[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 31, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30924-30925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10717]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Myrtle Creek HFRA, Healthy Forest Restoration Act Project, 
Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests; 
Boundary County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Bonners Ferry Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle 
National Forest is proposing fuels reduction treatments in the Myrtle 
Creek and Snow Creek watersheds, identified as the Myrtle Creek HFRA 
project area. These watersheds are located nine miles west of Bonners 
Ferry, Idaho.
    The USDA Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) to disclose the potential environmental effects of 
implementing fuels reduction treatments on National Forest System lands 
within these drainages, which include portions of the Selkirk and 
Kootenai Peak Inventoried Roadless Areas.

DATES: Comments, suggestions, or requests to be placed on the project 
mailing list, should be received on or before July 5, 2005. The draft 
environmental impact statement is expected to be filed with the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review 
in July, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposal or 
requests to be placed on the project mailing list to District Ranger 
Mike Herrin, Bonners Ferry Ranger District, 6286 Main St., Bonners 
Ferry, Idaho 83805; comments may also be submitted electronically to e-
mail address: [email protected] in 
one of the following formats: MSWord, Word Perfect or rtf.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doug Nishek, Myrtle Creek HFRA Project 
Team Leader, Bonners Ferry Ranger District, at the above address, by 
phone at (208) 267-5561, or e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project area encompasses Myrtle Creek 
(about 17,000 acres) and the lower section of Snow Creek drainage 
(about 3,200 acres) within the Selkirk Mountains of northern Idaho. In 
September 2003 a wildfire burned approximately 3,450 acres in the lower 
portion of the Myrtle Creek drainage--the municipal watershed and 
primary source of drinking water for the City of Bonners Ferry. The 
fire burned across the intake diversion structure for the City's water 
system, and caused some short-term effects to the water quality. It 
also heightened the community's awareness of potential risks if another 
catastrophic fire burned within the watershed.
    The City of Bonners Ferry, Boundary County Commissioners and 
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho have asked the Forest Service to evaluate the 
current and future conditions of the watershed. Their overall goal for 
the area is continuing use of Myrtle Creek as a source of high quality 
municipal water. They are concerned about the following: (1) 
Maintaining a continuous supply of potable water from Myrtle Creek for 
the City of Bonners Ferry and its customers. (2) Reducing the risk of 
catastrophic fire in the Myrtle Creek watershed, while maintaining and 
restoring habitat for fish and wildlife species.
    Under the auspices of the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative 
(KVRI), the Myrtle Creek working group has been providing a forum to 
foster discussions between local government agencies, the Kootenai 
Tribe, interested members of the public and Forest Service personnel. 
The purpose of this KVRI subcommittee has been to look at community 
goals for Myrtle Creek, develop an overarching goal for the watershed 
and identify issues. KVRI publishes advance notice of working group 
meetings, which are open to all members of the public, in the local 
newspaper (Bonners Ferry Herald).
    As a primary land management agency within the Myrtle Creek 
watershed and adjacent areas, the Forest Service was asked to design 
treatments that will foster long-term reduction of risks from 
catastrophic wildfire within the municipal watershed. The Forest 
Service developed a three-part purpose and need for the Myrtle Creek 
project: (1) Maintain Myrtle Creek watershed as a source of high 
quality drinking water for the City of Bonners Ferry; (2) Reduce 
hazardous fuels in the Myrtle Creek watershed and adjacent forests; (3) 
Trend vegetation in Myrtle Creek watershed and adjacent forest towards 
conditions that would be less susceptible to catastrophic fire, while 
maintaining and restoring habitat for fish and wildlife species.
    The purpose and need are consistent with the Land and Resource 
Management Plan for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (Forest Plan). 
Findings of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project 
and the Kootenai River Geographic Assessment provide documentation of 
the currently dense, insect- and disease-prone state of the dry-site 
ecosystems and fire risks across the Idaho Panhandle National Forests 
and in the Kootenai River basin, and the marked changes these 
ecosystems have undergone over the past century. Site specific 
information indicates these same conditions are present in the 
vegetation in the Myrtle Creek and Snow Creek watersheds, tributaries 
to the Kootenai River.
    The Forest Service has presented a proposed action to the Myrtle 
Creek working group. The proposal is to treat

[[Page 30925]]

approximately 2,200 acres of National Forest Systems lands using a 
variety of silvicultural tools, that could include commercial thinning, 
sanitation salvage, group selection, irregular shelterwood, or seed 
tree harvests; utilizing a mixture of ground-based or helicopter 
harvesting. The fuels created by the vegetative treatments would be 
take care of by either removing the fuel during harvest operations, or 
prescribed burning or mechanical piling following harvest.
    The Boundary County Idaho Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Mitigation 
Plan, August 2003, as amended in February 2004, identified the 
wildland/urban interface as including, ``watersheds where citizen 
groups have organized for joint collection of water for domestic 
uses.'' It further stated, ``Boundary County is extremely dependent on 
surface waters for domestic purposes. This dependency includes 
residents for the City of Bonners Ferry, * * * Protection of water 
sources and water quality is a high priority.'' In accordance with the 
Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA), the Forest Service will analyze 
the proposed action and evaluate the effects of failing to implement 
the project. Because the proposed action would implement 
recommendations in the County Fire Mitigation Plan regarding the 
general location and basic method of treatments, the agency is not 
required to develop alternatives to the proposed action.
    The Forest Service issued a scoping notice in February, 2005. 
Comments provided by the public and other agencies have been used along 
the discussions with the Myrtle Creek working group to develop 
strategies for management of natural resources in the project area and 
during the environmental analysis for this EIS and will be a part of 
the public record. The following preliminary issues have been 
identified: The quality of water in Myrtle Creek, the municipal 
watershed for Bonners Ferry, Idaho; the risk of catastrophic fire in 
the Myrtle Creek watershed and adjacent lands; forest composition and 
structure, including old growth and snags; soils and soil productivity; 
potential effects to wildlife habitat; construction of new roads; 
potential effects to inventoried roadless areas; fisheries; future 
monitoring of the project area; and cumulative effects. The Forest 
Service is seeking information, comments, and assistance from federal, 
state and local agencies and other individuals or organizations that 
may be interested in or affected by the proposed actions.
    The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public 
review in July 2005. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of 
Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal 
Register. The comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement will close 45 days after the date the EPA publishes the 
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. A Final Environmental 
Impact Statement will be published after all comments are reviewed and 
responded to.
    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 statements 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 meaningful 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.
    It is important to note that Section 105(a) of the HFRA replaces 
the Forest Service's administrative appeals process with an objection 
process that occurs before the decision approving fuel-reduction 
projects authorized under the act (Volume 69 Federal Register, page 
1529, January 9, 2004). Participation in the predecisional review 
process is limited to individuals and organizations who have submitted 
specific written comments related to the proposed authorized hazardous-
fuel-reduction project during the opportunity for public comment 
provided when an EIS is being prepared for the project (Section 
105(a)(3), 36 CFR 218.6). Written objections, including any 
attachments, must be filed with the reviewing officer within 30 days 
after the publication date of the legal notice of the Final EIS in the 
newspaper of record (Section 218.4(b)). It is the responsibility of 
objectors to ensure that their objection is received in a timely 
manner. The Responsible Official may not issue a record of decision 
concerning an authorized project until the reviewing officer has 
responded to all pending objections.
    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 file an objection under Section 105(a) of the HFRA. 
Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the 
agency to withhold a comment 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 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 request and notify the requester that the comments may be 
resubmitted with or without name and address within a specified number 
of days.
    I am the responsible official for this environmental analysis. My 
address is Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur 
d'Alene, ID 83814.

    Dated: May 24, 2005.
Ranotta K. McNair,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 05-10717 Filed 5-27-05; 8:45 am]
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