[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 77 (Monday, April 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19585-19586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9718]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA-330-02-1610-00]


Notice of Availability of the Headwaters Forest Reserve Draft 
Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental 
Impact Report

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Arcata Field Office, and the 
California Department of Fish and Game.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Headwaters Forest Reserve Draft 
Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental 
Impact Report.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the California 
Department of Fish and Game (DFG), have prepared A Draft Resource 
Management Plan (RMP) and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/DEIR) for the Headwaters Forest 
Reserve located in Humboldt County, California. The Draft RMP and DEIS/
DEIR comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act (FLPMA), the act authorizing the acquisition of the 
Headwaters Forest Reserve (H.R. 2107), and BLM and DFG management 
policies. The Draft RMP and DEIS/DEIR were developed with broad public 
participation in a scoping process which included three public meetings 
held in Eureka, Sacramento, and San Francisco, California. The Draft 
RMP and DEIS/DEIR provide for a range of alternatives reflecting public 
input for management direction for the Headwaters Forest Reserve. 
Management is addressed on approximately 7,500 acres of public land 
with a state interest in the form of a conservation easement over the 
reserve held by the State of California and managed by the California 
Department of Fish and Game. Issues raised by the public and addressed 
in the Draft RMP and DEIS/DEIR include balancing preservation of old-
growth forest ecosystems and threatened and endangered species with 
public recreation access, extent of trail access to or within old-
growth groves, types of uses of a trail system, management of traffic 
impacts to local residents adjacent to the reserve, appropriate levels 
of watershed and forest restoration, and access of disabled and elderly 
to old-growth forest. H.R. 2107 provided specific planning direction to 
address scientific research on forests, fish, wildlife and other such 
activities that shall be fostered and permitted, providing recreation 
opportunities, access, construction of minimal necessary facilities so 
as to maintain the ecological integrity, other management needs, and 
annual budget. Special designations include Wilderness Study Area, Wild 
and Scenic River eligibility and suitability, Area of Critical 
Environmental Concern/Research Natural Area, and Ecological Reserve 
(State of California designation). The action alternatives were 
prepared in accordance with applicable planning procedures.

DATES: Public comments must be received on or before July 22, 2002. 
Three public meetings will be held to solicit input on the draft: 
Eureka, CA: May 7, 2002; San Francisco, CA, May 14, 2002; and 
Sacramento, CA, May 15, 2002.

Comments on the DEIS/DEIR

    Public comments may be submitted during the public meetings or in 
writing to the addresses provided below. Written comments on the 
Headwaters Forest Reserve draft plan/DEIS/DEIR will be considered in 
preparing the final RMP and EIS/EIR. Comments on the contents of this 
document are being solicited, particularly comments that address one or 
more of the following: (1) New information that would affect the 
analysis; (2) possible improvements in the analysis; and (3) 
suggestions for improving or clarifying the proposed management 
direction. Specific comments are most useful. Please note that 
comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, are 
available for public review and/or release under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA). Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name and/or street 
address from public review or from disclosure under FOIA, you must 
state this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such 
requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions 
from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Headwaters Forest Reserve Draft Management 
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report may be 
obtained from the following Bureau of Land Management Locations: BLM, 
Arcata Field Office, 1695 Heindon Road, Arcata, CA 95521, telephone 
(707) 825-

[[Page 19586]]

2300; BLM, California State Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-1834, 
Sacramento, CA 95825, telephone (916) 978-4400; requested by mail at 
Headwaters Forest Reserve, PO Box 189445, Sacramento, CA 95818-9445, 
telephone (916) 737-3010 ext. 4326 or (707) 269-2053; requested by e-
mail at [email protected]. The plan/DEIS/DEIR is available for 
viewing at www.ca.blm.gov/arcata/headwaters.html.
    BLM and DFG will accept oral and written comments, discuss 
management alternatives, and answer questions pertaining to the draft 
plan/DEIS/DEIR in three public open house meetings:

Eureka, California: Eureka Inn, 518 7th Street, Eureka, California;
San Francisco, California: Fort mason, Landmark Building A, San 
Francisco, California;
Sacramento, California: Scottich Rite Memorial Center, 6151 H Street, 
Sacramento, California.

    Comments may be submitted by mail to Headwaters Forest Reserve, PO 
Box 189445, Sacramento, CA 95818-9445 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Headwaters Forest Reserve Management 
Plan Information Line, (916) 737-3010, ext. 4326; Karen Kovacs, 
California Department of Fish and Game, (707) 441-5789; Lynda Roush, 
Bureau of Land Management, (707) 825-2300.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Headwaters Forest Reserve was acquired 
by the Secretary of Interior and State of California on March 1, 1999 
as a culmination of a comprehensive agreement of 1996, the Headwaters 
Agreement, between the Department of Interior, State of California, and 
the Pacific Lumber Company (PALCO), for the transfer of approximately 
7,500 acres of old-growth and young-growth timber stands and associated 
buffers in a reserve, and among other considerations, the completion 
and approval of a Sustained Yield Plan (SYP) and Habitat Conservation 
Plan (HCP) for PALCO property. Cash transfer for the purchase of the 
Headwaters Forest Reserve was authorized in the 1997 Interior 
Appropriations bill (H.R. 2107) on the federal side and in Assembly 
Bill 1986 (AB 1986), Headwaters Forest, Owl Creek, and Grizzly Creek, 
on the state side. The federal legislation authorizing acquisition, (1) 
established a specific boundary and point of access, (2) called for 
joint federal-state acquisition, with management by the federal 
government and an easement to guarantee conservation management granted 
to the state, and (3) established the requirement for the development 
of a management plan.
    The specific 7,472-acre tract acquired includes 3,088 acres of 
unharvested conifer forests dominated by redwood groves surrounded by 
4,384 acres of previously harvested forest and brush lands. It is 
located in the northwestern coast ranges of California near Humboldt 
Bay in Humboldt County, part of California's north coast region. The 
reserve includes the headwaters of three streams draining into Humboldt 
Bay; South Fork Elk River, Little South Fork Elk River, and Salmon 
Creek. The reserve contains three federally listed threatened fish 
species; southern Oregon/northern California coasts coho salmon, 
northern California steelhead, and California coastal chinook salmon, 
and two federally listed threatened animals; marbled murrelet and 
northern spotted owl. The reserve is designated critical habitat for 
the coho, chinook, and the murrelet. The reserve is identified in the 
PALCO HCP as a site for monitoring undisturbed baseline conditions for 
water quality and wildlife habitat.

    Dated: February 15, 2002.
Lynda J. Roush,
Arcata Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 02-9718 Filed 4-19-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P