, and high intensity fires. The attributes that make the area 
good late successional habitat are the same attributes that make the 
area vulnerable to budworm, root diseases, and ultimately, stand 
replacement fires.
    Several issues associated the potential treatments have been 
identified to date: (1) Mardon skipper butterfly: which is currently 
listed by the State of Washington as an endangered species, and is a 
candidate species for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. 
Aerial application of the pesticide Btk to suppress spruce budworm 
would kill all lepidopteron (moths and butterflies) that came in 
contact with the insecticide, including the mardon skipper. (2) Smoke 
management: The Gotchen area is on the south slope of Mt. Adams, 
immediately adjacent to the Mt. Adams Wilderness Area. This area is a 
Class I Airshed where, under the Clean Air Act, there is a need to keep 
the air clean and pristine. Prescribed burning would generate smoke and 
has the potential to drift into the Wilderness area and degrade the air 
quality. (3) Gotchen Roadless Area: Portions of the Gotchen Roadless 
Area lie within the planning area. It is possible that Silvicultural 
treatment could be proposed within the Roadless Area.
    Several scoping notices have been sent out locally over the past 
year indicating the District's intent to plan and implement actions in 
the Gotchen landscape to address the forest health and risk concerns. 
Continued scoping and public participation efforts will be used by the 
interdisciplinary planning team to identify new issues, develop 
alternatives in response to the issues, and determine the level of 
analysis needed to disclose potential biological, physical, economic 
and social impacts associated with the project. The specific need and 
format for meetings and workshops will be determined by the comments 
received from this notice, and responses by individuals and 
organizations. This Notice and subsequent scoping notices will satisfy 
the requirements under 36 CFR 800.2(d) for seeking the views of the 
public on the potential effects of an undertaking on historic 
properties. A web site will be established in the near future on the 
Gifford Pinchot National Forest World Wide Web to enable interested 
parties to

[[Page 56054]]

access project information directly. The Forest Service is seeking 
information, comments, and assistance from other agencies, 
organizations or individuals who may be interested in or affected by 
the proposed project.
    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 parts 215 or 
217. Additionally, pursuant to 4 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 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 draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review in 
February 2002. EPA will publish a notice of availability of the draft 
EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period will be 45 days from 
the date the EPA 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 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 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 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 statement. Comments may also 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 at 40 
CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
    The final EIS is anticipated to be completed by July, 2002. In the 
final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to substantive 
comments received during the comment period on the draft EIS. Gregory 
L. Cox, Mount Adams District Ranger, is the Responsible Official. He 
will decide, which, if any, of the proposed project alternatives will 
be implemented. His decision and reasons for the decision will be 
documented in the Record of Decision, which will be subject to Forest 
Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR part 215).

    Dated: October 30, 2001.
Claire Lavendel,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 01-27778 Filed 11-5-01; 8:45 am]
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