[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71666-71668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29476]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Bend/Ft. Rock Ranger District; Deschutes National Forest; 
Deschutes County, OR; West Bend Vegetation Management Project EIS

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) on a proposed action to promote development of large 
tree structural conditions and to improve forest health and fuel 
conditions within the 25,700-acre West Bend planning area. The planning 
area is located to the west of Bend, Oregon, bounded on the east side 
by the urban interface of Bend, and on the west by the Bend Watershed 
Roadless Area. The planning area is entirely within public lands 
managed by the Deschutes National Forest, except for a 588-acres 
inholding of privately-owned land. An analysis has been initiated that 
takes a landscape approach to managing the vegetation to meet 
objectives for resilient forest, fuels and fire behavior, wildlife 
habitat, and aesthetics. Methods that would be used to reduce tree 
density and hazardous fuels are: non-commercial and commercial 
thinning, mechanical shrub treatment, prescribed burning, arid invasive 
plant treatment with herbicide. The alternatives will include the 
proposed action, no action, and, if necessary, additional alternatives 
that respond to issues generated through the scoping process. The 
agency will give notice of the full environmental analysis and 
decision-making process so interested and affected public may

[[Page 71667]]

participate and contribute to the final decision.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by 30 days following the date that this notice appears in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Shane Jeffries, District Ranger, 
Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District, Red Oaks Square, 1230 NE. Third Street, 
Suite A-262, Bend, Oregon 97701.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beth Peer, Environmental Coordinator, 
Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District, Red Oaks Square, 1230 NE. Third Street, 
Suite A-262, Bend, Oregon 97701, phone (541) 383-4769.
    Responsible Official: The responsible official is John Allen, 
Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest, 1001 SW. Emkay Dr., Bend, 
OR 97701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background. Forested vegetation within the West Bend project area 
is outside of the Historic Range of Variability (HRV) because 
industrial logging and wildfire suppression/exclusion have shifted the 
structural stages and species mix. What was once dominated by ponderosa 
pine and maintained by low intensity fire is now primarily mid-seral 
black bark pine with more lodgepole and white fir than what occurred 
historically. Disturbance processes are best kept within proportions 
that historically occurred or they have the potential to remove 
important habitat structure, particularly large trees that are desired 
over the long-term. The HRV is important to wildlife populations 
because the distribution, quality, and quantity of habitat largely 
determines the potential for a wildlife species to exist at viable 
levels. As habitat was converted, fragmented, and opened to motorized 
access, many species were reduced in number and others were precluded 
from portions of their geographic range altogether. Vegetation 
management is intended to move the project area towards the HRV which 
will benefit certain focal species that are currently lacking habitat.
    The project area is located within two Community Wildfire 
Protection Plan (CWPP) areas. The CWPPs have defined the wildland-urban 
interface (WUI), and outlined priorities and strategies for reducing 
fuels in the WUI and other areas of special concern such as evacuation 
routes. The project area is very popular with recreationists. Bounded 
by the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway to the south, Skyliner Road to the 
north, and the city limits of Bend to the east, the area supports miles 
of biking, hiking, snowmobile, crosscountry skiing, and snowshoeing 
trails. The Forest is the central component of the recreation 
experience.
    Purpose and Need. The purpose for entering the West Bend project 
area includes restoration of the forest landscape towards historic 
conditions that are considered more resilient than the current 
condition. Resilience to fire and insects is important so that 
disturbance events will not lead to large-scale loss of forest. This 
objective will also lead to creating and maintaining a diversity of 
wildlife habitats closer to what historically occurred. There is also a 
need to maintain forest conditions conducive to the desired recreation 
experience.
    Public safety is another purpose for the project. Maintaining 
previous fuels reduction treatments to provide for long-term public 
safety and further reduce fire and fuels hazard to Bend and the Bend 
watershed are important objectives. There is also a need to provide 
travel corridors that are safe for the public and provide wildland 
firefighter access during a wildfire event.
    The project area is located in Forest Plan management allocations 
that are appropriate for producing wood products. There is a need to 
contribute to the local and regional economies by providing timber and 
other wood fiber products now and in the future.
    Proposed Action. The Forest Service proposes to implement 
activities across approximately 22,000 acres within the West Bend 
project area. Silviculture treatments (e.g. thinning) will provide a 
diversity of forest structures that are more in line with historical 
conditions. Thinning will encourage the development of late and old 
structure characteristics in stands where not currently present. 
Commercial thinning accounts for approximately 13,190 acres. Shrub 
mowing will reduce surface and ladder fuels and allow fire to be used 
as an ecological restoration tool. Prescribed fire will be applied in 
the fire-dependent ecosystems to reduce fuels, maintain habitat, and 
allow fire to perform its natural ecological function. Treatments are 
designed to address the objectives for each stand type and management 
area objective. Treatments will occur most often in combination, such 
as thinning followed by mowing followed by underburning. Herbicides are 
proposed for the control and elimination of invasive plant sites on 
approximately 18 acres.
    Issues. Preliminary issues include the potential effect of the 
proposed action on soil productivity, invasive plant introduction and 
spread, and Management Indicator Species.
    Comment. Public comments regarding this proposal are requested in 
order to assist in identifying issues, determine how to best manage the 
resources, and to focus the analysis. Comments received to this notice, 
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. This is also an opportunity to participate in 
the National Historic Preservation Act, section 106 process.
    A draft EIS will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) and available for public review by August 2011. The EPA will 
publish a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in the Federal 
Register. The final EIS is scheduled to be available February 2012.
    The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date 
the EPA 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 
a draft EIS 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 EIS stage but that are not 
raised until after completion of the final EIS may be waived or 
dismissed by the courts [City of Angoon 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 EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS 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 EIS of 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.

[[Page 71668]]

    In the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to 
substantive comments received during the comment period for the draft 
EIS. The Forest Service is the lead agency and the responsible official 
is the Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest. The responsible 
official will decide where and whether or not to apply natural fuels 
treatments, thin stands, and reforest group cuts. The responsible 
official will also decide how to mitigate impacts of these actions and 
will determine when and how monitoring of effects will take place.
    The West Bend Vegetation Management decision and the reasons for 
the decision will be documented in the record of decision, which will 
be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations (35 CFR part 215).

    Dated: November 15, 2010.
A. Shane Jeffries,
District Ranger, Bend/Ft. Rock Ranger District, Deschutes National 
Forest.
[FR Doc. 2010-29476 Filed 11-23-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M