[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 152 (Monday, August 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47755-47756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19532]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / 
Notices  

[[Page 47755]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Black Hills National Forest, Mystic Ranger District, South 
Dakota, Pactola Project Area

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS).

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement on a proposal to use multiple vegetation treatments focused 
on reducing the threat to ecosystem components including forest 
resources from an existing insect and disease epidemic (mountain pine 
beetle), creating a landscape condition more adapted to fire and that 
reduces potential for high severity wildfire near at-risk communities 
and in the wildland-urban interface. The proposal is being planned for 
the 26,017 acre Pactola Project Area that includes about 24,863 acres 
of National Forest System land and about 1,154 acres of interspersed 
private land. The project area lies west of Pactola Lake and 
approximately 10 miles west of Rapid City, SD. This project will be 
conducted as an authorized project under Section 102 of the Healthy 
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA). Actions proposed for the 
Pactola Project Area include the following:
     Thin and harvest approximately 8,566 acres of pine stands 
using a variety of methods to treat mountain pine beetle (MPB) infested 
stands, reduce the overall density of pine trees and create a mosaic of 
structural stages across the landscape. Both commercial harvest and 
non-commercial thinning will be used to reduce the stand density, and 
associated fuel hazard conditions and susceptibility to mountain pine 
beetle infestations.
     Reduce the amount of fuels that currently exists and that 
created by vegetation treatment activities. Treatment could include 
lopping, chipping, crushing, piling and burning, and creating fuel 
breaks along roads and adjacent to private property, particularly those 
properties with houses and subdivisions. Prescribed broadcast and pile 
burning of up to 5,037 acres is also planned to disrupt the continuity 
of surface and canopy fuels, and to increase the quantity and quality 
of forage for big game and other wildlife resources.
     Remove conifers from hardwood stands such as aspen and 
birch, and restore meadows on approximately 1,562 acres to provide 
habitat diversity and additional wildfire protection by enhancing 
natural fuel breaks.
     Use of existing road templates with less than two miles of 
new construction.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis would be most 
useful if received by 30 days following the date of this notice. The 
draft environmental impact statement is expected to be available for 
public review by November 2010 and the final environmental impact 
statement is expected to be completed by March 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Robert J. Thompson, District 
Ranger, Black Hills National Forest, Mystic Ranger District, Pactola 
Project Area, 8221 South Highway 16, Rapid City, South Dakota 57702. 
Telephone Number: (605) 343-1567. E-mail: [email protected] with ``Pactola'' as the subject. 
Electronic comments must be readable in Word, Rich Text or PDF formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have any questions or need 
additional information, please contact Katie Van Alstyne, Team Leader 
or Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger, at the Mystic Ranger District 
office in Rapid City at (605) 343-1567.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The actions proposed are in direct response 
to management direction provided by the Black Hills National Forest 
Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). The site specific 
actions are designed, based on Forest Plan Standards and Guidelines, to 
move existing resource conditions in the Pactola Project Area toward 
meeting Forest Plan Goals and Objectives. The project area lies west of 
Pactola Lake and approximately 10 miles west of Rapid City, SD. 
Anticipated issues include: reducing MPB infestation and risk; 
protecting local communities, private and public lands, infrastructure 
and access from severe wildfire; associated fire and fuels hazard 
reduction needs in the wildland-urban interface; support or opposition 
to forest thinning using commercial timber harvest; impacts of 
vegetation treatment and multiple forest uses on wildlife habitat. The 
range of alternatives analyzed in the EIS is expected to be consistent 
with Sec. 104 of HFRA.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of the Pactola Project is to:
     Move toward achieving desired land and resource 
conditions, as provided by the Forest Plan.
     Reduce the threat to ecosystem components including forest 
resources, from the existing insect and disease (mountain pine beetle) 
epidemic.
     Restore resource conditions to a healthy, resilient fire-
adapted ecosystem.
     Help protect local communities and resources from 
catastrophic wildfire.
    This project is focused on implementing management actions that 
move toward achieving:
     Desired conditions and objectives embodied in Goals 2, 3, 
7, and 10 of the Forest Plan (as amended).
     Goals and objectives applicable to Forest Plan Management 
Area (MA) 2.2--Research Natural Areas (~548 acres); MA 3.7--Late 
Successional Forest Landscape (~1,268 acres); MA 5.1 Resource 
Production Emphasis (~5,755 acres); MA 5.3A; MA 5.4--Big Game Winter 
Range Emphasis (~12,201 acres); and MA 8.2 Developed Recreation 
Complexes (~5,071 acres), that lie within Pactola Project Area, 
described in Chapter III of the Forest Plan (Phase II Amendment).
     Goals of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 
(HR 1904) and other National level initiatives and policy that provide 
procedural tools to hasten processes focused on reducing insects or 
disease on public and adjacent private lands, and reducing the 
probability and occurrence of severe wildfire in the fire adapted 
ecosystems, especially near at risk communities and in the wildland-
urban interface. Moreover, it is appropriate that proposed actions be

[[Page 47756]]

designed in consideration of the fuels hazard reduction management 
recommendations and guidelines provided by the Pennington County 
Community Wildfire Protection Plan of 2007.

Proposed Action

    Proposed actions include the following:
     Thin and harvest approximately 8,556 acres of pine stands 
using a variety of methods to treat MPB infested stands, reduce the 
overall density of pine trees and create a mosaic of structural stages 
across the landscape. Both commercial and non-commercial sized trees 
would be removed utilizing multiple contracts including stewardship, 
timber sale, and service contracts.
     Disrupt the continuity of surface and canopy fuels to help 
reduce the potential for large-scale, intense wildfire spread. 
Treatment could include thinning, lopping, chipping, crushing, piling, 
and burning; restoring natural fuel breaks by removing conifers that 
have encroached upon meadows and hardwood stands on approximately 1,562 
acres; creating fuel breaks along roads and adjacent to private 
property--particularly those properties with houses and subdivisions. 
Prescribed broadcast and pile burning of up to 5,037 acres is also 
planned to reduce the natural, as well as the management-caused 
accumulation of fuels and to benefit big game and other wildife 
resources.
     Use of existing road templates with less than two miles of 
new construction.

Responsible Official

    Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger, Mystic Ranger District, Black 
Hills National Forest, 8221 South Highway 16, Rapid City, South Dakota 
57702

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The decision to be made is whether or not to implement the proposed 
action or possible alternative at this time.

Scoping Process

    Comments and input regarding the proposal will be received via 
direct mailing from the public, other groups, and agencies during the 
initial public comment period in August 2010. If you would like to be 
more involved, a public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24, 
2010, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Silver City Community Hall, Silver 
City, South Dakota. Comments submitted based on this NOI will be most 
useful if received within 30 days from the date of this notice. 
Response to the draft EIS will be sought from the interested public 
beginning in November 2010.

Comment Requested

    This notice of intent provides information that the agency will 
prepare an environmental impact statement in response to public comment 
and feedback during the August 2010, scoping period. Comments received 
will assist the planning team to develop the mailing list for the draft 
EIS and help identify key issues and opportunities used to refine the 
proposal or possible alternative and mitigation measures. Comments on 
the DEIS will be requested during the 45 day comment period following 
the Notice of Availability, expected to be published in the Federal 
Register in November 2010 (See discussion below).

Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review

    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.

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

    Dated: July 27, 2010.
Craig Bobzien,
Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest.
[FR Doc. 2010-19532 Filed 8-6-10; 8:45 am]
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