[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 82 (Friday, April 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22294-22296]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-8577]


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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Site-Specific Invasive Plant Treatment Project--Mt. Hood National 
Forest and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area; Oregon

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) to document and disclose the potential environmental 
effects of proposed invasive plant treatments. The Proposed Action is 
to apply manual, mechanical, biological, and/or herbicide treatments to 
control known invasive plant sites within approximately 13,000 acres 
(208 sites) on the Mt. Hood National Forest and southern Columbia River 
Gorge National Scenic Area in Oregon. The Proposed Action would also 
establish criteria for responding to infestations that cannot be 
predicted. This notice of intent revises the Notice to Intent to 
prepare an EIS announced in the Federal Register on February 23, 2004; 
more information will be submitted at a later date for the National 
Forest System lands in Washington.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this analysis must be received 
no later than May 31, 2005, to ensure they are fully incorporated into 
the Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Jennie O'Connor, Mt. Hood 
National Forest, 16400 Champion Way, Sandy OR 97055. Electronic 
comments can be submitted to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennie O'Connor, Natural Resource 
Planner, Mt. Hood National Forest, 16400 Champion Way, Sandy OR 97055 
or by emailing [email protected] or by calling (503) 668-1645.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Need for the Proposal

    Invasive plants are compromising our ability to manage the National 
Forest for a healthy native ecosystem. Invasive plants create a host of 
environmental and other effects, most of which are harmful to native 
ecosystem processes, including: displacement of native plants; 
reduction in functionality of habitat and forage for wildlife and 
livestock; loss of threatened, endangered, and sensitive species; 
increased soil erosion and reduced water quality; alteration of 
physical and biological properties of soil, including reduced soil 
productivity; changes to the intensity and frequency of fires; high 
cost (dollars spent) of controlling invasive plants; and loss of 
recreation opportunities.
    Approximately 3,000 acres of forests and grasslands are known to 
already be degraded on the Mt. Hood National Forest and Columbia River 
Gorge National Scenic Area by infestations of invasive, non-native 
plants. These infestations are situated on about 208 individual 
locations or sites. These infestations have a high potential to expand 
and further degrade forests and grasslands. Infested areas represent 
potential seed sources for further invasion onto neighboring lands.
    There is an underlying need on these National Forest System lands 
for: (1) Reduce the extent of specific invasive plants at identified 
sites; and (2) timely treat new/additional invasive plant sites that 
may appear in the future. Without action, invasive plant populations 
will continue to grow, compromising our ability to manage for healthy 
native ecosystems and contributing to the spread of invasive plants.

Proposed Action

    The Proposed Action for this project is to treat approximately 
13,000 infested acres and associated spread zones on the Mt. Hood 
National Forest and southern Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area 
in Oregon. This includes 7 proposed treatment areas (2,000 acres) in 
the National Scenic Area, with the remainder of the sites on Mt. Hood 
National Forest. Treatment of these invasive plant sites would be a 
combination of manual, mechanical, biological, and herbicide treatment 
methods. Through the development long-term site goals, treatment of 
infested areas would be linked to revegetation and monitoring. 
Treatment would address 21 invasive plant species present on these 
sites.
    Site-specific treatment prescriptions would be based on the biology 
of particular invasive plant species, site location, proximity to 
water, and size of the infestation. Prescriptions would follow 
integrated pest management principles. Integrated pest management (IPM) 
is a process by which one selects and applies a combination of 
management techniques (manual, mechanical, biological for example) 
that, together, would control a particular invasive plant species or 
infestation efficiently and effectively, with minimum adverse impacts 
to non-target organisms. IPM seeks to combine two or more management 
techniques which would interact to provide better control than any one 
of the actions might provide alone. It is typically species-specific, 
site-specific and designed to be practical with minimal risk.
    On Mt. Hood National Forest and Columbia River Gorge National 
Scenic Area, the proposed action includes approximately 20 acres of 
biological treatment, 30 acres of herbicide only treatment, 510 acres 
of herbicide plus manual treatments, 2025 acres of herbicide plus 
mechanical treatments, 130 acres of manual plus mechanical treatments, 
and 10385 acres of herbicide plus manual and mechanical treatments. 
Treatments may be repeated over several years until control/restoration 
objectives are met. The proportion of specific treatment methods may 
change over time.
    In addition, a set of criteria that can be used for future invasive 
plant sites that may occur would also be established under the Proposed 
Action.

[[Page 22295]]

Sites that are discovered subsequent to completion of this assessment 
would require evaluation and potential treatment. If the effects were 
found to be within the scope of this assessment, then these new 
populations would also be treated. Criteria would be designed to 
prescribe the potential treatment methods that would be effective and 
consistent within certain types of sites. For new sites, yet 
unidentified, only high priority invasive plants would be treated.
    Maps of the proposed treatment sites and additional information on 
the proposal are available by contacting Jennie O'Connor, Mt. Hood 
National Forest (see above).

Proposed Scoping

    Public participation is an important part of the analysis. The 
Forest Service is seeking information, comments, and assistance from 
Federal, State and local agencies, tribes, and other individuals or 
organizations that may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
action. Comments submitted during the scoping process should be in 
writing, and they should be specific to the action being proposed and 
should describe as clearly and completely as possible any issues the 
commenter has with the proposal. This input will be used in preparation 
of the draft EIS.
    Comments submitted during the scoping conducted for the ``Invasive 
Plant Treatment Project--Olympic, Gifford Pinchot, and Mt. Hood 
Nationals Forests and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area; Oregon 
and Washington'' from February 23 to April 5, 2004 will be retained and 
considered in the development of this EIS. If you have additional 
comments on the revised proposed action these will be considered in 
conjunction with the previous comments.
    In addition to this scoping, the public may visit Forest Service 
officials at any time during the analysis and prior to the decision. To 
facilitate public participation additional scoping opportunities will 
include: A scoping letter, public meetings (dates and locations yet to 
be determined), and Web sites with addresses http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/invasiveplant-eis/multiforest-sitespecific-information.htm and http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mthood/projects/.

Preliminary Issues Identified to Date

    The potential for impacts/effects as a result of the establishment 
and spread of invasive plants and the potential for impacts/effects as 
a result of treatment actions designed to manage invasive plants are 
both important considerations that need to be addressed in the 
analysis. The following issues were identified during the initial 
scoping process:
     Human Health--Invasive plant treatments may result in 
health risks to forestry workers and the public, including 
contamination of drinking water.
     Treatment Effectiveness--Invasive plant treatments can 
vary in effectiveness. The presence and spread of invasive plants 
within National Forest System lands may affect the presence and spread 
of invasive plants on neighboring ownerships.
     Social and Economic--Invasive plant treatments vary in 
cost and affect the acreage that can be effectively treated each year 
given a set budget. Manual treatment methods may cost more per acre and 
provide more employment.
     Non-Target Plants and Animals--Impacts to non-target plant 
and animal species varies by invasive plant treatments. Mitigation and 
protection measures need to protect plant and animal species from the 
adverse effects of the proposed action.
     Soils, Water Quality and Aquatic Biota--Soil and ground 
disturbing impacts, effects to aquatic organisms, and water quality 
impacts vary by invasive plant treatments.

Alternatives Considered

    The No Action alternative will serve as a baseline for comparison 
of alternatives. Under the No Action alternative, Mt. Hood National 
Forest and the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area would continue 
to treat invasive plant species as authorized under existing National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents. As approved by NEPA 
decisions, 450 acres of herbicide treatments, 100 acres of manual 
treatments, and 10 acres of mechanical treatment are applied each year 
on Mt. Hood National Forest. As approved by NEPA decisions, 
approximately 150 acres using herbicide treatments, 25 acres using 
manual treatments, and 500 acres using mechanical treatment are applied 
each year on the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The 
proposed action, as described above will be considered as an 
alternative. Additional alternatives may be developed to address key 
issues identified in the scoping and public involvement process.

Estimated Dates for Draft and Final EIS

    The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public comment by 
January 2006. 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 
the 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 objectives 
that could be raised at the draft EIS stage but that are not raised 
until after the completion of the final EIS may be waived or dismissed 
by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F. 2d 1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 
1986) and Wisconsin Heritage, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334 (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 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 helpful if the comments refer to 
specific pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also 
address the adequacy of the draft EIS 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 provision of the National Environmental Policy Act (40 
CFR 1503.3).
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, 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 may not have 
standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR part 215. 
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,

[[Page 22296]]

under the 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.
    Comments on the draft EIS will be analyzed, considered, and 
responded to by the Forest Service in preparing the final EIS. The 
final EIS is scheduled to be completed in May 2006. There will be two 
responsible officials for this EIS. Duties of the Responsible Official 
will be shared between Gary Larsen, Forest Supervisor of the Mt. Hood 
National Forest, and Daniel Harkenrider, Area Manager of the Columbia 
River Gorge National Scenic Area. They will consider comments, 
responses, environmental consequences discussed in the final EIS, and 
applicable laws, regulations, and policies in making a decision 
regarding this proposed action. The responsible officials will document 
the decision and rationale for the decision in the Record of Decision. 
It will be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR Part 
215).

    Dated: April 22, 2005.
Gary L. Larsen,
Forest Supervisor, Mt. Hood National Forest.

    Dated: April 22, 2005.
Daniel T. Harkenrider,
Area Manager, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
[FR Doc. 05-8577 Filed 4-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M