[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 135 (Tuesday, July 15, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41864-41865]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17419]



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Part II





Department of Agriculture





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Forest Service



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36 CFR Parts 219 and 294



National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning; Special 
Areas; Roadless Area Conservation; Proposed Rules

  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 135 / Tuesday, July 15, 2003 / 
Proposed Rules  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

36 CFR Parts 219 and 294

RIN 0596-AC05


National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning; 
Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: On July 10, 2001, the Forest Service published an advance 
notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking public comment concerning 
how best to proceed with long-term protection and management of 
inventoried roadless areas. The 2001 ANPR expressed the Department's 
belief that inventoried roadless areas contain important environmental 
values that warrant protection, and identified a set of principles that 
would guide the Department in addressing this subject. This second ANPR 
solicits further public input concerning the applicability of the 
roadless area conservation rule to both the Tongass and the Chugach 
National Forests in Alaska. In conjunction with this second ANPR, a 
proposed rule has been published elsewhere in the same part of today's 
Federal Register that would amend the roadless area conservation rule's 
application to the Tongass National Forest. The agency is publishing 
the proposed rule and this ANPR in order to fulfill part of the 
Department's obligations under the June 10, 2003 settlement agreement 
for State of Alaska v. USDA, while also maintaining the ecological 
values of inventoried roadless areas in the Tongass and Chugach 
National Forests.
    In State of Alaska v. USDA, the State of Alaska and other 
plaintiffs alleged that the roadless rule violated a number of federal 
statutes, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
of 1980 (ANILCA). Passed overwhelmingly by Congress in 1980, ANILCA 
sets aside millions of acres in Alaska for the National Park Service, 
Forest Service, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, and 
Wilderness Areas with the understanding that sufficient protection and 
balance would be ensured between protected areas and multiple-use 
managed areas, and that there would be no more administrative land 
withdrawals. The Alaska lawsuit alleged that USDA violated ANILCA by 
applying the requirements of the roadless rule to Alaska's national 
forests. USDA settled the lawsuit by agreeing to publish the proposed 
rule (located elsewhere in the same part of today's Federal Register) 
to temporarily exempt the Tongass from the application of the roadless 
rule, and to publish this separate ANPR requesting comment on whether 
to exempt permanently the Tongass and the Chugach National Forests in 
Alaska from the application of the roadless rule.
    Under the settlement, the vast majority of Alaska National Forests 
will remain off limits to development. Timber harvest will be 
prohibited on more than 95 percent of Alaska National Forests as 
required under existing forest plans. Exempting the Tongass National 
Forest from the application of the roadless rule would make 
approximately 300,000 roadless acres available for--forest management--
slightly more than 3 percent of the 9.3 million roadless acres in the 
Tongass, or 0.5 percent of the total roadless acres nationwide. 
Exempting the Chugach National Forest, from the application of the 
roadless rule would permit roaded access on approximately 150,000 
acres--less than 3 percent of the forest's 5.4 million roadless acres, 
or 0.3 percent of the total roadless acres nationwide. The proposals 
under the settlement would preserve all old-growth reserves, riparian 
buffers, beach fringe buffers, roadless areas, and other protections 
contained in the forest plans. The roadless rule would also continue to 
apply to the 43.7 million roadless acres in national forests outside of 
Alaska.
    Public comment is invited and will be considered in the development 
of the proposed rule.

DATES: Comments must be postmarked by August 14, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Roadless ANPR, USFS Content 
Analysis Team, P.O. Box 22777, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84122; by 
electronic mail to [email protected]; or by facsimile to 801-880-
3311. If you intend to submit comments in batched e-mails from the same 
server, please be aware that electronic security safeguards on Forest 
Service and Department of Agriculture computer systems intended to 
prevent commercial spamming may limit batched e-mail access. The Forest 
Service is interested in receiving all comments on this advance notice 
of proposed rulemaking, however, so please call (801) 517-1020 to 
facilitate transfer of comments in batched e-mail messages. Please note 
that all comments will be available for public inspection and copying. 
The agency cannot confirm receipt of comments. Individuals wishing to 
inspect the comments should call Jody Sutton at (801) 517-1023 to 
facilitate an appointment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: In Washington, DC contact: Dave 
Barone, Planning Specialist, Ecosystem Management Coordination Staff, 
Forest Service, USDA, (202) 205-1019; and in Juneau, Alaska contact: 
Jan Lerum, Regional Planner, Forest Service, USDA, (907) 586-8796.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Implementation and Review of Roadless Area Conservation Rule

    On May 4, 2001, the Secretary of Agriculture expressed the 
Administration's commitment to providing protection for roadless areas 
in the National Forest System. However, acknowledging concerns raised 
by local communities, tribes, and States impacted by the January 12, 
2001, Roadless Area Conservation Rule (66 FR 3244), the Secretary also 
indicated that USDA would move forward with a responsible and balanced 
approach to re-examining the rule that fairly addressed those concerns.
    On May 10, 2001, two days before the Roadless Area Conservation 
Rule was to become effective, the U.S. District Court for the District 
of Idaho issued a preliminary injunction order enjoining the Department 
from implementing the rule. This decision was appealed, and the Ninth 
Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded this preliminary 
injunction order. In total, nine lawsuits challenging the roadless rule 
have been filed in six judicial districts and four federal circuits.
    On June 7, 2001, in order to bring some stability to roadless area 
management given the legal uncertainties with implementing the rule, 
Chief Dale Bosworth instituted interim agency direction to protect 
roadless values in inventoried roadless areas. In view of the the Ninth 
Circuit's April 14, 2003, order reversing the preliminary injunction 
and remanding the matter, the agency's interim direction was allowed to 
expire on June 14, 2003.

First Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

    On July 10, 2001, the Forest Service published an advance notice of 
proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking public comment concerning how best 
to proceed with long-term protection and management of inventoried 
roadless areas. The first ANPR indicated that

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how the Department ultimately addresses protecting roadless values 
would depend on a number of factors. Those included court decisions, 
public comments, and practical options for amending the current rule or 
using other administrative tools to implement inventoried roadless area 
protections.
    During the public comment period for the first ANPR that closed on 
September 11, 2001, the Forest Service received over 726,000 responses. 
The responses represented two main points of view on natural resource 
management and perspectives on resource decisionmaking: (1) Emphasis on 
environmental protection and preservation, and support for making 
national decisions; and (2) emphasis on responsible active management, 
and support for local decisions made through the forest planning 
process. A 1,200 page summary of this public comment was prepared in 
May of 2002, and is available on the Forest Service internet site for 
Roadless Area Conservation at http://www.roadless.fs.fed.us.

Relationship of Rulemaking Proposals to Alaska Litigation

    In January of 2001, the State of Alaska and six other parties filed 
a lawsuit against USDA contending that the roadless rule violated 
various statutes. On June 10, 2003, a settlement agreement was signed 
by the U.S. Department of Justice, the State of Alaska, and intervenor-
plaintiffs to resolve and dismiss this litigation. This settlement 
agreement calls for the Federal Government to publish in the Federal 
Register, within 60 days: (1) A proposed temporary regulation that 
would exempt the Tongass National Forest from the application of the 
roadless rule until completion of the rulemaking process for any 
permanent amendments to the roadless rule; and (2) an advance notice of 
proposed rulemaking to exempt both the Tongass and the Chugach National 
Forests from the application of the roadless rule. This advance notice 
of proposed rulemaking, and a proposed rule published elsewhere in 
today's Federal Register to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the 
applicability of the roadless rule, fullfill these terms of the 
settlement agreement.

A Unique Situation Exists in the State of Alaska

    In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act (ANILCA). In ANILCA, Congress found that the Act 
provided the proper balance between the protection of environmental 
values while providing opportunity for the satisfaction of the economic 
and social needs of the people in Alaska. The Act set aside millions of 
acres in Alaska for the National Park Service, Forest Service, National 
Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges and Wilderness Areas.
    If the Tongass and the Chugach National Forests are exempted from 
the roadless rule, the Forests would continue to be managed pursuant to 
the existing Forest Plans. Both the 1997 Revised Forest Plan (as 
readopted by the February 2003 Record of Decision) for the Tongass and 
the 2002 Revised Forest Plan for the Chugach were developed through 
fair and open planning processes, based on years of extensive public 
involvement and thorough scientific review, and provide full 
consideration of social, economic, and ecological values. The net 
effect of amending the roadless rule to exclude National Forest System 
lands in the State of Alaska would be to allow timber harvest in 
approximately 300,000 additional acres (approximately 3 percent) on the 
Tongass out of 9.34 million inventoried roadless acres, and possible 
access and development on 150,000 additional acres out of 5.4 million 
roadless acres on the Chugach. Timber harvest would be prohibited on 
approximately 95 percent of National Forest System lands in the State 
of Alaska under the existing forest plans, if both the Tongass and the 
Chugach National Forests were excluded from application of the 
prohibitions of the roadless rule.

Public Comment Solicitation

    All interested parties are encouraged to express their views in 
response to this request for public comment on the following question:
    Should any exemption from the applicability of the roadless rule to 
the Tongass National Forest be made permanent and also apply to the 
Chugach National Forest?

Regulatory Findings

    This second advance notice of proposed rulemaking is being issued 
to report on public input received and to obtain public comment 
regarding the protection and management of inventoried roadless areas 
in the State of Alaska. Because the Department is not proposing any 
specific action at this time, there are no regulatory findings 
associated with this notice. Comments received will help the Department 
determine the extent and scope of any future rulemaking.

Conclusion

    The Department of Agriculture is considering a permanent exemption 
for the Tongass and Chugach National Forests from the applicability of 
the roadless rule. Public input and comment received through this 
second advance notice of proposed rulemaking will help inform the 
Department's consideration of future rulemaking proposals.

    Dated: June 30, 2003.
Dale N. Bosworth,
Chief.
[FR Doc. 03-17419 Filed 7-14-03; 8:45 am]
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