[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 51 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12662-12663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6269]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Baked Apple Fire Salvage Project, Umpqua National Forest, Douglas 
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) for a fire salvage timber sale and connected actions 
within the Panther Creek watershed planning area of the North Umpqua 
Ranger District. These actions include timber salvage sales, the 
construction of temporary roads, site preparation, tree planting, 
hazardous fuels (slash) reduction, road decommissioning, road repair, 
restoration of non-commercial stands, and soil restoration through 
felling of snags to create down wood. The planning area is located 
approximately 43 miles east of Roseburg, Oregon. The project is 
expected to be implemented starting in 2004 through 2006. The agency 
gives notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making 
process that will occur on the proposal so that interested and affected 
people may become aware of how they can participate in the process and 
contribute to the final decision.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing, by April 18, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning this 
proposal to Carol Cushing, District Ranger, North Umpqua Ranger 
District, 18782 North Umpqua Highway, Glide, Oregon, 97443.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct questions about the proposed 
action or EIS to Debbie Anderson, ID Team Leader, North Umpqua Ranger 
District, 18782 North Umpqua Highway, Glide, Oregon 97443, or (541) 
496-3532.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The area being analyzed in the Baked Apple 
Fire Salvage Project EIS encompasses approximately 13,925 acres of 
National Forest System land on the North Umpqua Ranger District. The 
planning area is bounded to the North by the North Umpqua River, to the 
South by the North Umpqua River/Little River Divide, to the East by 
Calf Ridge, and to the West by Panther Ridge. The planning area 
includes all or portions of sections 9, 10, and 14 through 36, T26S, 
R1E; sections 19 and 30, T26S, R2E; and sections 2 through 5, and 9 
through 11, T27S, R1E, Willamette Meridian, Douglas County, Oregon.
    The proposed action is based on the need to recover portions of the 
Panther Creek subwatershed burned by the 2002 Apple Fire. The Apple 
Fire, which started on August 16, 2002, burned almost 18,000 acres of 
early, mid, and late seral forests on the North Umpqua Ranger District. 
Within the perimeter of the Apple Fire, the Panther Creek subwatershed 
burned with the highest intensity, completely consuming large swaths of 
forest over a 4,000-acre area, particularly within Limpy Creek. All 
treatments occur on lands allocated as Matrix and are consistent with 
the 1990 Umpqua National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 
(Forest Plan), as amended. All salvage treatments specifically avoid 
roadless areas, the wild and scenic river corridor and visually 
sensitive area, owl cores, cultural sites, and areas identified as 
unsuitable, unstable, or riparian reserves. The timber salvage proposal 
is based on the need to recover the economic value of the burned wood 
in the scorched and severely burned portion of the watershed before it 
decays, which will contribute wood products to the local economy and 
jobs to the County and State. Slash treatment is based on the need to 
reduce activity-generated fuels in order to keep fuel loads within 
parameters prescribed by the Forest. Reforestation is based on the need 
to return the burned areas within subwatershed to the productive forest 
that is was prior to the fire. Haul related roadwork is needed in order 
to ensure that the road system is safe for haul. Construction and 
reconstruction of temporary spur roads, reconstruction and/or expansion 
of landings, construction new landings, and use of existing rock pits 
is needed to facilitate removal and hauling of wood. Snag felling for 
large wood is needed to

[[Page 12663]]

maintain a source of large wood that will decay, helping contribute to 
soil productivity. Treatment of pre-commercial stands to remove fuels 
and re-establish seedlings is needed to return those stands to the 
productive forests that they were prior to the fire.
    The proposed action timber sale related activities include: Salvage 
harvest on approximately 1,226 acres (retaining between 6 and 12 trees 
per acre for shade and large wood recruitment); reforestation and 
seedling protection (with species native to the site) on about 1,095 
acres; slash treatment on about 1,171 acres (including grapple piling, 
underburning, hand pile burning, and yarding of tops attached); road 
work (culvert replacement and road stabilization of two sites) along 
Forest Service Road 4714 and construction and reconstruction (about 1.1 
miles) of temporary spur roads; construct and reconstruct up to 39 
landings; and use 2 existing rock pits and establish 6 stockpile sites 
along existing roads to store rock and excavated material. Connected 
actions that would be accomplished include: Felling of snags on salvage 
units; site preparation and reforestation; and road reconstruction and 
decommissioning work.
    The acreage proposed for harvest is estimated to yield up to 50 
million board feet of timber, which may result in 5 to 6 separate 
timber sales. This volume and acreage estimates are likely to decrease 
as a result of finalizing riparian reserves and unsuitable or unstable 
soils boundaries, and as the smaller diameter wood begins to decay. The 
areas prescribed for harvest will require a combination of helicopter, 
skyline and ground-based harvesting equipment. Alternatives may reflect 
different harvest equipment combinations. Alternatives to be considered 
include the No Action Alternative, the proposed action, and 
alternatives to the proposed action.
    Preliminary issues, as identified by the Forest and by scoping that 
has been conducted to date, include the following related to the 
proposed action: The economic efficiency and viability; the potential 
affect on the late successional habitat and species within the Panther 
Creek Watershed; and the potential affect on water quality and aquatic 
conditions for aquatic and riparian dependent species.
    The scoping effort is intended to identify issues, which may lead 
to the development of alternatives to the proposed action. One of the 
purposes of this notice of intent is to solicit input from the public 
as part of the overall scoping effort. In addition to this notice, the 
public will be notified of the EIS through the Umpqua National Forest's 
April 2003 quarterly publication ``Schedule of Proposed Actions''.
    Comments received in response to this notice and through scoping, 
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 a 
specified number of days.
    Public comments are appreciated throughout the analysis process. 
The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) and be available for public review by July 2003. The 
comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA 
publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register. The final 
EIS is scheduled to be available October 2003.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 
notice of this early stage of public participation and of several court 
rulings related to public participation in the environmental review 
process. First, reviewers of a draft EIS 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 have been raised 
at the draft stage may be waived or dismissed by the court if not 
raised until after completion of the final EIS. 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 substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest 
Service at a time when it can meaningful consider 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 EIS 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 EIS 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 of 
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.)
    In the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to 
substantive comments and responses received during the comment period 
that pertain to the environmental consequences discussed in the draft 
EIS and applicable laws, regulations, and policies considered in making 
a decision regarding the proposal. The Responsible Official is Carol 
Cushing, District Ranger of the North Umpqua Ranger District, Umpqua 
National Forest. The Responsible Official will document the decision 
and rationale for the decision in a Record of Decision. The decision 
will be subject to review under Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 
CFR part 215).

    Dated: March 7, 2003.
James A. Caplan,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 03-6269 Filed 3-14-03; 8:45 am]
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