[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5123-5124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2100]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


West-Side Reservoir Post-Fire Project, Flathead National Forest, 
Flathead County, Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) for a proposal to salvage dead and dying trees within 
the perimeters of the Beta, Doris, Doe, Wounded Buck, Blackfoot, and 
Ball fires (collectively referred to as the West-Side Reservoir Fires), 
which burned a total of approximately 30,000 acres on the Flathead 
National Forest from July to September of 2003. All fires burned on the 
Hungry Horse Ranger District except the Ball fire that burned on the 
Spotted Bear Ranger District; all of the burned acres occur on and are 
surrounded by National Forest System land. The Hungry Horse Reservoir 
is adjacent to the project area on the east. The Hungry Horse Dam, 
administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, is adjacent to the project 
area on the north. The city of Hungry Horse, Montana is located about 
four air miles to the northwest of the most northern portion of the 
project area.

DATES: Substantive comments concerning the scope of the analysis should 
be received in writing on or

[[Page 5124]]

before March 5, 2004. A public scoping meeting will be held in the town 
of Kalispell, Montana in February 2004. The draft environmental impact 
statement (DEIS) is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency and made available for public review in June of 2004. 
No date has yet been determined for filing the final environmental 
impact statement (FEIS).

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to either Jimmy DeHerrera, Hungry 
Horse District Ranger, or Deb Mucklow, Spotted Bear District Ranger. 
The mailing address for both Rangers is P.O. Box 190340, Hungry Horse, 
Montana 59919, or call them at (406) 387-3800. Comments may be e-mailed 
to [email protected]. Substantive 
comments are those within the scope of, are specific to, and have a 
direct relationship to the proposed action, and include supporting 
reasons that the Responsible Official should consider in reaching a 
decision. Comments received in response to this request will be 
available for public inspection and will be released in their entirety 
if requested pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Donner, Planning Team Leader, 
(406) 863-5408.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose and need for the action is to 
recover merchantable wood fiber affected by the West-Side Reservoir 
Fires in a timely manner to support local communities and contribute to 
the long-term yield of forest products.
    Fire-killed trees do not typically maintain their merchantability 
as wood products for more than one to three years, depending on their 
species and size. Sapwood staining, checking, woodborer damage, and 
decay will deleteriously reduce timber volume after that time. Smaller-
diameter trees typically will not be merchantable within a year. 
Larger-diameter trees can retain their merchantability as wood products 
for a longer period, but merchantability will deteriorate as time goes 
on. While considering ecological needs, salvage harvesting an 
appropriate amount of fire-affected trees in a timely manner to ensure 
their economic utilization and starting the reforestation process in 
the burned area will help facilitate meeting desired conditions within 
the area of the West-Side Reservoir Fires.
    The proposed action includes salvage of trees from a range of 
approximately 6100 to 6300 acres, which represents about 20 percent of 
the area that burned in the 2003 West-Side Reservoir Fires. No salvage 
or road building is proposed within inventoried roadless lands, nor is 
it proposed within the Jewel Basin Hiking Area. Planting conifer 
seedlings and ensuring that Best Management Practices would be 
maintained on roads used for the salvage would also be included in this 
project.
    Additionally, road and trail access would be changed in six grizzly 
bear subunits to respond to the Flathead Forest Plan's Amendment 19 
ten-year goals and objectives relative to grizzly bear security. 
Approximately 20 miles of open yearlong/seasonally open road would be 
restricted to wheeled motorized use yearlong and approximately 43 miles 
of trail would also be restricted to wheeled motorized use only within 
the Doris Lost Johnny, Wounded Buck Clayton, Jewel Basin Graves, 
Wheeler Quintonkon, Kah Soldier, and Ball Branch grizzly bear subunits. 
Also, approximately 49 miles of road would be decommissioned in these 
same units. All of these 49 miles of road decommissioning are currently 
restricted to wheeled motorized use yearlong except for 0.8 miles that 
is currently open yearlong. The Flathead Forest Plan has open motorized 
access, total motorized access, and security core standards that would 
be amended with a project specific amendment in this project.
     More detailed scoping information and maps can be accessed on the 
Flathead National Forest Internet site at http://www.fs.fed.us/rl/flathead/.
     This EIS will tier to the Flathead National Forest Land and 
Resource Management Plan and EIS of January 1986, and its subsequent 
amendments, which provide overall guidance for land management 
activities on the Flathead National Forest.
     Preliminary issues and concerns include effects of treatments on 
the following: soil, streams, riparian areas, old growth habitat, 
recreational motorized access, and threatened/endangered species such 
as bull trout and grizzly bears.
     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 it is important to give reviewers 
notice at this early stage 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 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. 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 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 is the Forest Supervisor of the Flathead 
National Forest, 1935 3rd Avenue East, Kalispell, Montana 59901. The 
Forest Supervisor will make a decision regarding this proposal 
considering the comments and responses, environmental consequences 
discussed in the final EIS, and applicable laws, regulations, and 
policies. The decision and rationale for the decision will be 
documented in a Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to 
appeal under applicable Forest Service regulations.

    Dated: January 29, 2004.
Cathy Barbouletos,
Forest Supervisor--Flathead National Forest.
[FR Doc. 04-2100 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am]
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