[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 112 (Wednesday, June 11, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34902-34903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-14672]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National 
Grassland Carbon County, WY, Blackhall-McAnulty Timber Sale, Prescribed 
Burn and Travel Management

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare and Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the environmental effects of a 
site-specific proposal to reduce the spread of dwarf mistletoe and 
mountain pine beetle in area lodgepole pine stands, increase patch size 
of forested areas that have had past harvest, improve resiliency and 
reduce susceptibility to future disease and insect attack, salvage fire 
damaged trees, and promote and maintain area aspen and ponderosa pine 
stands within the Blackhall-McAnulty Analysis Area of the Brush Creek/
Hayden Ranger District of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests 
within Carbon County, Wyoming, using a combination of clearcutting and 
partial harvest treatments.
    The proposal also includes: prescribed fire to improve forage for 
big game and livestock, boundary treatments to reduce hazardous fuels 
on National Forest adjacent to private land, watershed restoration 
projects, improvement of the Big Creek Trailhead, and travel management 
within this portion of the Sierra Madre Range.

DATES: The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public 
review during August 2003. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice 
of Availability (NOA) of the draft EIA 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 comment at that time.
    The final EIS is expected to be available in November 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 Scott Armentrout, District Ranger, Brush 
Creek-Hayden Ranger District, PO Box 249, Saratoga, WY 82331, 
(telephone (307) 326-5250). 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 improve the health and resiliency 
of area forests to reduce the current outbreak of mountain pine beetle 
and to decrease their susceptibility to insects and disease, maintain 
and restore aspen and ponderosa pine to its historic prominence, 
improve wildlife habitat capability, minimize human-caused soil 
erosion, reduce non-native cheatgrass in the area, and treat vegetation 
along portions of the Forest boundary to reduce the wildfire hazard to 
adjacent private land and structures.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action includes commercial timber sales, mountain pine 
beetle treatments, prescribed fire, hazardous fuels reduction adjacent 
to private land, precommercial thinning, travel management, trailhead 
improvement, and watershed restoration.

Possible Alternatives

    1. No action
    2. Proposed Action with less road decommissioning
    3. No clearcutting
    4. Watershed restoration only

Background Information

    The Blackhall-McAnulty Analysis combines projects that were 
previously identified on the Schedule of Proposed Actions: The 
Blackhall Timber Sale, the McAnulty/Beaver Creek Timber Sale, the 
McAnulty 2 Fuels Management project, and the Sierra Madre Travel 
Management Analysis. Comments submitted in response to any of these 
projects previously will be considered as part of this analysis.

Responsible Official

    Mary Peterson, Forest Supervisor, USDA Forest Service, Medicine 
Bow-

[[Page 34903]]

Routt National Forest, 2468 Jackson Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, is 
the official responsible for making the decision on this action. She 
will document her 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 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 Blackhall-McAnulty Timber Sale, 
Prescribed Burn and Travel Management was initiated on April 10, 2003. 
Comments from scoping efforts will be reviewed to identify potential 
issues from 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, P.O. Box 249, Saratoga, WY 82331, Attention: Terry DeLay. 
Please reference the Blackhall-McAnulty Timber Sale, Prescribed Burn 
and Travel Management 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 
previous internal and external scoping: (1) Clearcutting, (2) 
cumulative effects/habitat and wildlife diversity/fragmentation, (3) 
forest insects and diseases, and (4) watershed restoration/travel 
management.

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: June 4, 2003.
Mary H. Peterson.
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 03-14672 Filed 6-10-03; 8:45 am]
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