[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59407-59409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29549]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Reports and Guidance Documents; Availability etc.

    Withdrawal of the Pacific Northwest Regional Guide and transfer 
of some decisions therein to the following National Forests' Land 
and Resource Management Plans: Colville National Forest, Gifford 
Pinchot National Forest, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 
Okanogan National Forest, Olympic National Forest, Wenatchee 
National Forest, Deschutes National Forest, Fremont National Forest, 
Malheur National Forest, Mt. Hood National Forest, Ochoco National 
Forest, Rogue River National Forest, Siskiyou National Forest, 
Siuslaw National Forest, Umatilla National Forest, Umpqua National 
Forest, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Willamette National Forest, 
and Winema National Forest.
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The intended effect of this action is to comply with 36 CFR 
Part 219 section 219.35(e) which directs that within 1 year of November 
9, 2000, the

[[Page 59408]]

Regional Forester must withdraw the Regional Guide. When a Regional 
Guide is withdrawn, the Regional Forester must identify the decisions 
in the Regional Guide that are to be transferred to a regional 
supplement of the Forest Service directive system (36 CFR 200.4) or to 
one or more plans and give notice in the Federal Register of these 
actions.

DATES: This action will be effective the date of this Federal Register 
notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan J. Horton, Policy Planner, 
Pacific Northwest Region, P.O. Box 3623, Portland, Oregon 97208. Phone: 
(503) 233-2690.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This action withdraws the Pacific Northwest 
Regional Guide and transfers some decisions therein to the Land and 
Resource Management Plans (LRMPs) for the National Forests in the 
Pacific Northwest Region. Specifically, this action transfers from the 
Regional Guide to LRMPs the management standards and guidelines for 
maximum harvest size limits (a requirement of the National Forest 
Management Act) and the management standards and guidelines for harvest 
utilization. Management standards and guidelines for maximum harvest 
size limits are titled ``Size and Dispersal of Openings and State of 
Vegetation'' in the Regional Guide, page 3-7. Management standards and 
guidelines for harvest utilization are entitled ``Standard and 
Guideline 4-2'' and ``Table 3-6, Utilization Standards'' under 
``Management Intensity and Utilization Standards'' in the Regional 
Guide, page 3-9. The following Regional Guide decisions are hereby 
transferred to the LRMPs in the Pacific Northwest Region:

Size and Dispersal of Openings and State of Vegetation

Standard and Guideline 2-1

    Forest openings created by the application of even-aged harvest 
cutting methods shall be limited to a maximum size of 60 acres in the 
Douglas-fir type of the coastal Douglas-fir zone and to a maximum size 
of 40 acres for all other forest types in the Pacific Northwest Region. 
Exceptions are permitted for natural catastrophic events (such as 
fires, windstorms, or insect and disease attacks) or on an individual 
basis after a 60-day public notice period and review by the Regional 
Forester. In addition, the limits may be exceeded by as much as 50 
percent without necessitating review by the Regional Forester or 60 
days public notice when exceeding the limit will produce a more 
desirable combination of net public benefits and when any one of the 
following four criteria is met.
    1. When a larger created opening will enable the use of an 
economically feasible logging system that will lessen the disturbance 
to soil, water, fish, riparian resources, or residual vegetation. Such 
lessening is to be achieved by reducing landing or road construction 
away from unstable soil, or by reducing soil and vegetation disturbance 
caused by dragging logs.
    2. When created openings cannot be centered around groups of trees 
infected with dwarf mistletoe or root rot and therefore need to be 
expanded to include these trees in order to avoid infection of 
susceptible adjacent conifers.
    3. When visual quality objectives require openings to be shaped and 
blended to fit the landform.
    4. When larger openings are needed to achieve regeneration 
objectives in harvest areas being cut by the shelterwood method and 
where destruction of the newly created stand would occur as a result of 
delayed removal of shelter trees. This exception applies only to 
existing shelterwood units and to shelterwood units under contract 
prior to approval of the Forest Plan.

Standard and Guideline 2-2

    Created openings will be separated by blocks of land that generally 
are not classed as created openings and that contain one or more 
logical harvest units. These areas shall be large enough and contain a 
stand structure appropriate to meet resource requirements of the Forest 
Plan. Resource requirements may include wildlife habitat, watershed, 
landscape management, and others. Contiguous harvest units (concerning 
or otherwise touching) are not precluded, but must be considered as a 
single opening which must be created within requirements for size, 
exception procedures, and justification.
    The total area of created openings contiguous to 30-acre or larger 
natural openings should normally not exceed one-third the size of the 
natural openings (regardless of size) unless adequate vegetation along 
the edge can be developed or retained in sufficient density to protect 
wildlife and visual management objectives. The determination of 
adequate vegetation will be made by an appropriate interdisciplinary 
team.

Standard and Guideline 2-3

    A harvested area of commercial forest land will no longer be 
considered a created opening for silvicultural purposes when stocking 
surveys, carried out in accordance with Regional instructions, indicate 
prescribed tree stocking that is at least 4\1/2\ feet high and free to 
grow. When other resource management considerations (such as wildlife 
habitat, watershed needs, or visual requirements) prevail, a created 
opening will no longer be considered an opening when the vegetation in 
it meets a particular management objective stated in the Forest Plan. 
For example, the objectives for a specified big-game winter range might 
require trees to be 20 feet tall before the adjacent stand may be 
harvested. In other instances, entry may be made sooner to meet 
specific resource or management requirements.

Standard and Guideline 4-2

    Separate utilization standards are to be used in determining 
harvest levels for the first decade and future decades to the planning 
horizon. The standards displayed in the following table shall apply to 
all Forests, except where individual market areas or specific products 
present opportunities for standards specifying utilization of a higher 
proportion of the tree resource. In these Forests, planning will not be 
limited to the stated Regional utilization standards.

                    Table 3-6.--Utilization Standards
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                                              Minimum       Minimum Top
                Type Tree                    d.b.h.\1\       d.i.b.\2\
                                             (Inches)        (Inches)
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                              First Decade
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Existing Mature Trees, Except Lodgepole                9               6
 Pine (first and future decades)........
Existing Commercial Thinning Size Trees                7               4
 and Lodgepole Pine.....................
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                             Future Decades
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All Species, Except Surviving Stands of                7              4
 First Decade Existing Mature...........
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\1\ d.b.h.--diameter at breast height
\2\ d.i.b.--diameter inside bark


    Dated: November 21, 2001.
Nancy Graybeal,
Deputy Regional Forester.
[FR Doc. 01-29549 Filed 11-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M