[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 57 (Friday, March 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15284-15286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5908]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Superior National Forest, LaCroix and Kawishiwi Ranger Districts, 
Minnesota Echo Trail Area Forest Management Project Environmental 
Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Echo Trail Area Forest 
Management Project. The Record of Decision will disclose how the Forest 
Service will manage vegetation to meet landscape ecosystem objectives 
in the Project Area. The project Area encompasses about 126,000 acres 
of National Forest System land. The Proposed Action would provide 
approximately 80 million board feet of timber to local and regional 
timber

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markets; harvest approximately 16,006 acres of mature and overmature 
stands in the Jack Pine/Black Spruce, Dry-mesic Red and White Pine, and 
Lowland Conifer landscape ecosystems; thin about 838 acres of pine; do 
timber stand improvement activities on about 287 acres and diversity 
planting on about 981 acres; and provide road access across National 
Forest System land to State and county forested lands. The 
transportation system would also be analyzed to provide roads for 
forest resource management. A range of alternatives, including a no-
action alternative, will be developed to respond to significant issues. 
The proposed project is located on the LaCroix and Kawishiwi Ranger 
Districts, Cook and Ely, Minnesota, Superior National Forest. In 
addition , the Proposed Action may create temporary openings greater 
than 1,000 acres.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this project must be received 
by May 9, 2005. The draft environmental impact statement is expected 
October 2005. The final environmental impact statement is expected 
March 2006.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Nancy S. Larson, LaCroix District 
Ranger, Echo Trail Area Forest Management Project EIS, LaCroix Ranger 
District, 320 North Highway 53, Cook, MN 55723. For further 
information, mail correspondence to Carol Booth, Project Leader, at the 
address above. Send electronic comments to [email protected]. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for how 
to send electronic comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy S. Larson, LaCroix District 
Ranger, or Carol Booth, Echo Trail Area Project Leader at Addresses 
above or telephone: (218) 666-0020.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of the Echo Trail Area Forest Management Project is to 
move the area towards the vegetation and landscape ecosystem desired 
conditions described in the 2004 Superior National Forest Plan.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action would include clearcut harvesting with reserve 
trees about 16,006 acres and thinning about 838 acres, resulting in an 
estimated 80 million board feet available for timber sales. In 
addition, about 34 miles of road would be added to the transportation 
system and about 51 miles of road would be decommissioned. Special use 
road permits for about 12 miles of roads would be issued to the State 
and county.

Responsible Officials

    Nancy S. Larson, LaCroix District Ranger, 320 North Highway 53, 
Cook, MN 55723 and Mark E. Van Every, Kawishiwi District Ranger, 118 
South 4th Ave. East, Ely, MN 55731.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    An environmental analysis for this project area will evaluate site-
specific issues, consider alternatives, and analyze the potential 
effects of the proposed action and alternatives. The scope of the 
project is limited to decisions concerning activities within the Echo 
Trail Project Area that meet the purpose and need and desired 
conditions. An environmental impact statement will provide the deciding 
officials (Nancy S. Larson, LaCroix District Ranger and Mark Van Every, 
Kawishiwi District Ranger) with the information needed to make the 
following decisions for the Echo Trail Area Forest Management Project:
    1. What actions would be used to address the purpose and need.
    2. Where and when those actions would take place.
    3. What mitigation measure and monitoring requirements would be 
required.

Scoping Process

    Public participation will be an integral component of the analysis 
process, and will be especially important at several points during the 
analysis. The first is during the scoping process. The Forest Service 
is seeking information, comments, and assistance from Federal agencies, 
State agencies, local agencies, individuals, and organizations that may 
be interested or affected by the proposed activities. The scoping 
process will include: (1) Identification of potential issues, (2) 
identification of issues to be analyzed in depth, and (3) elimination 
of insignificant issues, or those which have been covered by a previous 
environmental review. Based on the results of scoping and the resource 
capabilities within the project area, alternatives, including a no-
action alternative, will be developed for the draft environmental 
impact statement.

Permits or Licenses Required

    The proposed action may create temporary openings greater than 
1,000 acres. A 60-day public notice and review by the Regional Forester 
would be needed for such action.
    Easement or permission to cross non-federal property may be needed 
to access some treatment units to implement Forest Service activities.

Comment Requested

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the environmental impact statement. Written comments 
will be solicited through a scoping package that will be sent to the 
project mailing list. For the Forest Service to best use the scoping 
input, comments must be received by May 9, 2005. Include name, address, 
and title of the project with your comments.
    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 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 objects that could have been 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 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 of 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 chapter 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

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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 in 40 CFR 1503.3.
    Comments received, including 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. Comments submitted 
anonymously will be accepted and considered. 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. Requesters 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. If 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 seven days.
    In making the decision, the responsible officials will consider the 
comments, responses, disclosure of environmental consequences, and 
applicable laws, regulations, and policies. The responsible officials 
will state the rationale for the chosen alternative in the Record of 
Decision.

    Dated: March 21, 2005.
Nancy S. Larson,
LaCroix District Ranger.
    Dated: March 21, 2005.
Mark E. Van Every,
Kawishiwi District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 05-5908 Filed 3-24-05; 8:45 am]
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