[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 236 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68587-68589]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30439]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Shawnee National Forest, Illinois: Hiker/Equestrian Trails 
Designation Project (Phase 1)

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service Shawnee National Forest intends to 
prepare an environmental impact statement to disclose the environmental 
consequences of designating additional miles of National Forest hiker/
equestrian system trails within four watersheds on the Forest--Lusk 
Creek, Upper Bay Creek, Eagle Creek, and Big Grand Pierre Creek--and 
restricting equestrian use within these watersheds to the system 
trails.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by January 30, 2004. The draft environmental impact statement is 
expected to be published in May, 2004 and the final environmental 
impact statement is expected in September, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Matt Lechner, NEPA Coordinator, 
Attention: Trails Designation, Shawnee National Forest, 50 Highway 145 
South, Harrisburg, IL 62946. Send comments electronically to: 
[email protected]; indicate ``Trail Designation'' on the 
subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Pohlman, Recreation Program 
Manager, or Richard Blume-Weaver, Planning Staff Officer, at (618) 253-
7114, 1-800-MYWOODS, or e-mail [email protected] with a copy to 
[email protected].
    Maps of the trails proposed for designation are available for 
review at the Forest Supervisor's Office, 50 Highway 145 South, 
Harrisburg, Illinois; the Vienna-Elizabethtown Ranger District Station, 
602 N. 1st St., Vienna, and the Elizabethtown Work Center, 
Elizabethtown, Illinois; the Jonesboro-Murphysboro Ranger District 
Station, 521 N. Main St., Jonesboro, and the Murphysboro Work Center, 
2221 Walnut, Murphysboro, Illinois; the public libraries in Benton, 
Carbondale, Golconda, Harrisburg, Jonesboro,

[[Page 68588]]

Marion, Metropolis, Murphysboro, Shawneetown, and West Frankfort; and 
the Southern Illinois University Library, Carbondale. Maps and other 
information are also available for review on the Shawnee National 
Forest's Web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/shawnee. Click on ``Trail 
Designation Project'' under ``Current Management News.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action

    The Shawnee National Forest's 1992 Amended Land and Resource 
Management Plan (Forest Plan) anticipated an increasing demand for 
trails on the Forest. In addition to identifying a potential trail-
corridor system, the Forest Plan allowed equestrians the use of then-
existing user-developed trails and the freedom to ride cross-country in 
most areas of the Forest. In the years since publication of the Forest 
Plan, public demand for trails has grown without any additions to the 
Forest's designated trail system. The existing designated trail system 
does not adequately meet the need for public access to many scenic 
attractions, nor does it provide equestrians a loop-trail experience. 
Numerous user-developed trails have been formed outside of the 
designated trail system; but agency policy prevents the Forest from 
managing these trails with trail-maintenance funds.
    The Shawnee National Forest is ready at this time for a decision on 
the designation of additional system trails in order to provide 
recreational users a longer, well-marked, well-maintained trail system 
and to reduce resource damage from non-designated, unmanaged, user-
developed trails. Since the majority of equestrian use occurs in four 
neighboring watersheds that contain many popular attractions--about 30 
percent of the Forest--the first phase of trail designation is focused 
in these watersheds. The Forest Service intends to conduct further 
analyses in the remainder of the Forest following implementation of the 
decision that results from this environmental impact statement.

Proposed Action

    The Shawnee National Forest proposes to: (1) Identify a number of 
miles of trail to add to the Forest's designated trail system within 
the watersheds of Lusk Creek, Upper Bay Creek, Big Grande Pierre Creek 
and Eagle Creek, with the additional miles drawn primarily from 
existing user-developed trails reconstructed and relocated as necessary 
to avoid resource impacts; (2) construct additional trailheads to 
provide access to the trail system; (3) amend the Forest Plan to 
restrict equestrian use in these four watersheds to system trails and 
roads; and (4) amend as required the trail-density standards in the 
Forest Plan.

Possible Alternatives

    Possible alternatives for evaluation in the environmental impact 
statement include taking no action, designating trails in the four 
watersheds within the constraints of the Forest Plan's trail-density 
standards, and designating all trail-routes identified during a series 
of public workshops on the trails master-planning process.
    Responsible Official: Allen Nicholas, Forest Supervisor, Shawnee 
National Forest, 50 Highway 145 South, Harrisburg, IL 62946.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The responsible official will decide whether or not to designate 
more trails on the Shawnee National Forest, whether or not to construct 
additional trailheads, whether or not to amend the Forest Plan to 
restrict equestrian use in the four watersheds to designated trails and 
roads, and whether or not to amend the trail-density standards 
specified in the Forest Plan.

Scoping Process

    The Shawnee National Forest proposes to scope for information by 
contacting persons and organizations on the Forest's mailing list and 
publishing a notice in the newspaper of record. The Forest will accept 
comments at the above-stated addresses on the scope of the proposed 
action and alternatives until January 30, 2004.
    Two informational public open houses will be held to answer 
questions regarding the proposed action and to receive scoping 
comments. The first will be 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, 
2004 in the Knights of Columbus Hall, 100 Columbus Drive, Marion, 
Illinois (next to the church on the west side of Russell Street, three 
blocks south of U.S. Highway 13), and the second will be 4 p.m. to 7 
p.m. on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 in the Commons Area of the Vienna 
High School, 601 N. 1st Street, Vienna, Illinois (across the street 
from the Vienna Ranger Station).

Preliminary Issues

    The Forest Service has identified from previous public comments 
several preliminary issues related to the proposed action: (1) 
Designation and construction and/or improvement of additional system 
trails may cause increased erosion and soil compaction and adversely 
affect water quality; (2) Increasing trail-density standards may 
adversely affect wilderness and natural area attributes; (3) Use of 
additional trails may exceed the physical carrying-capacity of the 
affected watersheds; and (4) Designation of additional system trails 
may not provide quality recreational experiences.

Comments Requested

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process that guides the 
development of the environmental impact statement. In order to ensure 
adequate identification and discussion in the environmental impact 
statement of all relevant issues and alternatives, the Forest Service 
seeks comments related specifically to the proposed action and 
alternatives. We are especially interested in information that might 
identify a specific undesired result of implementing the proposed 
action. 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 
the right to appeal subsequent decisions under 36 CFR parts 215 and 
217.
    Those who comment during the scoping period will be listed to 
receive a copy of the draft environmental impact statement. In order to 
conserve resources, the Shawnee National Forest encourages all 
recipients to view and/or download the draft environmental impact 
statement from the Shawnee National Forest Web site or accept a copy of 
the document on a CD. If you are unable to utilize the Web site or a 
CD, please specify in your comment submittal that you prefer to receive 
a paper copy of the draft environmental impact statement.
    Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any persons 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, should the request be denied, return the 
submission and notify the requester that the comments may be 
resubmitted with or without name and address within 90 days.

[[Page 68589]]

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 Agency 
publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, that 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 statement 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 1016,1 022 (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 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 Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in 
addressing these points.
    Comments received, including the name and addresses of those who 
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal 
and will be available for public inspection.

    (Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 
1909.15, section 21)


    Dated: December 2, 2003.
Huston A. Nicholas,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 03-30439 Filed 12-8-03; 8:45 am]
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