[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 62 (Friday, April 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16795-16797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6359]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Ketchikan Misty Fiords Ranger District; Tongass National Forest; 
Alaska; Traitors Cove Timber Sale Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service will 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to harvest timber in 
the Traitors Cove area of northern Revillagigedo Island on the 
Ketchikan Misty Fiords Ranger District, Tongass National Forest. This 
environmental impact statement combines the project areas from three 
formerly proposed timber harvest projects. These projects were scoped 
under the Francis Cove Timber Sale, SW Neets Timber Sale, and Rockfish 
Timber Sale projects. A determination was made that there was a 
possibility of significant cumulative effects on these project areas 
and therefore a decision was made to prepare an EIS. The proposed 
action would harvest about 16 million board feet (MMBF) of timber on 
approximately 1000 acres. The project would construct about eight miles 
of road.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
within 30 days of the date of this notice. The Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement is expected to be published November 2005 and will 
begin a 45-day public comment period. The Final Environmental Impact 
Statement and Record of Decision are expected in April 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may comment on the project in the following ways: Send 
or hand deliver written comments to the Ketchikan Misty Fiords Ranger 
District, Attn: Traitors Cove EIS, Tongass National Forest, 3031 
Tongass Avenue, Ketchikan, AK 99901; telephone (907) 225-2148. The FAX 
number is (907) 225-8738. Send e-mail comments to: [email protected] with Traitors Cove EIS on the 
subject line. Include your name, address, and organization name if you 
are commenting as a representative.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  For further information, mail 
correspondence to Lynn Kolund, District Ranger, Ketchikan Misty Fiords 
Ranger District, Tongass National Forest, 3031 Tongass Avenue, 
Ketchikan, AK 99901, telephone (907) 228-4100 or Jeannie Blackmore, 
Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Ketchikan Misty Fiords Ranger District, 
Tongass National Forest, 3031 Tongass Avenue, Ketchikan, AK 99901, 
telephone (907) 228-4120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose and need for the proposed action responds to the goals 
and objectives identified by the Tongass Land Management Plan, as 
amended, and helps move the area toward the desired conditions as 
described in the forest plan. The Forest Supervisor will decide whether 
or not to harvest timber from the Traitors Cove Timber Sale area, and 
if so, how this timber will be harvested. The decision will be based on 
the information that is disclosed in the environmental impact 
statement. The responsible official will consider comments, responses, 
the disclosure of environmental consequences, and applicable laws, 
regulations, and policies in making the decision and will state that 
rationale in the Record of Decision.
     The Forest Plan goals and objectives applicable to the Traitors 
Cove Project Area include:
    1. Maintain and promote wood production from suitable timber lands, 
providing a suitable supply of wood to meet society's needs;
    2. Seek to provide a stable supply of timber from the Tongass 
National Forest which meets the annual planning-cycle market demand, 
while managing these lands for sustained long-term yields and is 
consistent with sound multiple use and sustained yield objectives: and
    3. Provide a diversity of opportunities for resource uses that 
contribute to the local and regional economies of Southeast Alaska to 
support a wide range of natural-resource employment opportunities 
within Southeast Alaska's communities.
    The proposed action is to harvest approximately 1000 acres in 54 
harvest units using shovel, cable, and/or helicopter logging systems 
and implementing four silvicultural prescriptions including, clearcut, 
clearcut with reserve, two age, and uneven age management. The proposed 
action would harvest approximately 16 MMBF of timber volume. 
Approximately eight miles of road would be constructed. Logs would be 
barged from three existing marine access

[[Page 16796]]

facilities located at Margaret Bay, SW Neets, and Fire Cove.
    Land use designations (LUDs) identified in the project area are 
Modified Landscape and Timber Production; both of these LUDs allow 
timber harvest. None of the proposed timber harvest units or roads are 
within roadless areas. The Traitors Cove Project Area includes two 
small old-growth habitat reserves (OGRs) as designated the Forest Plan. 
They are located in Visual Comparison Unit (VCU) 7400 and VCU 7390. 
There are no plans for modification of either of these small OGRs.

Public Participation

    Public participation has been a integral component of the study 
process and will continue to be especially important at several points 
during the analysis. The Forest Service will be seeking information, 
comments, and assistance from Tribal Governments, Federal, State, and 
local agencies, individuals and organizations that may be interested 
in, or affected by, the proposed activities. Scoping initially occurred 
on the Rockfish, SW Neets, and Francis Cove EAs in April 2004 and an 
updated scoping letter was mailed in November 2004.
    In addition to this Notice of Intent, legal notices will be placed 
in the Juneau Empire and the Ketchikan Daily News. The Juneau Empire is 
the official newspaper of record for this project. Written scoping 
comments are being solicited through a scoping letter that was mailed 
to interested individuals and agencies on March 28, 2005. The scoping 
process includes: (1) Identification of potential issues; (2) 
identification of issues to be analyzed in depth; and (3) elimination 
of non-significant issues or those which have been covered by a 
previous environmental review. Based on 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. Subsistence hearings, as provided for in Title VIII, 
Section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
(ANILCA), will be conducted, if necessary, during the comment period on 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. 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 Statement 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 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 Environmental Impact 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.
    Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; 
however, those who submit anonymous comments will not have standing to 
appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR Parts 215 or 217. 
Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the 
agency to withhold 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, 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 seven days.

Preliminary Issues

    Previously identified issues for analysis in the project area 
include potential: (1) Cumulative effects to wildlife, (2) Effects to 
traditional and cultural hunting and gathering areas, (3) Road building 
costs, and (4) Timber sale economics.

Permits or Licenses Required

    Permits required for implementation include the following:

1. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers
    --Approval of discharge of dredge or fill material into the waters 
for the United States under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act;
    --Approval of the construction of structures or work in navigable 
waters of the United States under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor 
Act of 1899;
2. Environmental Protection Agency
    --General National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for Log 
Transfer Facilities in Alaska;
    --Review Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan;
3. State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources
    --Tideland Permit and Lease or Easement;
    --Certification of Compliance with Alaska Water Quality Standards 
(401 Certification) Chapter 20;
4. Office of Project Management & Permitting (DNR).
    --Coastal Zone Consistency Determination concurrence.

Responsible Official

    Forrest Cole, Forest Supervisor, Tongass National Forest, Federal 
Building, 648 Mission Street, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The Forest Supervisor will decide:
    1. The amount, location and method of timber harvest and vegetation 
treatment.
    2. Whether there may be a significant restriction on subsistence 
uses .
    The responsible official will consider the comments, responses, 
disclosure of environmental consequences, and applicable laws, 
regulations and policies in making the decision and

[[Page 16797]]

state his rationale in the Record of Decision.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 
1909.15, Section21)

    Dated: March 24, 2005.
Olleke Rappe-Daniels,
Deputy Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 05-6359 Filed 3-31-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M