[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 24 (Friday, February 5, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5941-5943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2505]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Umatilla National Forest, Walla Walla Ranger District, Walla 
Walla, WA; Cobbler II Timber Sale and Fuels Reduction Project

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 proposed resource 
management actions in Cobbler II project planning area. This project 
would improve the health, vigor, and resilience to fire, insects, and 
disease in upland forest stands that are outside their historical pre-
fire conditions for species composition, structural diversity, stocking 
densities, and fuel loads. The project planning area is approximately 
34,000 acres in size. Proposed project activities consist of commercial 
timber harvest, including treatment of activity and natural fuels 
within harvest units, temporary road construction (that will be 
decommissioned after project use), new road construction, danger tree 
removal along haul routes, non-commercial thinning, hardwood 
restoration, meadow restoration, and landscape prescribed burning.

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DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by February 26, 2010. The draft environmental impact statement is 
expected to be available in April 2010 and the final environmental 
impact statement in July 2010.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Mike Rassbach, District Ranger, 
Walla Walla Ranger District, 1415 West Rose Street, Walla Walla, WA 
99362. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to [email protected] or via facsimile to 
(509) 522-6000. Comments may be hand delivered to the Walla Walla 
Ranger District office between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Individuals who use 
telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betsy Kaiser, Project Team Leader, 
Walla Walla Ranger District, telephone (509) 522-6290 or e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background Information--An environmental assessment (EA) for 
Cobbler Timber Sale and Fuels Reduction Project was prepared by the 
Forest Service and issued to the public in May 2009. A decision notice 
and finding of no significant impact for the May 2009 EA was signed by 
the responsible official, Kevin Martin, Umatilla National Forest 
Supervisor, on May 18, 2009. This decision was appealed, and on July 
29, 2009, Supervisor Martin sent a memo to the Regional Forester to 
withdraw his May 18th decision.
    After the withdrawal of the decision, the Forest Service decided to 
initiate the Cobbler II Timber Sale and Fuels Reduction Project 
environmental assessment (EA) and scoped with a letter dated November 
20, 2009, and comment letters were received. Since that scoping letter 
was mailed, the Forest Service has decided to issue an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) for this project. The project file for the May 
2009 EA and the Cobbler II EA will be incorporated in the Cobbler II 
EIS. Information regarding the May 2009 Cobbler EA documents and the 
Cobbler II EA scoping letter are available for review at the following 
Web site address: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/uma/projects/readroom/.
    Project Information--Cobbler II project planning area is primarily 
located in Wallowa County and a small portion in Union County, Oregon 
within portions of T. 4N., R. 40E., sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 
14, and 15; T.5 N., R.40 E., sections 1, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 
34, 27, 33, 34, 35, and 36; T. 4N., R. 41E., sections 5, 6, 7, and 18; 
T. 5N., R. 41E., sections 1 to 34; T. 5N., R. 42E., sections 4, 5, 6, 
and 7; T. 6N., R. 41E., sections 25, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, and 36; and T. 
6N., R. 42E., sections 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34. It is in the Lower 
Grande Ronde subbasin, within the Grande Ronde River and Wenaha 
Watersheds.
    Cobbler II project planning area is bounded by the Wenaha-Tucannon 
Wilderness to the north and west and the Grande Ronde River to the 
southeast. Grande Ronde River has been designated as a Wild and Scenic 
River by the Omnibus Oregon Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1988, and the 
segment bordering the project planning area has been designated as 
wild. The town of Elgin, Oregon, is approximately 20 miles to the 
southwest. Troy and Eden Bench Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas are 
approximately 5 miles east of the project planning area, and are 
identified in the Wallowa County Community Wildfire Protection Plan 
(CWPP). A portion (approximately 7,700 acres) of the Grande Ronde 
inventoried roadless area (IRA) is within the project planning area.
    Purpose and Need for Action--The purpose and need for action in 
this project is to improve health, vigor, and resilience to fire, 
insects, and disease in upland forests that are outside their 
historical pre-fire suppression conditions for species composition, 
structural diversity, stocking densities, and fuel loads. Additionally, 
there is a need to provide sawlogs and wood fiber products for 
utilization by regional and local industry.
    Forest stands in the project planning area have been altered from 
historical conditions due to fire suppression and past forest 
management practices. A majority of current forest stands originated as 
a result of fire disturbances occurring over one hundred years ago, and 
they have not experienced fire since then. There have been repeated 
insect defoliation episodes followed by salvage harvest. Lodgepole pine 
stands have been harvested, and the remaining mature stands in the 
project planning area are at the age to be highly susceptible to 
mountain pine beetle, which is currently experiencing an increasing 
population. Late seral tree species have become dominant after long 
periods without disturbance and generally are more susceptible to 
disturbance-caused mortality than early seral species. Forest stands 
have become overstocked and are above recommended stocking levels that 
would maintain stand growth and vigor. Timber stands of seral tree 
species such as western larch and ponderosa pine are infilling with 
grand fir.
    Findings from the historical range of variability (HRV) analysis 
for Eastside Screens show that old forest structure is within 
historical range for moist forest biophysical group, but outside of 
historical range for dry forest biophysical group in old forest single 
stratum (OFSS) structural stage.
    Proposed Action--Following are brief descriptions of activities 
proposed for implementation, along with associated activities that 
would occur concurrently.
    Timber Harvest--Commercially harvest approximately 2,500 acres. In 
some treatment units timber harvest would include the removal of 
sawlogs and small diameter trees in the 3-9 inch diameter at breast 
height (DBH) range which would be used as a woody biomass product. In 
some treatment units only biomass products would be removed with 
incidental removal of sawlogs. Commercial thinning is the primary 
silviculture prescription with some shelterwood and seed-tree 
prescriptions used in decadent stands where thinning would not restore 
growth or vigor. Harvest objectives would vary by stand condition and 
fuel management objectives. Treatments would tend to favor early seral 
tree species such as ponderosa pine and western larch. Harvest methods 
would include conventional ground based (approximately 380 acres) 
logging, using a harvester/forwarder (approximately 1,830 acres), and 
skyline logging (approximately 230 acres).
    Fuel Treatments (activity and natural)--Activity fuels and existing 
natural fuels would be treated in harvest units. Treatments would 
include mechanical mastication, grapple piling, hand piling, jackpot 
burning, and yarding with tops attached depending on slash loads and 
the amount of fire sensitive species remaining after harvest. 
Mastication would be used to treat both activity fuels and remaining 
ladder fuels when small diameter understory is removed for woody 
biomass products (3-9 inch DBH) and a high density of understory trees 
still remains. Hand piling would be used in portions of units where 
visual quality is a concern, mainly along Forest Road (FR) 62.
    Road Management--To accomplish implementation of proposed 
activities, approximately 50 miles of open system roads, about 40 miles 
of closed system roads, and 1.5 miles of seasonally open roads would be 
used as haul routes. Of

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the open system roads approximately 14 miles are outside of the project 
planning area and represent haul routes to county roads. Closed system 
roads used for project activities would not be opened to the public. 
All system roads would remain the same after project implementation; 
open roads would remain opened, closed roads would continue to be 
closed, and seasonally open roads would continue with that designation. 
Approximately 0.25 miles of new road construction would occur to access 
an activity unit and be used for future access for vegetation and fuels 
treatments. This new construction would become a closed system road 
after project use. Approximately 0.20 miles of temporary road 
construction would occur and would be decommissioned after project 
activity use. Normal routine road maintenance would occur.
    Danger Tree Removal--Danger trees would be felled and removed along 
all previously described haul routes used for timber sale activity. If 
considered economically feasible, they would be sold as part of a 
timber sale. Danger trees within Riparian Habitat Conservation Areas 
(RHCAs) would not be removed; they would be cut and left to provide 
additional coarse woody debris.
    Landscape Prescribed Fire--Landscape prescribed fire would occur 
across approximately 8,000 acres within the Grande Ronde River canyon. 
No timber harvest or mechanical fuel treatments would occur in these 
canyons. This treatment would reintroduce fire to a fire-dependent 
ecosystem blackening about 60 percent of the area to lessen the impact 
of a future uncharacteristic wildfire and improve forage quality for 
big game. In the majority of the project area, fire intensities would 
be kept low by keeping fire out of the overstory and burning mainly 
surface fuels. This activity would occur in almost all of the acres of 
the Grande Ronde inventoried roadless area (IRA) that are within the 
project planning area.
    Hardwood Restoration--Twenty-three hardwood sites (aspen, black 
cottonwood, and mountain mahogany) totaling about 115 acres are 
proposed for treatment that includes release from conifers and fencing 
of these sites. Reduction of conifer competition in some aspen stands 
would be achieved by girdling trees or cutting and leaving the trees on 
site. Most of these stands have only mature or over-mature hardwood 
trees with little or no regeneration, or regeneration that is being 
severely browsed. Fencing would occur at these 23 hardwood sites.
    Meadow Restoration--An estimated 275 acres of dry meadows would be 
treated to reduce conifer encroachment. Trees less than or equal to 6 
inches DBH would be cut by hand followed by a prescribed underburn 
through the grass.
    Non-commercial Thinning--This activity would cut excess trees that 
are less than 6 inches DBH on approximately 1,900 acres. Some units may 
have special conditions where trees up to 9 inches DBH would be cut. 
Either manual or mechanical methods would be use.
    Forest Plan Amendment--In order to manage aspen stands in the 
project planning area, the Forest Plan would be amended to reallocate 
acres in management area allocations of D2-Research Natural Area, E2-
Timber and Big Game, and A9-Special Interest Area. Elk Flats Meadow 
(D2), which is currently a proposed candidate for designation as a 
Research Natural Area (RNA), would be reallocated to management area 
A9-Special Interest Area in order to allow vegetation management, 
including cutting of trees, to maintain or enhance existing aspen and 
encourage aspen regeneration. In summary, approximately 70 acres of 
management area D2 (Elk Flats Meadow) would become management area A9; 
approximately 30 acres of management area E2 would become management 
area A9, and approximately 10 acres of management area D2 would become 
management area E2. This amendment would remain in effect until the 
current Forest Plan is revised.
    Possible Alternatives--An alternative that would have fewer impacts 
on elk cover and/or old forest habitat was identified for this project. 
Commercial harvest would occur on approximately 1,300 acres using the 
same silviculture prescriptions and harvest methods. No timber harvest 
would occur in old forest stands or in areas of satisfactory cover. All 
other activities would remain the same but would occur on fewer acres. 
Another alternative identified would be to take no action at this time 
in the project planning area.

Responsible Official

    Kevin Martin, Forest Supervisor, Umatilla National Forest, 2517 
S.W. Hailey Avenue, Pendleton, Oregon 97801.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The decision to be made is whether to approve the proposed action 
or any alternative way to achieve the desired outcome. A Forest Plan 
amendment is proposed.

Scoping Process

    This notice of intent initiates the development of an EIS for the 
Cobbler II project and seeks any additional scoping comments not 
previously submitted. The comment period begins on the date of 
publication of this notice of intent and ends on February 26, 2010. It 
is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times and in 
such a manner that they are useful to the agency's preparation of the 
environmental impact statement. Therefore, comments should be provided 
prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly articulate 
the reviewer's concerns and comments. The submission of timely and 
specific comments can affect a reviewer's ability to participate in 
subsequent administrative appeal or judicial review.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names 
and addresses of those who comment will be part of the public record 
for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be 
accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide 
the respondent with standing to participate in subsequent 
administrative appeal or judicial review.

    Dated: February 1, 2010.
Kevin Martin,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2010-2505 Filed 2-4-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P