[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66604-66605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27786]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Toolbox Fire Recovery Project, Fremont National Forest, Lake 
County, OR

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) on a proposal to assist the recovery of areas burned in 
2002 by the Toolbox Complex Fires (includes Toolbox Fire, Silver Fire 
and small portion of Winter Fire). This will include proposals to 
salvage burned timber, implement re-forestation and implement projects 
to alleviate the potential for future damage to riparian and aquatic 
resources as a result of the Toolbox Complex Fires. The 48,000 acre 
project area is located on the Silver Lake Ranger District and is 
centered approximately 13 miles south of Silver Lake, Oregon, within 
the Silver Creek, Silver Lake and Summer Lake Watersheds.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by December 2, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Carolyn Wisdom, District Ranger, 
Silver Lake Ranger District, PO Box 129, Silver Lake, OR 97638.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Elston, Toolbox Fire Recovery 
Project Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Silver Lake Ranger District, 
Phone: (541) 576-7569. E-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In July 2002 the Toolbox Complex Fires 
burned approximately 85,000 acres, of which 49,500 occur on the Fremont 
National Forest. The remainder of the fire includes approximately 8,000 
acres of Bureau of Land Management Administered lands and 27,500 acres 
of private land. The 48,000 acre decision area for the Toolbox Fire 
Recovery Projects includes those portions of the Toolbox Complex Fires 
that occurred within the Silver Creek, Silver Lake and Summer Lake 
Watersheds on National Forest System lands.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose and need for action in the project planning area is to 
create conditions that would facilitate our efforts to:

--Recover habitat lost and soil damaged as a result of intense fire and 
reduce the likelihood of future loss or damage from reburn;
--Restore damaged riparian areas resulting from the Toolbox Complex 
Fire;
--Protect remaining live stands from insect infestations associated 
with fire-killed trees;
--Develop a long term sustainable forest through re-forestation and 
fuels reduction; and
--Salvage burned timber, while it retains some merchantable value.

Proposed Action

    The proposed project would include the following activities:

--Reforestation of areas that sustained high tree mortality including 
existing plantations that were affected by the fire;
--Re-vegetation of burned riparian areas;
--Reconstruction of roads open to the public and repair of roads closed 
to the public but still required for administrative use; 
decommissioning of degraded roads;
--Riparian Restoration including adding large wood to deficient stream 
channels; and
--Salvage harvest of approximately 21,500 acres in the Silver Creek, 
Silver Lake and Summer Lake Watersheds and removal of hazardous trees 
along open roads and at recreational facilities.

    Most of the proposed timber salvage units would be harvested using 
ground-based logging systems. Access for salvage would require 
reconstruction of about 9 miles of existing roads, primarily by adding 
surfacing, and construction of approximately 12 miles of new temporary 
roads and 14 miles of temporary roads located on old road locations. 
The temporary roads would be closed and obliterated after completion of 
project activities. Approximately 10 to 15% of the area to be salvaged 
would be harvested using helicopter based logging systems, including 
areas salvaged within Riparian Habitat Conservation Areas (RHCAs). All 
activities within RHCAs would be in accordance with Fremont National 
Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) Standards and 
Guidelines, as amended by the Inland Native Fish Strategy (INFISH). 
Other connected actions in association with salvage include water 
barring and erosion control measures such as scattering of slash on 
skid trails and treatment of slash.
    Planting of tree seedlings following site preparation would occur 
on approximately 28,500 acres, including areas that are salvage 
harvested and existing plantations or young stands in which fire damage 
occurred. Most or all seedlings would be ponderosa pine. Reduction of 
fuels, including those created by the fire, by salvage activity and by 
site preparation would occur throughout the project area. A variety of 
fuel treatment methods would be used, including removing marketable 
timber through salvage harvest, burning in place, piling and burning, 
yarding tops to landings to be burned, or lopping and scattering to 
speed decay. In order to meet desired fuels conditions some areas may 
be ``pretreated'' (by thinning very small diameter trees) and 
prescribed burned. In some instances this may require a Forest Plan 
amendment.
    Additional proposed activities include:

--Approximately 35 miles of road decommissioning to promote watershed 
recovery;
--Approximately 880 acres of aspen stand protection;
--Placement of large woody debris or other in-stream structures to meet 
Riparian Management Objectives in approximately 8 miles of Silver Creek 
and 6 miles of West Fork Silver Creek;
--Approximately 10 acres of riparian area deciduous plantings;
--Approximately 1,300 acres of contour falling (using dead trees) on 
steep slopes to protect water quality;
--Culvert replacement where Forest Road 27 crosses West Fork Silver 
Creek to improve fish passage;
--Approximately 2,500 acres of plantation thinning; and
--Re-routing sections of the Fremont National Recreation Trail if 
necessitated by salvage activity.

    All proposed activities are responsive to the stated purpose and 
need for this project.

Possible Alternatives

    A full range of alternatives will be considered, including a ``no-
action'' alternative in which none of the activities proposed above 
would be implemented. Based on the issues gathered through scoping, the 
action alternatives would differ in (1) The silvicultural and post-
harvest treatments prescribed (2) the amount and location of harvest 
(3) the amount and location of fuels reduction activity. Tentative

[[Page 66605]]

alternatives to the proposed action include an alternative that does 
not require the construction of additional temporary or permanent 
roads, other than temporary re-opening of existing roads, and that does 
not consider salvage removal from RHCAs. Another alternative would 
emphasize removal (or other fuels treatment options) of dead timber in 
the size classes most likely to reburn. Currently available science on 
snag and coarse woody debris dependent species habitat will be a factor 
in alternative development and could result in a proposal of a site-
specific Forest Plan amendment to update standards and guidelines for 
these species. Consideration of various regeneration strategies 
including planting at relatively low stocking levels could also be a 
factor that differentiates alternatives.

Scoping Process

    Public participation will be sought at several points during the 
analysis, including listing of this project in the Fall 2002 and 
subsequent issues of the Fremont-Winema National Forest's Schedule of 
Proposed Activities; letters to agencies, organizations, and 
individuals who have previously indicated their interest in such 
activities; and a legal notice in the Klamath Herald and News. Public 
meetings may be scheduled during the fall/winter of 2002-2003. The 
scoping process will include: Identifying potential issues, identifying 
major issues to be analyzed in depth, eliminating non-significant 
issues or those previously covered by a relevant environmental 
analysis, considering additional alternatives based on themes which 
will be derived from issues recognized during scoping activities, and 
identifying potential environmental effects of this proposed action and 
alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect and cumulative effects and 
connected actions).

Preliminary Issues

    Preliminary issues include: Snag and downed wood habitat; big game 
thermal cover; disturbance of cultural resources; potential noxious 
weed expansion; effects of proposed activities on soils exposed by the 
fire; effects of proposed activities on the recovery of water quality 
and resident fisheries resource; ability of proposed activities to 
contribute to restoration of historic vegetation composition, 
structures, and patterns; potential loss of commercial timber value; 
and economic viability of timber salvage.
    Public comments about this proposal are requested in order to 
assist in properly scoping issues, determining how to best manage the 
resources, and fully analyzing environmental effects. Comments received 
to this notice, 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 and 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 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 a specified number of days.

Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review

    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 draft EIS is 
expected in June 2003 and the final EIS is expected in October 2003.
    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 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 EIS.
    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.
    The Forest Service is the lead agency. The Responsible Official is 
the Forest Supervisor, Fremont National Forest, 1301 South ``G'' 
Street, Lakeview, Oregon 97630-9701. The Responsible Official will 
decide which, if any, of the proposed projects will be implemented. The 
Responsible Official may also decide on site-specific Forest Plan 
amendments regarding standards and guidelines for snag and coarse woody 
debris, as well as big game habitat, if warranted by the analysis of 
those components in light of recent science.
    The Responsible Official will document the Toolbox Fire Recovery 
Project decision and reasons for the decision in the Record of 
Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal 
Regulations (36 CFR part 215).

    Dated: October 21, 2002.
Charles R. Graham,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 02-27786 Filed 10-31-02; 8:45 am]
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