[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 69 (Friday, April 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18928-18929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7564]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR-090-5900, HAG04-0090]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Upper Siuslaw River Late-Successional Reserve 
Restoration Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102 (2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, a Final Environmental Impact Statement has 
been prepared by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Eugene District, 
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

[[Page 18929]]

as a cooperating agency, for the Upper Siuslaw Late-Successional 
Reserve (LSR) Restoration Plan. The FEIS was prepared to analyze the 
impacts of a long-term management approach and specific actions needed 
to achieve the LSR goals and Aquatic Conservation Strategy objectives 
set out in the Northwest Forest Plan. The Upper Siuslaw LSR Restoration 
Plan will address management of approximately 25,000 acres of BLM-
managed lands within LSR 267 in the upper portion of the Siuslaw River 
fifth-field watershed. An abbreviated FEIS has been prepared, 
containing copies of comments received on the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (DEIS), responses to those comments, and an errata 
section with specific modifications and corrections to the DEIS. Copies 
of the FEIS will be mailed to individuals, agencies, or companies who 
previously requested copies. A limited number of copies of the document 
will be available at the Eugene District Office. The FEIS and Draft EIS 
are also available online from the Eugene District Internet Web site at 
http://www.edo.or.blm.gov.

DATES: Written comments on the FEIS must be postmarked or otherwise 
delivered by 4:15 p.m., 30 days following the date the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) publishes the NOA and filing of the FEIS in the 
Federal Register.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the Eugene District office during 
regular hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except 
holidays, and may be published as part of the environmental analysis or 
other related documents. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or address from 
public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 
you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written 
comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. 
Anonymous comments will not be accepted. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the document should be addressed to: 
Rick Colvin, P.O. Box 10226, Eugene, OR, 97440; or e-mail to: 
[email protected] Attn: Rick Colvin. Written comments may also be 
hand-delivered to the Eugene District Office, 2890 Chad Drive, Eugene, 
OR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Colvin at (541) 683-6600 or 1-
888-442-3061.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS addresses alternatives for forest 
and aquatic restoration within a Late-Successional Reserve in the Coast 
Range Mountains west of Eugene, Oregon. The purpose of the action is to 
protect and enhance late-successional and old-growth forest ecosystems; 
foster the development of late-successional forest structure and 
composition in plantations and young forests; and reconnect streams and 
stream channels to their riparian areas and upslope areas.
    The FEIS analyzes in detail the following six alternatives:
    Alternative A--no active management (No Action);
    Alternative B--restoration limited to forest plantations and road 
management with no commercial timber harvest;
    Alternative C--continuation of the current management approach;
    Alternative D--restoration focused on recovery of threatened and 
endangered species;
    Alternative E--restoration that would reduce forest stand densities 
as quickly as possible;
    Alternative F--restoration based on multi-entry and multi-
trajectory thinning.
    All alternatives analyzed in the FEIS are in conformance with the 
1995 Eugene District Resource Management Plan (RMP) and do not require 
any amendment or revision of the RMP. The Preferred Alternative is 
Alternative D.
    The FEIS analyzes the following issues:
    --How would thinning affect development of late-successional forest 
habitat characteristics?
    --What are the effects of restoration activities on the northern 
spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and coho salmon habitat?
    --What level of risk to existing late-successional forest would 
result from restoration activities?
    --How would actions meet the objectives of the Aquatic Conservation 
Strategy?
    --How much new road construction would be needed to implement 
restoration actions?
    --How would road decommissioning and road-management actions alter 
public access to BLM lands?
    --How would restoration actions affect the presence and spread of 
noxious weeds?
    --What would be the economic effects of restoration activities?
    --What would the restoration program cost?
    The DEIS was made available for a 60-day public comment period, 
from August 15, 2003 to October 15, 2003. BLM received 11 comment 
letters during the comment period and one comment letter after the 
comment period. BLM received no comments that suggested development of 
additional alternatives or pointed out flaws or deficiencies in 
analysis. As a result, BLM made only minor changes in the DEIS in 
response to comments, consisting of technical, editorial, or non-
substantive factual corrections. Therefore, only an abbreviated FEIS 
has been prepared, containing copies of comments received on the DEIS, 
responses to those comments, and an errata section with specific 
modifications and corrections to the DEIS in response to comments. The 
DEIS will not be rewritten or reprinted. Only the comments, responses, 
and an errata sheet will be circulated for review, consistent with 40 
CFR 1503.4 and the BLM NEPA Handbook H-1790-1, p. V-21.

Steven Calish,
Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 04-7564 Filed 4-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P