[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 163 (Thursday, August 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54405-54406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21452]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National 
Grassland Jackson County, CO; Green Ridge Mountain Pine Beetle Analysis

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the environmental effects of a 
site specific proposal to salvage, reduce the spread and minimize 
further mortality from the existing mountain pine beetle epidemic, 
within the Green Ridge Mountain Pine Beetle Analysis Area of the Parks 
Ranger District of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests within 
Jackson County, Colorado. A small portion of the preventive treatments 
is proposed within an inventoried roadless area.

DATES: The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public 
review during December 2002. At that time, the EPA will publish a 
Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in the Federal Register. 
The comment period on the draft EIS will be for a period of not less 
than 45 days from the date the EPA publishes the NOA in the Federal 
Register. It is important that those interested in the management of 
this area to comment at that time.
    The final EIS is expected to be available in March 2003. In the 
final EIS, the Forest Service will respond to any comments received 
during the public comment period that pertain to the environmental 
analysis. Those comments and the Forest Service responses will be 
disclosed and discussed in the final EIS and will be considered when 
the final decision about this proposal is made.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Terry DeLay, Brush Creek/Hayden 
Ranger District, PO Box 249, Saratoga, WY 82331. Electronic mail (e-
mail) may be sent to [email protected] and FAX may be sent to (307) 326-
5250. Telephone: (307) 326-2518.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mail correspondence to Terry DeLay, 
Brush Creek/Hayden Ranger District, PO Box 249, Saratoga, WY 82331, 
(telephone (307) 326-2518), or Chuck Oliver, District Ranger, Parks 
Ranger District, PO Box 158, Walden, CO 80480, (telephone (970) 723-
2750). Electronic mail (e-mail) may be sent to [email protected] and FAX 
may be sent to (307) 326-5250.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of this project is to reduce the spread of mountain 
pine beetle, salvage dead trees, and reforest affected areas on 
National Forest lands within the Green Ridge Analysis Area, in order to 
help protect forested areas on adjacent private land, and to alleviate 
potential negative effects of the beetle epidemic to the various 
resources on this portion of the Forest.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action is a mix of protection, prevention, 
suppression, and restoration treatment activities geared to address the 
purpose and need of reducing the spread of mountain pine beetle on 
National Forest lands within the analysis area, including commercial 
timber sale, prescribed burning and precommercial thinning.

Responsible Official

    Rick Cables, Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain 
Region, 740 Simms Street, Golden, Colorado 80401, is the official 
responsible for making the decision on this action. He will document 
his decision and rationale in a Record of Decision.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The Responsible Official will consider the results of the analysis 
and its findings and then document the final decision in a Record of 
Decision (ROD). The decision will include a determination whether or 
not to implement the proposed action or another alternative.

Scoping Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires an early and 
open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and 
for identifying the significant issues related to the proposed action.
    The Forest Service is soliciting comments during the scoping phase 
of the environmental analysis process from Federal, State and local 
agencies, Indian Tribes, and organizations and individuals who may be 
interested or

[[Page 54406]]

affected by the decision. The analysis process will include:
    1. Identification of the issues to be addressed.
    2. Identification of the issues to be analyzed in detail.
    3. Elimination of non-significant issues, issues addressed by 
previous environmental analyses, and issues not within the scope of 
this decision.

Public Involvement

    Public scoping describing the Green Ridge Mountain Pine Beetle 
Analysis Area was initiated on July 31, 2002. Comments from scoping 
efforts will be reviewed to identify potential issues for this 
analysis. While comments are welcome at any time, comments received 
within 30 days of the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register will be most useful for the identification of issues and the 
analysis of alternatives. As previously mentioned, comments may be sent 
by electronic mail (e-mail) to [email protected]. Written comments may 
be mailed to the Brush Creek/Hayden Ranger District, PO Box 249, 
Saratoga, WY 82331, Attention: Terry DeLay. Please reference the Green 
Ridge Mountain Pine Beetle Analysis EIS on the subject line. The name 
and mailing address of the commenter should be provided with their 
comments so that future documents pertaining to this environmental 
analysis and the decision can be provided to interested parties.

Preliminary Issues

    The following potential issues and concerns were identified through 
internal scoping:
    (1) Beetle treatments within an inventoried roadless area, (2) 
beetle spread from National Forest to adjacent private lands, (3) 
cumulative impacts of past and proposed treatments, and (4) the Federal 
Register listed the town of Rand, Colorado, as one of the communities 
nationwide that are at risk from wildfire(s).

Release of Names

    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names 
and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the 
public record on this Proposed Action and will be available for public 
inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and 
considered; however, those who submit anonymous comments will not have 
standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR parts 215 or 
217. Additionally pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the 
agency to withhold a submission from the public record by showing how 
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality. 
Persons requesting such confidentiality should be aware that, under the 
FOIA, confidentiality may be granted in only very limited 
circumstances, such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service 
will inform the requester of the agency's decision regarding the 
request for confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the 
agency will return the submission and notify the requester that the 
comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within ten 
(10) days.

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 Action 
publishes the notices 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 during 
the draft environmental impact statement stage, but 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 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 related to 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 document. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft 
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives 
displayed in the document. Reviewers should refer to the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations at 40 CFR 1503.3 for implementing the 
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act for 
addressing these points.

    Dated: August 2, 2002.
Rick D. Cables,
Regional Forester.
[FR Doc. 02-21452 Filed 8-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M