[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 236 (Monday, December 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72901-72902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30980]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Keystone-Quartz Ecosystem Management Project, Beaverhead-
Deerlodge National Forests, Beaverhead County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare a supplement to the Environmental 
Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare a supplement to the final 
Environmental Impact Statement to document additional soils analysis 
and disclose the environmental impacts to the soils resource of the 
preferred alternative to manipulate forest and range vegetation on 684 
acres. The Preferred Alternative 6 would thin and prescribe burn 540 
acres of Douglas-fir forest to restore open Douglas-fir forest habitat, 
release 58 acres of aspen/shrub to restore aspen/shrub communities, 
thin 19 acres of dense lodgepole pine to improve overall forest health, 
and restore shrub/grass habitat by removal of small conifers and 
prescribed burning on 67 acres of shrub/grass habitat that has been 
lost to conifer succession. Forest product recovery would occur on 58 
acres to remove the large conifers (aspen/shrub release only); on 260 
acres to remove special forest products (small diameter trees), and on 
19 acres to remove post and pole size lodgepole pine. Slashing would 
remove smaller conifers in most treatment areas as a pre-treatment 
prior to prescribed burning. Existing roads would be used and no new 
roads would be built. This area lies at the northern end of the Pioneer 
Mountains, three miles south of Wise River, Montana. The prior notice 
of intent for this proposed action appeared in the Federal Register on 
April 9, 1999, 64 FR 17310-11. The NOA for the DEIS appeared on April 
6, 2001, 66 FR 18243. A Final Environmental Impact Statement and a 
Record of Decision were issued on December 3, 2001. The legal notice of 
the Record of Decision for the FEIS appeared on the Montana Standard on 
December 31, 2001. The decision was appealed, and later reversed on 
March 15, 2002.

DATES: Initial comments concerning the supplement to the EIS should be 
received in writing no later than 30 days after the publication of this 
NOI in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official is the District Ranger, Beaverhead-
Deerlodge National Forest, Dillon, Montana. Please send comments to 
Charlie Hester, District Ranger, Wise River Ranger District, P.O. Box 
100, Wise River, MT 59762. Comments may be electronically submitted to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Trejo, project leader, P.O. Box 
100, Wise River, MT or phone (406) 832-3178 or by e-mail to 
[email protected]. People may visit with Forest Service officials at any 
time during the analysis and prior to the decision.
    The draft supplement to the EIS is anticipated to be available for 
review in January 2003. The final supplement to the EIS is planned for 
completion in April 2003.
    The Environmental Protection Agency will publish the notice of 
availability of the draft supplement to the environmental impact 
statement in the Federal Register. The Forest will also publish a legal 
notice of its availability in the Montana Standard Newspaper, Butte, 
Montana. A 45-day comment period on the draft supplement to the 
Environmental Impact Statement will

[[Page 72902]]

begin the day following the publication of the legal notice.
    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 supplement to the Environmental Impact Statement must structure 
their participation in the environmental review of the preferred 
alternative 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 supplement to the environmental impact 
statement stage but that are not raised until after completion of the 
final supplement to the 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 
supplement to the Environmental Impact Statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns, comments on the draft supplement to the Environmental 
Impact Statement should be as specific as possible. It is also helpful 
if comments refer to specific pages of the draft supplement. 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 responsible official will make the decision on this proposal 
after considering comments and responses, environmental consequences 
discussed in the final supplement to the EIS, the EIS, applicable laws, 
regulations, and policies. The decision and reasons for the decision 
will be documented in a Record of Decision.

    Dated: December 2, 2002.
Thomas K. Reilly,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 02-30980 Filed 12-6-02; 8:45 am]
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