[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 203 (Thursday, October 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61786-61789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23614]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Bridger-Teton National Forest--Pinedale Ranger District; Wyoming; 
Moose-Gypsum Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service proposes a number of project actions within 
the Moose-Gypsum Project Area. These actions are designed to move these 
areas closer to the desired Future Conditions as described in the 
Bridger-Teton National Forest's Land and Resource Management Plan. The 
Pinedale Ranger District is proposing a 1,500-acre timber harvest in 
conifer stands; 1,100 acres of mechanical aspen stand improvement 
treatments; 600 acres of Wildland/Urban Interface fuels treatments; 
29,000 acres of sage/grass/aspen treatments to be accomplished 
primarily with prescribed burning and possibly with the use of an 
herbicide sage-reduction treatment on approximately 8,000 acres. 
Watershed restoration projects, such as the replacement of storm 
damaged culverts and rehabilitation of damaged stream banks on the 
Green River are also projects included in this proposal. Recreation 
project improvements included as a part of this analysis are a 
rerouting of the district's snowmobile trail around the elk winter feed 
ground, the development of a dispersed campsite management plan, and 
new trailhead design and reconstruction. Road management improvements, 
including the refinement of the existing travel plan to consider All 
Terrain Vehicle routes and wilderness trespass issues, the obliteration 
and rehabilitation of a roadbed within the Wilderness, and an upgrade 
of the Green River Lakes Road to a higher standard are also proposed 
for analysis in this environmental impact statement.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by November 12, 2004. The draft environmental impact statement is 
expected May 2005, and the final environmental impact statement is 
expected October 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Craig Trulock, District Ranger, 
Pinedale Ranger District, P.O. Box 220, Pinedale, Wyoming 82941. 
Electronic comments may be sent to; [email protected] with the subject line ``Moose-Gypsum EIS.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Trulock, District Ranger, 
Pinedale

[[Page 61787]]

Ranger District, Bridger-Teton National Forest, U.S. Forest Service 
307-367-4326.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Upper Green River Watershed is 
approximately 25 miles north of Pinedale, Wyoming, in the Green River 
drainage, on the west slope of the Wind River mountain range. The 
smaller project area within the boundaries of the Upper Green River 
Watershed is approximately 110,397 acres of National Forest System 
lands administered by the Pinedale Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton 
National Forest. The Upper Green River Watershed is comprised of the 
tributary creeks of the Green River and these include Moose Creek, 
Gypsum Creek, Roaring Fork, Boulder Creek and Wagon Creek. The 
subwatershed of two of these creeks, Moose Creek and Gypsum Creek and 
portion of the Green River watershed itself, are defined as the project 
area to be analyzed in this environmental impact statement. The legal 
description of the project area under consideration includes portions 
of T37N, R109W; T38N, R109/110W; T39N, R108/109/110W; T40N, R108/109/
110W.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The Moose-Gypsum EIS is being analyzed for the purpose of 
responding to the goals and objectives of the Bridger-Teton Forest 
Plan, in order to move the project area toward the Desired Future 
Conditions described in that plan. The 1999 Upper Green Landscape 
Assessment (LSA) analyzed integrated resource conditions in the project 
area. The LSA more specifically identified and described Desired Future 
Conditions for a variety of resources. In 2004, the Gypsum Watershed 
Analysis was completed, further clarifying the Desired Future 
Conditions for some resources. The Purpose and Need for this project is 
to consider actions that attain, or take the initial steps toward 
attaining, these resources' Desired Future Conditions. There are a 
number of com[ponents related to current resource conditions that are 
in need of improvement, and these include:
     Reintroduction of fire into the area as a natural 
disturbance tool. Fire will be used to achieve a number of objectives 
ranging from habitat improvement, rangeland improvement, fuels 
reduction, and treatment of Aspen stands that are predominantly old age 
classes, are being encroached on by conifers, and are declining in 
growth and health.
     Attention to the overall health of the watersheds of Moose 
and Gypsum Creeks through road surface improvement, culvert replacement 
and other watershed restoration activities.
     Modification of the compositions of some of the vegetative 
species within the project area in order to move them toward historic 
vegetation compositions, which is the Desired Future Conditions for 
these vegetation species. A majority of the conifer stands in the 
project area are in older age classes that are declining in growth and 
health, accumulating heavy fuels loads and higher tree densities than 
are healthy for their site conditions. The Desired Future Condition 
would be to maintain a healthy variety: a percentage of stands in 
seedling/sapling stages, for example, with preservation of the forest 
structure in snags, down logs, tree clumps, lower tree densities and 
promotion of natural regeneration.
     Reduction of the risk of catastrophic wildfire by 
reduction of the hazardous fuels loads around private land through 
vegetation management.
     Management of the timber resource for production of saw 
timber and other wood products from suitable timberlands available for 
timber harvest on an even-flow, long term, sustained yield basis, and 
in an economically-efficient manner.
     Provision of a diversity of opportunities for resource 
uses that contribute to the local and regional economies of 
northwestern Wyoming.
     Improvement of recreation opportunities and the quality of 
recreational experiences through the development of a dispersed camping 
plan for the project area to protect sensitive areas such as streams 
and river banks, updating the 1996 Pinedale Ranger District's Travel 
Management Plan in order to address Off-Highway Vehicle issues such as 
wilderness trespass, closure violations, and to ensure that choices for 
open and closed roads are appropriate.

Proposed Action

    A Proposed Action is defined early in the project-level planning 
process. It serves as a starting point for the Interdisciplinary Team 
and gives the public and agencies information on which to focus 
comments. The Proposed action presented here will be updated using the 
comments received, preliminary analysis and additional field 
information obtained prior to the Draft EIS. The Proposed Action of 
this project is to complete a variety of projects within the area under 
analysis to meet Desired Future Conditions, goals and objectives 
identified for the various resources under consideration in this EIS. 
Vegetation treatments within the project are designed to move the 
vegetation to more historic species and age class compositions. These 
vegetation treatments will take place over an extended time period of 
up to ten years.
    Following are general descriptions of the type of projects being 
proposed and analyzed:
    1. Conifer Vegetation Treatments. Conifer treatments are proposed 
to thin overstocked conifer forests while maintaining a forested 
appearance. The objective is to leave the healthiest trees of diverse 
species while reducing losses caused by insects and disease and 
salvaging wood products. These treatments will take place in older 
stands where tree growth is greatly reduced or where mortality of trees 
exceeds growth. The remaining trees will better utilize the nutritional 
resources available on their sites and continuously provide habitat for 
forest-dependent species. Additional treatments will provide for 
regeneration of the declining Lodgepole pine, Whitebark pine and mixed 
conifer forests and enhanced age class diversity across the landscape. 
These treatments entail removing most merchantable trees through a 
commercial timber sale. Regeneration of healthy new stands will be 
ensured by planting with Lodgepole pine or Englemann spruce and/or 
providing for natural regeneration. Individual and groups of healthy 
seed trees and snags, and groups of healthy non-merchantable trees, 
will be left for seed, habitat, and diversity, where they are 
available. Age class diversity is important to reduce losses caused by 
insects and disease and will reflect historically occurring conditions. 
Treatments to be analyzed include: shelterwood harvest, overstory-
removal harvest, clearcut harvest, group-selection harvest and salvage 
harvest.
    2. Aspen Treatments. A combination of mechanical treatments (which 
may include harvesting, pushing over, or other regeneration methods) 
and burning (broadcast and pile) of aspen and encroaching conifer to 
rejuvenate aspen stands.
    3. Sage and Grass Treatments. Primarily burning with some use of 
sagebrush herbicides. The objectives are wildlife habitat improvement, 
rangeland improvement, sage encroached aspen, and reestablishment of 
diverse age structures.
    4. Fuels Reduction Treatments. A combination of mechanical 
treatments and burning (broadcast and pile) will be utilized to reduce 
fuel loadings around private lands. Down wood will be removed, 
understory ladder fuels will be pruned and a thinning from below of 
dense understory will open the

[[Page 61788]]

understory to reduce risk from crown fires.
    5. Watershed Improvements. Forest roads will be improved to 
minimize existing sedimentation into adjacent streams, improve 
drainage, and reduce continual maintenance needs. This will entail 
culvert replacement and maintenance as part of the harvest operations. 
Existing roads provide access to many of the treatment areas. Some 
additional skid roads may be needed to reach into the stands. After 
treatments are completed, these skid roads would be closed and 
obliterated and allowed to regenerate naturally, or seeded, depending 
upon the site.
    6. Travel Plan Update. The Pinedale Ranger District's Travel Plan 
needs to be updated in some areas within the Gypsum Creek drainage and 
the Upper Green River drainage. Several problems exist including 
wilderness trespass, erosion problems that are adding sediment to 
streams and travel in areas that have been closed. These could lead to 
road closures of some routes, and maintenance and relocation of other 
routes that are causing problems. Several opportunities exist to 
provide additional travel routes open to OHVs. These include 
constructing short segments connecting two existing travel routes 
providing loop OHV trails, and provide addition OHV routes in certain 
other areas.
    7. Recreation Planning. A dispersed camping plan has been developed 
to establish new dispersed campsites while closing some dispersed sites 
that are in sensitive areas such as next to stream banks. Several 
problems exist along the Green River and Gypsum Creek, where dispersed 
camp sites are too close to the streams. This has caused trampling of 
the vegetation along the stream banks leading to increased erosion and 
sedimentation into the streams. The objective will be to provide 
dispersed camping opportunities while correcting erosion and 
sedimentation problems. Where opportunities allow, the dispersed 
campsites will be moved 200 feet away from the streams. Where the use 
cannot be moved, those campsites will be closed and other campsites in 
adjacent areas will be opened to accommodate this use.

Possible Alternatives

    The Environmental Impact Statement will analyze at least three 
alternatives: The ``No Action'' alternative, which will detail the 
consequences of doing nothing in all the project categories included in 
the variety of projects of the Proposed Action; the effects of the 
``Proposed Action'' will be analyzed; and an ``Alternative Action'' may 
be formulated from acceptable portions of the Proposed Action. The 
scoping process and environmental analysis will evaluate the 
feasibility of alternatives to the proposed action.

Responsible Official

    Craig Trulock, District Ranger, Pinedale Ranger District, P.O. Box 
220, Pinedale, Wyoming 82941.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The decision, which will be based upon the analyses described 
above, will be whether or not the Proposed Project, or portions of the 
Proposed Project, will further the Pinedale District's attainment of 
the Desired Future Conditions described in the Bridger-Teton National 
Forest's Land and Resource Management Plan. The decision will also 
identify needed mitigation measures during the analysis process, in 
addition to the any prescribed in the Land and Resource Management 
Plan.

Scoping Process

    The Forest Service is seeking information, comments, and assistance 
from individuals, organizations and Federal, State, and local agencies 
that may be interested in or affected by the proposed action (36 CFR 
219.6).
    Public comments will be used and disclosed in the environmental 
analysis documented in the Moose-Gypsum EIS. Public participation will 
be solicited by notifying in person, and/or by mail, known interested 
and affected parties. A legal notice and news releases will be used to 
give the public general notice. Open houses will be held from 4 p.m. to 
7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3, 2004. Forest Service and Bionomics, 
Inc., (environmental consultants) will be available to explain the 
project, answer questions and record public input.
    A reasonable range of alternatives will be evaluated and reasons 
will be given for eliminating alternatives from detailed study. A ``no-
action alternative'' is required by law, which means that the 
consequences of not doing the Proposed Action will be evaluated. 
Alternatives will be formulated in response to public issues, 
management concerns, existing condition reports and resource 
opportunities identified during the scoping process.

Comments Requested

    This Notice of Intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the Moose-Gypsum Environmental Impact Statement.

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, 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 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, 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 30 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.
    Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who 
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal 
and will be available for public inspection.


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(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 
1909.15, Section 2.1.)

    Dated: October 14, 2004.
Craig Trulock,
District Ranger, Pinedale Ranger District, Bridger-Teton National 
Forest.
[FR Doc. 04-23614 Filed 10-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M