[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11105-11107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4929]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Kootenai (KNF) and Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF); 
Montana, Idaho and Washington; Revised Land and Resource Management 
Plans

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) and revised land management plans using the provisions of the 
National Forest System land and resource management planning rule in 
effect prior to November 9, 2000, for the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle 
National Forests located in Lincoln, Sanders, and Flathead counties in 
Montana; Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah, Latah, and 
Clearwater counties in Idaho; and Pend Oreille county in Washington.

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SUMMARY: As directed by the National Forest Management Act, the US 
Forest Service is preparing the revised land management plans for the 
Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests and will also prepare one 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the revised plans unless, 
during the revision process, the need for two separate EISs is found to 
be warranted. The Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests 
comprise the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle Planning Zone (KIPZ). This 
notice briefly describes where the Forests are in this revision process 
and information concerning public participation. It also provides 
estimated dates for filing the EIS and provides the names and addresses 
of the responsible agency official and the individual who can provide 
additional information. This notice also briefly describes the 
applicable planning rule and how work done on the plan revision under 
the 2008 planning rule will be used or modified for completing the plan 
revision.
    The revised land management plans will supersede the current land 
management plans previously approved by the Regional Forester in 1987 
and as amended. The amended plans will remain in effect until the 
revision takes effect.

DATES: Comments providing additional information for the plans will be 
used to develop the draft revised forest plan and EIS. This information 
would be most useful if received by May 15, 2010. The agency expects to 
complete a proposed plan and draft EIS by December 2010, and a final 
plan and final EIS by December 2011. The dates, time, and location of 
any open houses will be posted on the forests' Web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to KIPZ, Attention: Forest Plan 
Revision Team, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Forest Supervisors 
Office, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815. Comments may also 
be sent via e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Clark, revision co-team leader 
Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 
83815, 208 765-7417, [email protected] or Kathy Rodriguez, revision co-
team leader, Kootenai National Forest, Forest Supervisors Office, 31374 
U.S. Highway 2, Libby, MT 59923-3022, 406-293-6211, 
[email protected]. Information on this revision is also available at 
KIPZ revision Web site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz). Individuals who use 
telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m., Eastern Time Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Name and Address of the Responsible Official

    Leslie A.C. Weldon, Regional Forester, 200 E. Broadway, Missoula, 
MT 59807.

Nature of the Decision To Be Made

    The Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests are preparing an 
EIS to revise the current forest plans. The EIS process is meant to 
inform the Regional Forester so that she can decide which alternative 
best meets the need to achieve quality land management under the 
sustainable multiple-use management concept to meet the diverse needs 
of people while protecting the forests' resources, as required by the 
National Forest Management Act and the Multiple Use Sustained Yield 
Act.

[[Page 11106]]

    The revised forest plans describe the strategic intent of managing 
the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests into the next 10 to 
15 years. The revised forest plans provide management direction in the 
form of goals (desired conditions), objectives, suitability 
determinations, standards, guidelines, and a monitoring plan. They also 
make new special area recommendations for wilderness, research natural 
areas, and other special areas.

Applicable Planning Rule

    Preparation of the revised plans was underway when the 2008 
National Forest System land management planning rule was enjoined on 
June 30, 2009, by the United States District Court for the Northern 
District of California (Citizens for Better Forestry v. United States 
Department of Agriculture, 632F. Supp. 2d 968 (N.D.Cal. June, 2009)).
    On December 18, 2009, the Department reinstated the previous 
planning rule, commonly known as the 2000 planning rule in the Federal 
Register (74 FR 242, pages 67059 through 67075 [Friday, December 18, 
2009]). The 2000 planning rule was amended in 2002 to allow the Forest 
Service to follow the procedures of the 1982 Forest System Land and 
Resource Management Planning Rule (1982 Rule). The Kootenai and Idaho 
Panhandle National Forests have elected to use the provisions of the 
1982 Planning Rule including the requirement to prepare an ETS to 
complete their revised plans.
    In late 2000, the KIPZ began working on revision of their Land 
Management Plans (LMPs) under the 1982 Planning Rule. In April 2002, a 
Notice of Intent (NOT) was published in the Federal Register, 
announcing the revision of the LMPs with a 12 month public comment 
period. Work continued on the LMPs under the 1982, 2000, 2005, and 2008 
Planning Rules. Results from public involvement work conducted since 
2002, were used as the revision continued through June 2009. Proposed 
Plans were released in 2006, under the 2005 Planning Rule. Since 2008, 
work on the revision of the LMPs was conducted in accordance with all 
Forest Service directives applicable to the 2008 Planning Rule.
    Although the 2008 Planning Rule is no longer in effect, information 
gathered prior to the court's injunction is useful for completing the 
revision of the plans using the provisions of the 1982 Planning Rule. 
The KIPZ has concluded that the following material developed during the 
plan revision process to date is appropriate for continued use in the 
revision process:
     The Content Analysis report prepared in 2004, summarized 
what the KIPZ had learned from people that responded to the preliminary 
proposed action, revision topics, and need for change through the 
various public and workgroup meetings, open houses, field trips, 
invited group presentations, and meetings with Tribal partners, agency 
partners, and elected officials up to that time.
     The Analysis of the Management Situation (AMS) and AMS 
Technical Report completed in March 2003 forms the basis for need to 
change the current forest plans and the proposed action for the plan 
revision.
     The Comprehensive Evaluation Report (CER) provided for 
public review and comment in 2006, built upon the AMS and documents the 
evaluation of the 1987 Forest Plans and proposed changes. The CER 
evaluates current social, economic, and ecological conditions and 
trends that contribute to sustainability. The CER, under the 2005 and 
2008 Planning Rules, served as the principle document that supported 
the need to establish, amend, or revise a plan. The CER identifies 
factors that affect conditions and trends, and includes information of 
what is causing conditions to change, and describes the influence plan 
implementation would have on moving toward desired conditions.
     The inventory and evaluation of potential wilderness areas 
presented in the Proposed Land Management Plans and CER made available 
for public review and comment in May 2006, for both forests, is 
consistent with appropriate provisions of the 1982 planning Rule and 
will be brought forward into this planning process.
     The Analysis of Public Comment report prepared in March 
2007 synthesizes and summarizes the comments and concerns heard during 
the comment period for the Proposed Land Management Plans released in 
May 2006.
     Information developed by the working groups (which 
included over 140 meetings) and discussions regarding Geographic Area 
(GA) desired conditions, the revision topics, monitoring and other plan 
components (1982 Planning Rule) and over fifty meetings and discussions 
on the starting option maps and potential changes to suggest to Forest 
Supervisors (2005 Planning Rule) that went into the Proposed LMPs.
     There are additional background reports, assessments, 
datasets, and public comment that will be used, some of which can be 
found on the KIPZ Web site.
    As necessary or appropriate, the above listed material will be 
further adjusted as part of the planning process using the provisions 
of the 1982 Planning Rule (Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1600-1614; 36 CFR 
219.35 (December 18, 2009) (74 FR 242)).

Proposed Action

    The proposed action will be developed using the information that 
has been developed and summarized over the last 10 years including: 
Public comments, public working groups, AMS, CER, and proposed plans. 
Using the information from public involvement and content analysis on 
the proposed plans, the revision team worked on finalizing the plans 
from 2007 to 2009. The Forests propose to review the work that has been 
completed to date to develop a proposed action and range of 
alternatives.

Revision Topics Carried Forward

    The Forests propose to carry forward the following Forestwide 
revision topics as published in the May 2006 Proposed Land Management 
Plans. These revision topics were identified in the 2003 AMS, and 
updated in the CER under the 2005, and 2008 Planning Rules:
     Access and Recreation
     Vegetation
     Timber
     Fire
     Wildlife
     Watersheds (Water, Soil, and Riparian) and Aquatic Species
     Recommended Wilderness
    The Forests propose to start with the Proposed LMPs and comments 
received (under the 1982 and 2005 Planning Rules) to build Plans under 
the 1982 Planning Rule and proposed action in the accompanying EIS.

Public Involvement

    Extensive public involvement and collaboration has occurred over 
the past eight years. Informal discussions with the public regarding 
needed changes to the current forest plans began with a series of 
public meetings in 2002. This input, along with science-based 
evaluations, and inventory and monitoring was used to determine the 
need for change identified above.
    Additional meetings, correspondence, news releases, comment 
periods, and other tools have been utilized to gather feedback from the 
public, forest employees, tribal governments, federal and state 
agencies, and local governments.
    The KIPZ hosted approximately thirty informational and comment 
meetings within communities of Idaho, Montana, and Washington during 
the scoping

[[Page 11107]]

process, which started in April 2002, with the Notice of Intent in the 
Federal Register, and ended in May 2004. In addition to the public 
meetings, briefings and meetings were held with the Tribes, 
Congressionals and other elected officials, other agencies, and 
interest groups.
    Also during the scoping period, the KIPZ hosted approximately 140 
workgroup meetings from August 2003 to May 2004. These meetings were 
held in communities within the KIPZ zone and the workgroups focused on 
the GAs surrounding each of these communities. The purpose of these 
workgroup meetings was to: (1) Share information about the revision 
topics, (2) collaboratively discuss and develop desired conditions for 
each of the revision topics within the workgroup's GAs, and (3) gain an 
understanding of the issues and appreciation of others' viewpoints. 
Workgroup meeting notes and desired condition statements can be found 
on the KIPZ Web site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz).
    This information was used in developing forestwide and GA desired 
conditions, other management direction such as management area 
direction, and the starting option map, which was used at further 
workgroup meetings in the summer of 2005.
    In addition to these workgroup meetings, briefings and meetings 
were held with the Tribes, Congressionals and other elected officials, 
other agencies, and interest groups (upon request). Several elected 
officials, Congressional staffers, and other agency representatives 
participated in the workgroup meetings.
    From July to September 2005, the KIPZ hosted additional workgroup 
meetings in the same communities focusing on the same GAs. The purpose 
of these workgroup meetings was to: (1) Share the starting option maps 
and discuss how they were developed, (2) validate the information on 
the maps, and (3) collaboratively discuss any possible changes to the 
maps. In addition to these meetings, meetings were held with elected 
officials, the Tribes, and other groups. The comments from all of these 
meetings resulted in decisions made by the Forest Supervisors to change 
the starting option maps. Workgroup meeting notes can be found on the 
KIPZ Web site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz).
    In October 2005, Draft Forest Plans maps were released with the 
intent to provide information back to the public on how the starting 
option maps had changed. It did not initiate a comment period. The 
maps, along with the rationale for the changes, are posted on the KIPZ 
Web site. The Draft Forest Plans maps were used by the revision team to 
complete the Proposed Land Management Plans.
    In May 2006, the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests 
prepared and released Proposed Land Management Plans, with maps, for a 
90-day comment period (extended to 120 days). An Analysis of Public 
Comment report was prepared in March 2007, and posted on the KIPZ Web 
site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz). The report synthesized the comments 
and concerns heard during the comment period for the Proposed Land 
Management Plans.
    The KIPZ will continue regular and meaningful consultation and 
collaboration with tribal nations, on a government-to-government basis. 
The agency will work with tribal governments to address issues 
concerning Indian tribal self-government and sovereignty, natural and 
cultural resources held in trust, Indian tribal treaty and Executive 
order rights, and any issues that significantly or uniquely affect 
their communities.
    The KIPZ desires to continue collaborative efforts with members of 
the public who are interested in management of the Forests, as well as 
federal and state agencies, local governments, and private 
organizations.
    If you feel that we missed any substantive issues or concerns from 
those listed above as revision topics or additional, different comments 
from those provided on the Proposed LMPs, please e-mail, call or write 
to us. If you do wish to comment, it is important that you provide 
comments at such times and in such a way (clearly articulate your 
concerns) that they are useful to the Agency's preparation of the 
revised plan and the EIS. The submission of timely and specific 
comments can affect a reviewer's ability to participate in subsequent 
administrative or judicial review. At this time, we anticipate using 
the 2000 Planning Rule pre-decisional objection process (36 CFR 219.32) 
for administrative review.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including the 
names and addresses of those who comment will be part of the public 
record. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered.

    Dated: March 2, 2010.
Leslie A.C. Weldon,
Regional Forester, Forest Service Northern Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-4929 Filed 3-9-10; 8:45 am]
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