[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 52 (Monday, March 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11974-11975]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6379]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Brown Darby Fuel Reduction Project EIS--Stanislaus National 
Forest

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) for a proposal to manage forest resources within and 
adjacent to the Darby Fire affected area, which burned 14,000 acres in 
September of 2001 (approximately 10,000 acres burned on lands 
administrated by the Forest Service). The project area is on the 
Calaveras Ranger District, Stanislaus National Forest, within Calaveras 
and Tuolumne Counties, California. The project area is located in the 
lower watersheds of the North and Middle Forks of the Stanislaus River, 
east of State Highway 4. It is bounded by private property on the east, 
west and north, the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River on the south 
and the Calaveras Big Trees State park on the northeast.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing on or before 10 days after publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register. While public participation in this analysis is 
welcome at any time, comments received within 10 days of the 
publication of this notice will be especially useful in the preparation 
of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will include identifying: 
potential issues, significant issues to be analyzed in depth, 
alternatives to the proposed action, and potential environmental 
effects of the proposal and alternatives. The draft EIS is expected to 
be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency and made available 
for public review in April 2002.
    The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will 
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
the notice of availability in the Federal Register. No date has yet 
been determined for filing the final EIS.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Rob Griffith, district Ranger, P.O. 
Box

[[Page 11975]]

500, Hathaway Pines, CA 95233 or call (209) 795-1381.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathy Aldrich, Planning Team Leader, 
(209) 795-1381; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service proposes to treat 
vegetative fuels on 3,620 acres within or adjacent to the Darby fire 
area. Treatments proposed include the removal of fire-damaged trees 
while they are merchantable and before they fall to the ground and 
accumulate to the point where the fuel loading is at an unacceptable 
level; thinning stands of live trees immediately adjacent to private 
property to remove undesirable fuels conditions such as fuel ladders; 
removal of brush that poses a fire hazard in areas adjacent to private 
property; removal of fire-killed trees and thinning of the remaining 
trees in 20 year old pine plantations; and prescribed burning to reduce 
fuel loading in areas with unacceptable fuel levels on the ground.
    The purpose and need for the actions are to: (1) Reduce 
unacceptable vegetative fuel loading in the project area that current 
exists and remove sufficient vegetative material killed by the Darby 
Fire to prevent an unacceptable fuel buildup from fallen material; (2) 
provide for the rapid restoration of forest communities in areas that 
experienced a stand-replacing event by removing the fire-killed 
standing dead vegetation before it falls to the ground. Removal of this 
material while merchantable would allow for restoration activities to 
proceed quickly, meeting the goal of the Forest Plan to accelerate 
development of old forest characteristics; (3) contribute to a 
sustainable flow of products form these National Forest Lands; and (4) 
provide resource management in an economically efficient manner, i.e., 
minimize restoration costs in areas that experienced a stand-replacing 
event by minimizing the amount of fire-killed material that has 
deteriorated to the point that a service contract is necessary to have 
it removed to meet fuels objectives.
    Preliminary issues and concerns include effects of treatments on 
water quality, wildlife habitat, soil quality, riparian areas, 
threatened/endangered species such as the red-legged frog, valley 
elderberry long-horn beetle and bald eagle, and Forest Service 
Sensitive species such as the California spotted owl and goshawk.
    The EIS will tier to the Stanislaus National Forest Land and 
Resource Management Plan and EIS of 1991, as amended by the Sierra 
Nevada Forest Plan Amendment of 2001, which provide overall guidance 
for land management activities on the Stanislaus National Forest.

The Reviewers Obligation To Comment

    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, 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 (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 on 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 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).

Responsible Official

    The Responsible Official is the Forest Supervisor of the Stanislaus 
National Forest, 19777 Greenley Road, Sonora, CA 95370. The Forest 
Supervisor will make a decision regarding this proposal considering the 
comments and response, environmental consequences discussed in the 
final EIS, and applicable laws, regulations, and policies. The decision 
and rationale for the decision will be documented in a Record of 
Decision. That decision will be subject to appeal under applicable 
Forest Service regulations.

    Dated: March 12, 2002.
Daniel A. Young,
Acting Forest Supervisor--Stanislaus National Forest.
[FR Doc. 02-6379 Filed 3-15-02; 8:45 am]
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