[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30866-30867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11383]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Wildland Urban Interface Project; Caribou-Targhee National 
Forest, Fremont County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is 
beginning to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to 
document the analysis and disclose the environmental impacts of the 
Wildland Urban Interface Project in Island Park, ID. Within the project 
area, different treatment methods would be used to reduce the fire 
hazard depending upon the forest and fuel conditions. In the young and 
regenerated noncommercial lodgepole pine stands, trees would be 
thinned. Fuel reductions in larger diameter stands would be in the form 
of shaded fuel breaks. The shaded fuel breaks would be located in 
tactically important areas to provide firefighters an anchor from which 
to safely fight fire. Proposed fuel breaks would be up to 500 feet 
wide. These fuel breaks would be created along the interface between 
National Forest Service land and private property.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
within 30 days of the date of pu8blication of this notice in the 
Federal Register. The draft environmental impact statement is expected 
November of 2002 and the final environmental impact statement is 
expected February 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the Ashton/Island Park Ranger 
District, Attn: Jim Cox/Becky Nedrow, Island Park Ranger Station, 3726 
Highway 20, Island Park, ID.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Further information and questions 
concerning this proposed action and EIS contact Jim Cox at (208) 558-
7301 or Becky Nedrow at (208) 652-7442. Jim can also be reached at 
[email protected]/us. Becky can be reached at [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine forest 
types are included in the project area as are some sagebrush/
grasslands. The Douglas-fir forest type occurs throughout the 
Centennial and Henrys Lake Mountains. Within the Douglas-fir type, 
mature forest makes up 79 percent of the forested areas. Because of the 
large component of mature Douglas-fir,

[[Page 30867]]

severe first are a concern in these areas. The lodgepole pine forest 
type is primarily in the Island Park Caldera. Large areas of the 
lodgepole type were clearcut between 1960 and the late 1980's to 
salvage trees damaged or killed during a mountain pine bettle epidemic.

Purpose and Need for Action

    A combination of accumulating fuels and increasing development on 
private lands along with existing residences under permit on the 
National Forest (National Forest summer homes) has led to an increase 
risk to human life and property from wildfire. The purpose of this 
project is to reduce the threat to human life and private property by 
reducing or removing the amount of woody material on National Forest 
System Lands adjacent to these private lands.

Proposed Action

    The Ashton/Island Park Ranger District of the Caribou-Targhee 
National Forest is proposing a hazardous fuels reduction project 
located in the Island Park area of eastern Idaho. Implementation is 
expected to start in 2003 and continue through 2005. The project would 
create fuel breaks along the interface (boundary) between public and 
private lands (urban interface). These fuel breaks would reduce the 
risk to private lands from wildfire and provide for greater public and 
firefighter safety. The project includes only National Forest System 
Lands adjacent to private land, developed campgrounds, and those summer 
home areas under special use permit on the National Forest. No private 
or State land would be treated.
    Proposed activities include:
     Thinning of small diameter noncommercial size trees
     Hand piling of thinning and other slash followed by 
burning
     Public firewood gathering
     Removal of fuels by private contractors
     Commercial timber sales (total volume from the project 
area is estimated at less than 1 million board feet with only temporary 
road construction)
     Prescribed burning where it is safe and at minimal risk to 
private property with appropriate involvement of property owners

Responsible Official

    Jerry B. Reese, Forest Supervisory, Caribou-Targhee National Forest 
is the responsible official for this EIS.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The Forest Supervisor will decide on whether to implement one of 
the alternatives for hazardous fuels reduction or defer any action at 
this time.

Scoping Process

    Public scoping will be completed through letters, news releases, 
and public meetings. The meeting may be held in Idaho Falls or Island 
Park.

Preliminary Issues

    Preliminary Issues identified are:
     Public safety
     Effects on visual quality of private property adjacent to 
National Forest land
     Reduction of wildlife hiding cover
     Risk to private property by burning to remove fuels
     Heritage resources
     Unauthorized structures or personal property on National 
Forest System lands

Comment Requested

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the environmental impact statement.

Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review

    A draft environmental impact statement will be prepared for 
comment. 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.
    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 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.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 
1909.15, Section 21)
    Dated: April 18, 2002.
Jerry B. Reese,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 02-11383 Filed 5-7-02; 8:45 am]
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