[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59406-59407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29548]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 229 / Wednesday, November 28, 2001 / 
Notices  

[[Page 59406]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

[3410-11]


Phase II Amendment of Black Hills National Forest Land and 
Resource Management Plan

AGENCY: USDA Forest Service.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
disclosing the effects of amending the 1997 Revised Land and Resource 
Management Plan of the Black Hills National Forest located in Lawrence, 
Meade, Custer, Fall River, and Pennington Counties, South Dakota; Crook 
and Weston Counties, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) disclosing the effects of amending the Black Hills 
National Forest 1997 Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (1997 
Revised Forest Plan). The 1997 Revised Forest Plan is being amended 
under the 1982 National System Land Resource Management Planning 
regulations.
    This notice describes the specific portions of the 1997 Revised 
Forest Plan to be amended (``Phase II'' Forest plan amendment), initial 
environmental issues to be considered in the environmental impact 
statement, estimated dates for filing the environmental impact 
statement, information concerning public participation, and the names 
and addresses of the agency officials who can provide additional 
information.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
on or before January 28, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Black Hills National Forest, Phase 
II Amendment, USDA-FS-CAT, P.O. Box 7669, Missoula, MT 59807.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Twiss, Forest Supervisor (605) 
673-9200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Black Hills National Forest 1997 Revised 
Land and Resource Management Plan (1997 Revised Forest Plan) was 
approved on June 24, 1997. On October 12, 1999, Deputy Chief James A. 
Furnish signed a decision addressing several appeals of the 1997 
Revised Forest Plan. The Deputy Chief affirmed most appeal points; 
however, he found that additional evaluation of the sufficiency of the 
plan in providing for the diversity of plant and animal communities and 
species viability was needed. In addition, the intent and scope of the 
Phase II amendment is to provide additional management direction to 
adequately provide for species diversity and viability. The baseline 
for analysis will be Alternative G, the selected alternative in the 
Record of Decision for the 1997 Revised Forest Plan.
    Within the October 12, 1999 Deputy Chief decision, interim 
direction was provided to the Black Hills National Forest so that 
projects could continue during the time it takes to reanalyze the 1997 
Revised Forest Plan. The amendment will also comply with stipulations 
in the Settlement Agreement for Civil Action No. 99-N-2173 (U.S. 
District Court for the District of Colorado, September 2000). The 
settlement agreement along with the appeal decision action plan noted 
the re-analysis of the 1997 Revised Forest Plan would consist of two 
phases. Phase I, non-significant Forest plan amendment, provides 
interim measures that preserves management options for species 
viability during the time period it takes to complete the re-evaluation 
of the 1997 Revised Forest Plan. Phase I have been completed, with the 
Decision Notice signed May 18, 2001 and legal notice of decision 
published in the Denver Post on June 15, 2001.
    Phase II is anticipated to be a significant Forest plan amendment, 
accompanied by an EIS. The amendment will address the identified plan 
deficiencies in order to assure that viable populations of native and 
desired non-native species are maintained. This Notice of Intent 
initiates scoping for the Phase II amendment and associated EIS. Due to 
the complex nature of the analysis, the Phase II Amendment and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will take between two and five 
years to complete. The FEIS is scheduled for release September 2004.
    The Phase II amendment will focus on changed conditions or demands 
in relation to species viability and diversity. The amendment will 
fulfill the direction of the appeal decision of October 12, 1999 and be 
guided by that direction. Those sections of the Forest Plan which 
continue to be responsive to issues and demands, and which meet 
requirements for resource protection will not be amended. As 
appropriate, the amendment will include:
    1. New or revised goals and objectives protecting habitat to 
sustain species viability and diversity. The management indicator 
species will be reviewed to ensure appropriate species are included. 
The amendment may include forest-wide standards and guidelines for 
wildlife and plant species to ensure compliance with requirements of 
the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), and its implementing 
regulations and agency policy.
    2. New or revised monitoring requirements. Specifically the Forest 
will review current management direction and revise its protocols (if 
necessary) for surveying, monitoring and evaluating Management 
Indicator Species (MIS) in compliance with requirements of the National 
Forest Management Act (NFMA), and its implementing regulations and 
agency policy. The Forest will evaluate the viability of MIS within the 
planning area; and establish specific goals and objectives for the 
management of MIS, sensitive species and/or their habitat.
    3. New Management Area designations. The Forest will assess 
candidate areas for research natural areas and will designate 
appropriate areas. Future management of areas that have experienced 
recent large fires will also be reviewed.
    4. Review Forest outputs and services. This amendment will include 
a review and/or recalculation of the allowable timber sale quantity and 
other Forest outputs based on new direction pertaining to MIS viability 
and diversity. Models including Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS), 
Habitat Capability (HABCAP), and spatial analysis will be re-run with 
updated information. Updates to the HABCAP models pertaining to deer 
and elk will

[[Page 59407]]

occur to incorporate research data. New models may be used.
    Preliminary Issues: The following preliminary issues were 
identified:
    1. Economic and social effects on local communities (counties and 
municipalities) and dependent industries. This includes, but is not 
limited to, the effects on recreation users, primary and secondary 
timber producers and grazing permittees.
    2. Effects on forest health and the ability of the Forest to manage 
insect and disease outbreaks.
    3. Effects on the Forest's ability to reduce fire risks within the 
Forest boundary and prevent catastrophic wildfire.
    Decision to be Made: The Rocky Mountain Regional Forester will 
decide whether or not to make changes to Forest plan management 
direction, and if so, in what manner. The environmental effects of 
proposed changes will be documented in an EIS.
    Responsible Official: The responsible official for approving the 
Forest Plan amendment is the Rocky Mountain Regional Forester, Rocky 
Mountain Region, USDA Forest Service, 11177 West 8th Avenue, P.O. Box 
25127, Lakewood, Colorado 80225 (express delivery address: 740 Simms 
St., Golden, CO 80401-4720). The decision will be documented in a 
Record of Decision. The Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest, 
is delegated the responsibility for preparing the amendment.
    Public Involvement: Federal, state and local agencies, Native 
American tribes, individuals and organizations are invited to submit 
comments relevant to this Phase II amendment of the Black Hills 
National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. The Forest is 
working with the States of South Dakota and Wyoming to finalize 
agreements that will formalize cooperating agency status, which both 
States requested. Both States will share their status with their 
respective contiguous county commissions and conservation districts. 
The Forest will consult with Native American tribes on a government-to-
government basis.
    Issue identification has begun, using the October 12, 1999 Appeal 
Decision, a recent court settlement agreement, and other internal and 
external discussions with interested parties as a starting point. 
Public involvement efforts will continue throughout the amendment 
process, in accordance with direction in the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA).
    Public involvement in the Forest Plan amendment process will be 
sought by: (1) Sending newsletters and requests for comment to 
agencies, organizations and individuals, (2) holding open houses in 
local communities and (3) other formal and informal methods of 
involving the public. Dates, locations, and times for the open houses 
will be announced in local news media and in Forest newsletters. 
Written comments should be sent to: Black Hills National Forest, Phase 
II Amendment, USDA-FS-CAT, P.O. Box 7669, Missoula, MT 59807.
    Comments that will be most effective are those that: (a) Identify 
necessary modifications to the existing Forest Plan direction; (b) are 
helpful in developing or evaluating alternatives; (c) provide 
additional information to improve or modify our analysis; or (d) 
identify factual corrections.
    Estimated Dates for Release and Review of the EIS: The Draft EIS is 
expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and 
to be available for public review by November 2003. At that time EPA 
will publish a Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS in the Federal 
Register. The comment period of the Draft EIS will be 90 days from the 
date the EPA publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal 
Register. It is important that those interested in the management of 
this area participate at that time.
    The Final Environmental Impact Statement, Record of Decision, and 
Forest Plan amendment are scheduled to be completed by September 2004.
    The Reviewers Obligation to Comment: Comments received from the 
initial scoping efforts, including this publication, will be used in 
the preparation of the draft environmental impact statement. The 
following paragraphs pertain to the future release of the draft 
environmental impact statement.
    The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will 
be 90 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 impact statement stage but that are not raised until 
after completion of the final environmental impact 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 90-day comment period so that 
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest 
Service at a time when it can adequately consider them and respond to 
them in the final environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments 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 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.

    Dated: November 21, 2001.
John C. Twiss,
Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest.
[FR Doc. 01-29548 Filed 11-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M