[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66496-66498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-9199]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Cherry Dinner Project, Clearwater National Forest, Latah County, 
ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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[[Page 66497]]

SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of timber harvest 
prescribed fire, watershed restoration, and access management 
activities in the Cherry Dinner project area on the Palouse Ranger 
District of the Clearwater National Forest. The Cherry Dinner project 
area is located between the towns of Helmer and Bovill within the Hog 
Meadow Creek and Little Boulder Creek drainages, approximately 25 air-
miles north of the town of Orofino, Idaho.

DATES: Comments on this project must be received, in writing, within 30 
days following the publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
A 45-day public comment period will follow the release of the draft 
environmental impact statement that is expected in April 2007. The 
final environmental impact statement is expected in September 2007.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and suggestions concerning the scope of 
this project should be sent to Kara Chadwick ([email protected]), 
District Ranger, Palouse Ranger District, 1700 Highway 6, Potlatch, ID 
83855.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Harbaugh ([email protected]), 
Project Leader, Lochsa Ranger District. Phone: (208) 926-4274.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Cherry Dinner project area contains 
approximately 20,470 acres, of which 14,670 acres are National Forest 
lands and 5,800 acres are other ownership (State, timber companies, and 
private). The legal location is mostly in portions of T40N, R1W and 
small portions of T40N, R1E, T41N, R1W, and T39N, R1W, Boise Meridian, 
Latah County, Idaho. The proposed actions would occur on National 
Forest lands and are all outside the boundaries of any inventoried 
roadless area or any areas considered for inclusion to the National 
Wilderness System as recommended by the Clearwater National Forest Plan 
or by any past or present legislative wilderness proposals.
    Purpose and Need for Action is to: (1) Improve species diversity 
and productivity by reestablishing seral species, such as western white 
pine, ponderosa pine, and western larch, which historical dominated the 
cover type in this area; (2) reduce fuel buildup in stands in the 
wildland urban interface (WUI) where fire suppression has interrupted 
the short-return fire interval and resulted in unnaturally high amounts 
of fuel and overgrown understory, and create a more defensible space to 
control wildfire on Forest Service land adjacent to private structures 
and homes; (3) reduce long-term sedimentation to streams caused by 
existing unsurfaced roads, and stabilize stream banks made unstable by 
motorized vehicles, cattle trailing, and channelization (historic 
railroad grades); (4) update fish/water quality standards in Appendix K 
of the Clearwater Forest Plan to better meet the Clean Water Act 
standards of supporting fisheries and reflect better information on 
fisheries collected in stream surveys; and (5) provide for a reasonable 
level of human access, reduce user conflicts, and provide the necessary 
resource protection required by law, regulation, and good stewardship 
practices.
    The Proposed Action would harvest timber from about 2,210 acres, 
using regeneration harvest methods, improvement cuts, and commercial 
thinning. Road activities associated with the timber sales would 
include constructing 8.1 miles of permanent road, reconstructing 9.4 
miles of existing roads, and constructing 1.5 miles of temporary road 
(to be decommissioned after harvest activity). Understory slashing and 
prescribed fire would be applied on 310 acres to reintroduce fire, not 
associated with timber harvest. Watershed improvements would include 
24.2 miles of road decommissioning, putting 24.6 miles of existing 
roads into intermittent stored service (self-maintaining), and 
stabilizing 4.8 miles of streambanks along the East Fork Potlatch River 
and its tributaries. Access management would consist of constructing a 
0.5 mile OHV connector trail and managing area roads and trails based 
on a Roads Analysis. Other components of the proposed action include 
designating approximately 1,700 of forest to be managed for old growth 
and raising fish/water quality standards on 3 streams to incorporate 
better information on fish and their habitat. There is also the 
opportunity to precommercial thin approximately 200 acres of young 
stands scattered throughout the project area.
    Possible Alternatives the Forest Service will consider include the 
``no action'' alternative in which none of the proposed activities 
would be implemented. Additional alternatives being considered examine 
varying levels and locations for the proposed activities to achieve the 
proposal's purpose and need, as well as to respond to the issues and 
other resource concerns.
    The Responsible Official is the Forest Supervisor of the Clearwater 
National Forest, 12730 Highway 12, Orofino, ID 83544. The Responsible 
Official will decide if the proposed project will be implemented and 
will document the decision and reasons for the decision in a Record of 
Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal 
Regulations. The responsibility for preparing the DEIS and FEIS has 
been delegated to Kara Chadwick, District Ranger, Palouse Ranger 
District, 1700 Highway 6, Potlatch, ID 83855.
    The Scoping Process for the EIS is being initiated with this 
notice, and written comments regarding the analysis should be received 
within 30 days following the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. Additional scoping will follow the release of the DEIS, 
expected in April 2007. This proposal also includes eight openings 
greater than 40 acres that would be created by timber harvest. A 60-day 
public review period was initiated on April 19, 2005, and approval to 
exceed 40 acres was received from the Regional Office on November 22, 
2005. However, additional comments on this issue will be accepted 
during this 30-day scoping period.
    Issues identified through previous scoping that could be affected 
by proposed activities include: Access management, air quality, 
economic feasibility, fish habitat, heritage resources, sensitive and 
management indicator species of wildlife, sensitive plants, snag 
habitat, soil productivity, spread of noxious weeds, tribal treaty 
rights, and water quality. Issues expected not to be affected by the 
proposal include impacts of grazing, old growth habitat, risk of 
landslides, and threatened and endangered wildlife and plant species. 
Issues found to be outside the scope of the project or not consistent 
with Forest Plan standards include developing a wildland fire use plan 
and using prescribed fire over timber harvest.
    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, 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.

[[Page 66498]]

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 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.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 
1909.15, Section 21)

    Dated: November 7, 2006.
Thomas K. Reilly,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 06-9199 Filed 11-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M