[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 52 (Friday, March 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13163-13164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5292]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Kelsey Vegetation Management Project, Deschutes National Forest, 
Deschutes County, OR

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) on a proposed action to improve forest health 
conditions within the 46,175-acre Kelsey planning area. An analysis was 
initiated to assess tree density and hazardous fuels and associated 
forest related concerns of wildfire, insect infestations, and disease 
pathogens. Methods that would be used to reduce tree density and 
hazardous fuels are: Non-commercial and commercial thinning, mechanical 
shrub treatment, and prescribed burning. The planning area is located 
adjacent to the southern urban growth boundary of Bend, Oregon, east 
and adjacent to the Deschutes River and the community of Sunriver, 
north of Forest Road 9720, and west of Forest Road 1810. The planning 
area is a combination of public lands (99%), managed by the Deschutes 
National Forest, and private lands (1%). The alternatives will include 
the proposed action, no action, and additional alternatives that 
respond to issues generated through the scoping process. The agency 
will give notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making 
process so interested and affected public may participate and 
contribute to the final decision.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by 30 days following the date that this notice appears in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Kristin M. Bail, Acting District 
Ranger, Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District, Red Oaks Square, 1230 NE Third 
Street Suite A-262, Bend, Oregon 97701.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Frantz, Writer/Editor, Bend-Fort 
Rock Ranger District, Red Oaks Square, 1230 NE Third Street Suite A-
262, Bend, Oregon 97701, phone (541) 383-4721. E-mail 
[email protected].
    Responsible Official: The responsible official will be Leslie 
Weldon, Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest, P.O. Box 1645 Hwy 
20 East, Bend, OR 97701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background. The analysis of the 46,175-acre 
Kelsey planning area was initiated in 1999. The planning area includes 
wildland urban interface, winter deer habitat, key elk habitat, the 
Upper Deschutes Wild and Scenic River, and the Newberry National 
Volcanic Monument. In July 2003, the 18 Fire burned approximately 3,520 
acres within the planning area along the northeast boundary. The area 
within the fire perimeter was analyzed separately in the 18 Fire 
Salvage Recovery Project EIS.
    The Kelsey planning area is located within the dry eastside forests 
of central Oregon. Large ponderosa pine (greater than 21'' in diameter) 
once dominated the landscape. During the 1930s and 1940s, this area was 
owned and clearcut by private commercial enterprises, leaving few 
residual individual large trees and very few small stands of larger, 
older ponderosa pine. The Forest Service acquired these private lands 
during the ensuing years. The area now consists primarily of an even-
aged, single story, black bark ponderosa pine forest with encroaching 
lodgepole pine. The average size of the ponderosa pine is approximately 
12 inches in diameter at breast height (dbh), with much of the tree 
size within the 9 to 14 inch dbh range. Less than one (1) percent of 
the planning area is classified as large, old growth ponderosa pine. 
Highly flammable shrubs are the primary understory vegetation 
throughout the planning area and beyond. As a result of suppression of 
wildlife for approximately 90 years, large contiguous areas of dense 
shrubs can spread fire into the tree canopy.
    Desired Condition. To provide a sustainable forest, one where 
disturbances such as wildfire, insects, and disease occurrences are 
more typical of a properly functioning eastside forest.
    Purpose and Need. Low intensity wildfire frequently burned the 
eastside ponderosa forest ecosystem with a fire interval of generally 
less than 30 years, reducing stand density and natural fuels. The 
combination of fire suppression since the early 1900s and clear cutting 
has created a scenario with uncharacteristically high stand density

[[Page 13164]]

and fuels when compared to an historical eastside forest.
    Because of high tree density across much of the analysis area, a 
more destructive crown fire could be sustained, including areas 
adjacent to the wildland urban interface. Also, due to the lack of a 
historical frequent and low intensity fire regime, large, contiguous 
areas of bitterbrush provide potential high hazard fuels. Remnant, 
large ponderosa pine that would ordinarily be fire resistant are placed 
at risk because of increased competition with lodgepole pine and 
increased ground to crown ladder fuels. In addition to the potential 
for large, uncharacteristic wildfire, tree mortality from insects and 
disease is becoming evident and stands are becoming susceptible due to 
high stand density and periods of low precipitation.
    The purpose and need of the project is to address opportunities for 
protecting and enhancing the forest ecosystem within the Kelsey 
planning area, including:
     Provide this fire-dependent ecosystem with a landscape 
that is capable for sustaining a characteristic low intensity wildfire.
     Reduce tree density to assist in a transition toward a 
forest ecosystem that is more resilient and resistant to disturbance.
     Protect and accelerate development of late and old 
structure trees.
     Provide stand structural diversity in even-aged stands to 
provide future big game habitat.
     Utilize opportunities that result from vegetation 
management activities to offset costs and provide products to stimulate 
the economy.
    Proposed Action. The proposed action includes non-commercial and 
commercial thinning of conifers less than 21 inches diameter at breast 
height to reduce tree stand density (5,495 acres); Reducing the shrub 
component to fragment high hazard fuels, including preparing stands for 
careful application of prescribed fire (8,955 acres); Creating small 
openings and replanting to provide areas for future deer forage and 
vertical stand diversity (260 acres).
    Issues. Preliminary issues include the potential effect of the 
proposed action on cultural resources, developed and dispersed 
recreation, noxious weeds, air quality, water quality, and wildlife 
habitat.
    Comment. Public comments regarding this proposal are requested in 
order to assist in identifying issues, determine how to best manage the 
resources, and to focus the analysis. Comments received to this notice, 
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 standing to appeal the subsequent decision in accordance with 36 
CFR parts 215 and 217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any 
person 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 where the request is denied, the 
agency will return the submission and notify the requester that the 
comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within a 
specified number of days.
    A draft EIS will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) and available for public review by July 15, 2005. The EPA will 
publish a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in the Federal 
Register. The final EIS is scheduled to be available October 24, 2005.
    The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date 
the EPA 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 
a draft EIS 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 EIS stage but that are not 
raised until after completion of the final EIS may be waived or 
dismissed by the courts [City of Angoon 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 meaningful consider them and respond to them in the final EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS should 
be as specific as possible. It is also help if comments refer to 
specific pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also 
address the adequacy of the draft EIS of 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.
    In the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to 
substantive comments received during the comment period for the draft 
EIS. The Forest Service is the lead agency and the responsible official 
is the Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest. The responsible 
official will decide where and whether or not to apply natural fuels 
treatments, thin stands, and reforest group cuts. The responsible 
official will also decide how to mitigate impacts of these actions and 
will determine when and how monitoring of effects will take place.
    The Kelsey Vegetation Management decision and the reasons for the 
decision will be documented in the record of decision. That decision 
will be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations (35 CFR Part 215).

    Dated: March 16, 2005.
Kevin Martin,
Deputy Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest.
[FR Doc. 05-5292 Filed 3-17-05; 8:45 am]
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