[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 241 (Friday, December 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75480-75481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-9716]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Thorn Fire Salvage Recovery Project, Malheur National Forest, 
Grant County, OR

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to disclose environmental effects on a proposed action 
to recover the economic value of dead and dying trees damaged in the 
Shake Table Fire Complex, and remove potential hazard trees from open 
forest travel routes within the Todd, Duncan, Fields Creek and Dry 
Creek subwatersheds. Shake Table Fire Complex, located approximately 20 
miles south west of John Day, Oregon, burned approximately 14,527 acres 
across mixed ownership in August 2006, of that approximately 13,536 
acres were on National Forest System Lands administered by the Blue 
Mountain Ranger District, Malheur National Forest. The proposed action 
is the Thorn Fire Salvage Recovery Project.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by January 16, 2007. The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and be available to the public 
for review by April 2007. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed by 
June 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the Responsible Official, Gary L. 
``Stan'' Benes, Forest Supervisor, Malheur National Forest, 431 
Patterson Bridge Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day Oregon 97845. Send 
electronic comments to: [email protected].

for further information contact: Jerry Hensley, Project Manager, 
Malheur National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge Road, P.O. Box 909, John 
Day, Oregon, telephone 541-575-3167, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose and need of the Thorn Fire Salvage Recovery Project 
includes: (1) Recovery of the economic value of a portion of the dead 
and dying trees consistent with protection of other resource values; 
and (2) improving public safety within the fire area by removing 
potential hazard trees for public safety along open forest travel 
routes.

Proposed Action

    This action includes salvage of dead and dying trees from 
approximately 7,952 acres and removal of potential hazard trees for 
public safety along open forest travel routes. Salvage harvest methods 
would include ground-based and helicopter logging systems. 
Approximately 80 percent of the harvest area would be salvaged by 
helicopter. No commercial harvest or road construction is proposed 
within Appendix C Inventoried Dry Cabin, Cedar Grove and Shake Table 
Roadless Areas. Road activities associated with salvage and restoration 
will be limited to reconstruction, opening and re-closing existing 
roads, and maintenance. No new roads would be built. Following site 
preparation, approximately 7,952 acres would be planted with conifer 
seedlings. Forest Plan amendments would be included as needed.

Possible Alternatives

    Alternatives will include the proposed action, no action, and 
additional alternatives that respond to issues generated during the 
scoping process. The agency will give notice of the full environmental 
analysis and decisionmaking process to interested and affected people 
may participate and contribute to the final decision.

Responsible Official and Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The Responsible Official is Gary L. ``Stan'' Benes, Forest 
Supervisor of the Malheur National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge Road, 
P.O. Box 909, John Day, OR 97845. 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 
Brooks Smith, Acting District Ranger, Blue Mountain Ranger District.

Scoping Process

    Public participation will be especially important at several points 
during the analysis, beginning with the scoping process (40 CFR 
1501.7). Initial scoping began with the project listed in the 2006 Fall 
Edition of the Malheur National Forest's Schedule of Proposed Actions. 
A Public meeting has been planned for January 2007 to discuss the 
project. Other meetings will be scheduled as needed. Also, 
correspondence with tribes, government agencies, organizations, and 
individuals who have indicated their interest will be conducted.

Preliminary Issues

    Preliminary issues identified include the potential effect of the 
proposed action on: Soils, water quality and fish habitat, snags and 
down wood, disturbance to cultural resources, potential for noxious 
weed expansion, threatened, endangered and sensitive aquatic, 
terrestrial and plant species, potential loss of economic value of 
trees damaged by wildfire, and the safety and use of the area by public 
and land managers.

Comment

    Public comments about this proposal are requested to identify 
issues and alternatives to the proposed action and to focus the scope 
of the analysis. 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 
will not have standing to appeal the subsequent decisions under 36 CFR 
parts 215 or 217. 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 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.

[[Page 75481]]

    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. 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: December 11, 2006.
Gary L. Benes,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 06-9716 Filed 12-14-06; 8:45 am]
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